@baggio: I disagree.
Quag got severely injured and this changed his role at the club. It's perfectly normal. It happens at Milan too. Some douche complaints of chestpains, and Galliani goes straight out to look for a replacement. I think Marotta handled the Quag-situation very well, because he managed to lure Matri out of Cagliari when Cagliari didn't want to let their best player go. Of course, he had to overpay a bit for Matri, just to get him out of there, but in the end Matri proved to be worth every penny.
Krasic was an impressive deal, because the russians were holding out for much more. And even though Krasic had other suitors, Marotta kept his ground, and got his man for the price he originally wanted. Now, Krasic is indeed in no man's land, but that's something that you cannot foresee as a GM. We were fapping like crazy when Krasic arrived, and we were the envy of many clubs. Krasic has let himself, Marotta and the entire club down with his terrible performances. It's entirely up to Krasic to change back into the player he can be. And if he does, Krasic is a quality player.
The Barzagli-signing was shrewd, to use one of your words. A lot of quality for very little cash.
Pirlo and Vidal are up there with the best signings all over Europe. Just excellent.
The Martinez signing is his worst signing. Truly terrible. And the Bonucci deal in terms of what we got for the price can't be called a great deal. But if you want, I can give you a list of at least 15 terrible Galliani signings. Corvino and Sabatini is no different.
No GM is perfect and neither is Marotta. But I do think he's proving that he's suited for the job.
You're right about one thing, though. He does have more to prove. It will be very interesting to see how he'll fare in the market when we get back into the CL. His actions in the market will be crucial at that point.