The Julio Lugo Experiment Comes to a Merciful Ending

It was bad for Julio Lugo right from the start.Lugo called Red Sox management during the winter they signed him, saying he had a sickness that resulted in the loss of 15 or 20 pounds. When he showed up for Spring Training, he lacked both strength and quickness. He started slowly and didn't recover, never again becoming the player he was with Tampa.Ultimately, Lugo never lived up to the four-year, $36 million contract he signed before the 2007 season. So the Red Sox did what had seemed inevitable for so long and released the disappointing shortstop.“It’s a sunk cost. I’m sorry it didn’t work out better for Julio, but keeping him on the team wasn’t going to change that,” said GM Theo Epstein.The Red Sox have been trying to deal the underperforming Lugo since last offseason, but the combination of his lackluster offense, poor defense, and large salary nixed any chance of a deal and the Sox have found no takers.Though the Red Sox won the World Ser...