Dodgers awarded waiver claim on Gonzo

[overkill94]

The Dodger farm would be quite barren if this deal goes through. While that doesn't necessarily matter since their starting line-up would mostly be set, it would make them quite susceptible if injuries occurred. I'm of the opinion that the Dodgers are giving up too much while taking on so much salary. Then again, it would vastly improve the team this year and for the next few years. 1B and LF were going to be the major areas of concern and now they're locked up for years to come. I'm guessing Beckett will be better while back in the NL and AGon has been hitting much better the last month or so.

This deal would have major fantasy implications for my NL team since I have Loney. Our league has the rule where if you have the major leaguer in the deal then you have dibs on all the players coming back. Not only would I have AGon replace Loney, but Beckett would replace Blanton.

[DJBeasties]

I can't believe this deal!

[revo]

Done deal!

Boston Herald:
"The rebuilding of the Red Sox begins today.

Early this morning, the Red Sox and Dodgers concluded a blockbuster deal in which the Red Sox shipped four players – Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Nick Punto – in exchange for a massive relief in salary as well as four minor-leaguers and first baseman James Loney, according to a Red Sox source.

The deal will be worth in excess of $275 million to the Red Sox including luxury tax savings and salaries for the remainder of this season and beyond. Over the next six years, the Dodgers will receive $12 million from the Red Sox, with the payments to begin next year.

Through a mixture of underperformance and bad seeds in the clubhouse, the Red Sox, out of the playoffs mix since 2009, have needed a massive overhaul that most thought would begin in the offseason.

The Dodgers, under new ownership, sped up that timetable by making waiver claims this month."

http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/sports/red_sox/

[TranaGreg]

stunning.

Maybe MLB should consider an anti-dumping rule.

[TranaGreg]

Not that it matters now, but nearly every baseball writer I respect is pillorying the Dodgers in this deal and praising the Sox. None like it for LA. And many are even saying that it would have been a good deal for Boston even without the prospects. We shall see.

of course, if a world series lands in LA all criticism will be forgotten

[Roto Rooter]

Dodgers gave the Red Sox an enormous gift. Over a quarter of a billion dollars saved allows the Sox to instantly hit the reset button instead of being saddled for years with bad contracts and they got a few young chips in return too. The Dodgers get a small upgrade in their chances for a long post season run. GL with that. Hell if the season ended today the Dodgers aren't even playing post season baseball.

In terms of entertainment for the baseball world this trade is amazing. One of the biggest in baseball history. On the field? Not so much. At least they are trying, but this has disaster written all over it.

[Hornsby]

Again, forget the money. It's essentially irrelevant to both franchises, since they have printing presses in the basement of each ballpark. People in Boston wailed and gnashed their teeth over the CC contract when it was signed, now they're out from underneath it. Done and done...and as Gammons said, there's not much out there in the free agent market this year. Combine that with the new restrictions on the draft and International signings, and suddenly, having an "extra" 250 million isn't that great a deal.

Look instead strictly at the baseball side of it...new start for great players, in the land of milk and honey. People seem to forget that A-Gone played almost his whole career in this division, and in a horrible park. Think of it was coming home while still in the prime of his career. Beckett is a big game pitcher who has a lot to prove...and everyone loves a redemption story in Hollywood. And CC, when healthy, is a great player who'll make that OF one of the best, both offensively, and defensively.

Enjoy it boys, hell, revel in it...sh!t like this happens so rarely that you should savor each and every moment rather than wringing your hands and waiting for the dark cloud to appear on the horizon.

[Ryno84MVP]

Deal is not actually done, despite reports to the contrary, according to the reliable Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times.

Per Jon Heyman, trade WILL be done. awaiting crawford consent paperwork to be finalized. he already consented verbally

https://twitter.com/JonHeymanCBS/status/239385835324190720

[BigJonEmpire]

Not a Great Deal for the Dodgers

It is hard to believe this deal was completed. The Dodgers gained some potentially great players but I'm shocked they would give up the prospects. We've seen in virtually every contract dumping trade the dumping team including cash if they wanted prospects. Without cash coming back the Dodgers are taking a huge risk and giving up good talent to do it.

Even leaving Fenway Park doesn't seem to solve all the power problems Gonzalez was showing, or fix his walk rate, or explain why he's been swinging at so many out of zone pitches the last two years. So Gonzo isn't much less flawed than Carl Crawford or Josh Beckett.

I wish the Dodgers had waited to hire a new General Manager before making a huge move like this. They can afford the contracts but they may not solve their problems.

For the Red Sox this is a great deal. A-Gonz was apparently not a fan of Bobby Valentine (who is?) and if ownership considered him a problem this is an even better deal for them. Plus they deal Beckett who was dragging down the pitching staff (and Jon Lester) in his refusal to show any passion or motivation to improve or even get into pitching shape.

[Moonlight J]

[revo]

what's interesting is that MLB is becoming like the NBA in that these GMs hand out huge mega-deals and then almost instantly have buyer's remorse. I understand this is a new GM in town, but Henry's the same owner and Cherington was the Assistant GM. What happened with Gonzo to have suddenly frowned on him sticking around another 5 years?

Same in Philly with Cliff Lee.

It's like these teams get into arms races, only to realize they made a massive wrong decision a season later. This used to be the realm of the Mets, Blue Jays, etc. and now it's the perennial post-season teams.

As a Dodger fan, it's nice to see a stacked lineup and a chance at the post-season. And an OF of Kemp/Ethier/Crawford next year? Wowza. And the rotation's loaded too.

But.......Ben Cherington must've made a deal with the devil to be able to hit the reset button so quickly into his reign. Not sure if this makes Boston competitive for the next few years, but still.....it must be nice to wipe the slate clean.

[BigJonEmpire]

Err, yeah not so much there....

I was kind of with you until you threw that out there.

OK, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, still, the Gonzo you are getting is not the one that played in San Diego.

[chancellor]

My point is that Gonzalez remains an elite trading target, regardless of the rest of the chaff in this deal. He is one of the few true difference makers at the plate in all of baseball. Since his poor start, he's been absolutely en fuego. A guy like him doesn't stay down for long.

Agreed. Crawford's the key guy in this deal. After TJ surgery, will he turn back into the dynamic, top of order presence he used to be, or the fragile, glass player who's first name should be spelled CarDL.

[Erik]

This is risky for the Red Sox as well. They are remaking themselves in the image of Bobby V. Traditionally that hasn't ended well.

[chancellor]

From what I've read on the wires so far, it's Webster, Loney, DeJesus and two PTBNLs to the Red Sox. Anyone heard how soon the PTBNLs (who I assume will be Sands and de la Rosa) will be named?