Napoli and Victorino are mid level talent at best and yet they both get 8 figure salaries for three years each.
Sorry, but this is some of the absolutely stupidest signings I have seen this team make since the days of the Lou Gorman Sox. $13 million a year for mediocre at best level talent is a huge waste of money.
The Sox are going to be another last place team again next year that will have a huge payroll because they are giving star money to role playing players at best.
I don't disagree with anything in your post except your assertion that these are stupid moves. I think Sox ownership absolutely expects that this team will be an 80-85 win team for at least the next season or two. They made the "Punto trade" to get out from underneath a mountain of bad money, and they're in no rush to get back under one. They need to regain fan trust / interest, so they have to spend money to put a team out there that is going to at least be more competitive than the ragtag squad that was out there at the end of this past season. But that's a really low bar.
All ownership has to do is spend extra money to give replacement-level players shorter deals and they will have a team that is "gritty" and "hard-working." People are so disgusted and jaded after the last two years of seeing Red Sox teams that woefully underperformed and fell far short of lofty expectations, that a team lacking in talent that merely meets low expectations will seem like "more than the sum of its parts," and therefore likable.
Having thus put in place a more "likable" and far cheaper team (despite "overpaying" for guys like Napoli and Victorino), the Sox can be patient in waiting for the young guys to develop, and not make a move to invest long term (through trade or free agency) in any true stars until it really makes sense for them to do so.