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While I was on another page in regards to breaking the bank for Strausburg, I'm generally with you on Fields, Doc.
Honestly, the reality in all of this that I think most of the blog-o-sphere has simply ignored is that the Ms have had THREE GMs between the Fields pick and today. I think the bloggers impatience with the organization, (caused by a lot of different items during the Bavasi era), was ARBITRARILY passed on to his successor.
I'm sorry - but transistions TAKE TIME. Okay - if I jump into a sim league, I can spend a day or two examining my roster, everyone else's roster, and then start trying to make deals. But, I do NOT have 150 *PEOPLE* in my organization to manage, (excluding the actual players). And, even in a sim league, they have no experience dealing with me (or vice versa). Some personalities will INTENTIONALLY push the limits of reasonable to the extreme, just to get a read on how savvy the newbie might be.
Whether true or not - I suspect that the rumored Washburn deal in 2008 was nixed because of the "perception" that they were trying to take advantage of a newbie GM, (or that he was attempting to send a clear message that he wouldn't take any lowball trade that was offered). The guys in the actual jobs HAVE to think of the ramifications of this deal on future deals. And if you manage to anger a GM enough, it CAN get personal, and you can end up hurting your own best interests for the future. (Atlanta seems to be REALLY upset with the Furcal situation - feeling that had a done-deal, and then seeing him run back to LA. This could have any number of negative impacts on future dealings with Atlanta).
As for the Fields situation, I think the interim GM was simply too much a deer caught in headlights, unable to make ANY deal for fear of making one deemed a mistake.
I think Z took a perfectly reasonable response to the situation -- take some time -- see how the club was coming together -- see what the financial situation was looking like -- look at the most likely possibilities for the 2009 draft pick slot, and then make his choice. He did not NEED to make the choice any sooner. By the time he came on board, it wasn't going to help him or the Ms in any significant way to sign Fields, (and I doubt seriously if Boras was going to back down one iota without taking some time to size up Z, either).
Ultimately, I think given the economy, the relative positions, et al, if I had to guess what happened, I would expect some sort of compromise, (possibly incentive-based), where the Ms almost certainly didn't cave on the direct signing bonus, but perhaps added an "easy" incentive clause, (an extra 500k if Fields pitches 50 innings total in the majors by the end of the 2010 season).
At the time Z comes in, he likely needs to do "something" to allow Boras to save some face with his client. He also needs to try and appease upper management in regards to at least acknowledging their reluctance to break the draft slot pay grades. I imagine that Z has told them that while draft slot pay is beneficial in the abstract, absolutism can lead to even worse outcomes.
The invective for Fields (and Boras) is mostly derived from impatience and frustration with the Bavasi regime, which has to be transferred somewhere, because Bavasi isn't here to kick around anymore.
As for directing the angst and ire at Fields -- that makes no sense whatsoever. He hired Boras, the best agent in the game, (which most of us would do, if we were in the same position). He's taking his agent's advice. Duh! If you're gonna hand over 20% of your money to someone, then it seems pretty basic that you kind of expect them to advise you to your benefit. If you hire Barry Bonds to hit HRs for you - you don't tell him not to wear his armor to the plate "because it doesn't match the team colors." If you do that - then you really are an idiot.
If you want to hate Boras, fine go ahead. I don't like the man, either -- but he DOES what he is paid to do -- get his clients more money, (usually a LOT more money), then they would get without him. But I for one, am not going to be hating on the young kid, who hired the best agent out there for taking the adivce he is paying for.
And I'm not going to be hating on Z for signing the kid, when he's just doing his best to clean up the mess left behind by the frat party that just left the building.