I just checked tonight's boxscore & none of the players mentionned in the imminent trade are playing. Deal to be announced later tonight?
The Official 2012 Major League Baseball Thread
- Thread starter Mod 8
- Start date
You're pretty much on the money, Beav. This looks like a brilliant deal to me. Yesterday, the Sox' present and future both looked pretty bleak thanks to the load of massive contracts Theo had saddle the Sox with. From all the accounts I've read, it doesn't look like the Sox will be picking up much of the contracts that they're moving to LA. They now are committed to the tune of $47 M for 2013, all of a sudden with massive flexibility. Ellsbury has one more year of arbitration. Pedroia, Lester, and Buchholz all have team favorable contracts. John Lackey when he was healthy was a quality pitcher and even his contract doesn't look bad when you consider that the Sox hold a club option on him for 2015 for $1. Yep, one dollar. That means he's at an average of $10 M over the next three years.
They dump the salaries of Crawford and Beckett; they get four prospects, including the Dodgers two best pitching prospects, for Gonzalez.
The deal also pushes them under the luxury tax threshold for 2012, which is huge considering the make-up of the new CBA.
They need a first baseman for 2013. Nick Swisher, anyone? Mike Napoli? They need another starting pitcher. RA Dickey?
Yesterday, the Sox were looking at $99.6 M in guaranteed contracts entering 2013; today that number is $38.8 M.
The deal is done, Doc, pending physicals and both Beckett and Crawford waiving their no-trade clauses.
The Boston Herald is reporting that the Sox will pick up $11 M of the $271 M still owed to Beckett, Gonzalez, Crawford, and Punto.
Red Sox poised to blow it all up, start anew
Bold first step in erasing foul stench
By John Tomase, The Boston Herald
Remember how bad off you thought the Red Sox were?
Turns out the front office was way ahead of you.
A day that had featured seemingly incredible news — the Dodgers were willing to take Josh Beckett, no strings attached?!? — ended with a cartoon jaw hitting the floor.
Not only do the Dodgers want Beckett, they want Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford, too (and Nick Punto, for that matter). While nothing will be official until today at the earliest, the Red Sox scratched Gonzalez from last night’s lineup and the Dodgers did the same with first baseman James Loney.
Whether or not the deal goes down, we now have beyond-a-shadow-of-a-doubt proof that Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington is prepared to make like Michael Corleone taking out the heads of the other four families in his own clubhouse.
Forget about tinkering under the hood or making a couple of surgical strikes to purge the likes of Beckett or John Lackey.
This is wiring Fenway with enough TNT to sink the Poseidon.
Let the healing begin, because the Red Sox have taken their first significant step toward erasing the stench of the last calendar year. And if they’re thinking this big now, there’s every reason to expect even more in the coming months.
It already feels like a new day, which is exactly what the franchise needs. The focus of this deal from a PR standpoint should be Beckett, because removing him from the equation immediately makes the club about 25 percent more likable.
The beer-and-chicken ringleader is gone. No more golf on precious off days following injuries. No more tone-deaf complaints suggesting we don’t understand the importance of family. No more swearing on NESN following lousy outings or conducting defiant interviews refusing to accept responsibility for any his actions.
No more of one of the most reviled Red Sox players of the last decade.
The megadeal isn’t without a fair share of risk. Red Sox fans who actually believe Gonzalez can’t handle the pressure of Boston based on this season are in for a rude awakening. He’s going to be an MVP candidate in Los Angeles, and you can take that one to the bank.
Replacing him won’t be remotely easy. His power/patience combo places him among the elite 15 hitters in the game.
As for Crawford, he hasn’t delivered on his $142 million deal yet, but with a surgically repaired elbow, could easily regain his prior form. Plus, he actually cared and worked his butt off. He wasn’t part of the problem.
History may lose those facts in the shuffle, but so be it. With this one gargantuan deal, Cherington has boldly served notice that the Sox recognize the flaws in their roster, and will place a premium on financial flexibility, which should serve them well moving forward.
At their best during the halcyon years of 2003-07, the Red Sox generally avoided megabucks free agent deals and instead made smart acquisitions — think David Ortiz [stats], Bill Mueller and Hideki Okajima [stats], to name three. When they did spend on a trade/free agent, it was the right fit — think Curt Schilling [stats] or Keith Foulke.
Then they got lazy, seduced by the lure of free agency, which is how they ended up hamstringing their roster with so many bloated contracts. Things got so bad this winter, they couldn’t even afford a $10 million pitcher like Hiroki Kuroda.
Those days are gone. This deal will save them as much as $260 million, depending on how much they send back to Los Angeles. While some will undoubtedly cry to extend Jacoby Ellsbury [stats] or sign Josh Hamilton this winter, a new day is upon us. Those are exactly the kind of contracts the Red Sox [team stats] will be looking to avoid.
How they spend their savings, however, is a topic for another day. All that matters now is that after a year of misery, a new day is upon us.
The Red Sox are finally crawling out of the darkness.
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/...p_in_erasing_foul_stench/srvc=home&position=0
Bold first step in erasing foul stench
By John Tomase, The Boston Herald
Remember how bad off you thought the Red Sox were?
Turns out the front office was way ahead of you.
A day that had featured seemingly incredible news — the Dodgers were willing to take Josh Beckett, no strings attached?!? — ended with a cartoon jaw hitting the floor.
Not only do the Dodgers want Beckett, they want Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford, too (and Nick Punto, for that matter). While nothing will be official until today at the earliest, the Red Sox scratched Gonzalez from last night’s lineup and the Dodgers did the same with first baseman James Loney.
Whether or not the deal goes down, we now have beyond-a-shadow-of-a-doubt proof that Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington is prepared to make like Michael Corleone taking out the heads of the other four families in his own clubhouse.
Forget about tinkering under the hood or making a couple of surgical strikes to purge the likes of Beckett or John Lackey.
This is wiring Fenway with enough TNT to sink the Poseidon.
Let the healing begin, because the Red Sox have taken their first significant step toward erasing the stench of the last calendar year. And if they’re thinking this big now, there’s every reason to expect even more in the coming months.
It already feels like a new day, which is exactly what the franchise needs. The focus of this deal from a PR standpoint should be Beckett, because removing him from the equation immediately makes the club about 25 percent more likable.
The beer-and-chicken ringleader is gone. No more golf on precious off days following injuries. No more tone-deaf complaints suggesting we don’t understand the importance of family. No more swearing on NESN following lousy outings or conducting defiant interviews refusing to accept responsibility for any his actions.
No more of one of the most reviled Red Sox players of the last decade.
The megadeal isn’t without a fair share of risk. Red Sox fans who actually believe Gonzalez can’t handle the pressure of Boston based on this season are in for a rude awakening. He’s going to be an MVP candidate in Los Angeles, and you can take that one to the bank.
Replacing him won’t be remotely easy. His power/patience combo places him among the elite 15 hitters in the game.
As for Crawford, he hasn’t delivered on his $142 million deal yet, but with a surgically repaired elbow, could easily regain his prior form. Plus, he actually cared and worked his butt off. He wasn’t part of the problem.
History may lose those facts in the shuffle, but so be it. With this one gargantuan deal, Cherington has boldly served notice that the Sox recognize the flaws in their roster, and will place a premium on financial flexibility, which should serve them well moving forward.
At their best during the halcyon years of 2003-07, the Red Sox generally avoided megabucks free agent deals and instead made smart acquisitions — think David Ortiz [stats], Bill Mueller and Hideki Okajima [stats], to name three. When they did spend on a trade/free agent, it was the right fit — think Curt Schilling [stats] or Keith Foulke.
Then they got lazy, seduced by the lure of free agency, which is how they ended up hamstringing their roster with so many bloated contracts. Things got so bad this winter, they couldn’t even afford a $10 million pitcher like Hiroki Kuroda.
Those days are gone. This deal will save them as much as $260 million, depending on how much they send back to Los Angeles. While some will undoubtedly cry to extend Jacoby Ellsbury [stats] or sign Josh Hamilton this winter, a new day is upon us. Those are exactly the kind of contracts the Red Sox [team stats] will be looking to avoid.
How they spend their savings, however, is a topic for another day. All that matters now is that after a year of misery, a new day is upon us.
The Red Sox are finally crawling out of the darkness.
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/...p_in_erasing_foul_stench/srvc=home&position=0
Say whaaaa?
This sounds awfully familiar from you, Rumpleforeskin, like the time when the sox signed Crawford, Lackie, Curt "CY" Young, Re signed Beckett long term, hired Bobby V, and who can forget the hard on you had for Adrian Gonzalez when he was traded for. I could go on but meh, point made. I give ya credit tho rumps, you are definitely the epitome of a red sox fan.
Lets break down this trade realistically. The Dodgers would be getting a huge upgrade with getting Adrian G, but for the life of me I have to say it is a huge risk taking on a injury prone and aging faster than a 100 yr old man in Crawford considering the money owed, why they want him and that horrible contract I have no idea. Beckett is well, iffy as far as term left and money owed for what may turn him around somewhat to who he used to be by pitching in the NL, but could backfire.
The red sox are getting one pretty good pitching "prospect", another pitcher who has had Tommy John surgery and could be good or could flop, and 2 dime a dozen average at best players. Who wins the deal if it goes through? Red sox shed a ton of money with some bad contracts and under performers but letting Adrian G go is a mistake. LA gets exactly what they need in Adrian G but taking huge risks with crawford and beckett and their huge contracts. I guess i would say the winner would be,.............. who cares, the Yanks are in first and every month should be named JUNE.
PS. Rumpleforeskin is back baby! :cheer2:
This sounds awfully familiar from you, Rumpleforeskin, like the time when the sox signed Crawford, Lackie, Curt "CY" Young, Re signed Beckett long term, hired Bobby V, and who can forget the hard on you had for Adrian Gonzalez when he was traded for. I could go on but meh, point made. I give ya credit tho rumps, you are definitely the epitome of a red sox fan.
Lets break down this trade realistically. The Dodgers would be getting a huge upgrade with getting Adrian G, but for the life of me I have to say it is a huge risk taking on a injury prone and aging faster than a 100 yr old man in Crawford considering the money owed, why they want him and that horrible contract I have no idea. Beckett is well, iffy as far as term left and money owed for what may turn him around somewhat to who he used to be by pitching in the NL, but could backfire.
The red sox are getting one pretty good pitching "prospect", another pitcher who has had Tommy John surgery and could be good or could flop, and 2 dime a dozen average at best players. Who wins the deal if it goes through? Red sox shed a ton of money with some bad contracts and under performers but letting Adrian G go is a mistake. LA gets exactly what they need in Adrian G but taking huge risks with crawford and beckett and their huge contracts. I guess i would say the winner would be,.............. who cares, the Yanks are in first and every month should be named JUNE.
PS. Rumpleforeskin is back baby! :cheer2:
Dodgers/Red sox trade: A No-Win Situation?
Forget for a second the notion of a baseball trade that helps both clubs.
How about a trade that's equally toxic for both parties?
As the Dodgers and Red Sox ponder a trade of such blockbuster proportions it'd make Michael Bay blush, we can only hope each club takes a step back and asks:
Adrian Gonzalez would create a lineup void if he departed the Red Sox, but the Dodgers might soon find payroll inflexibility if they took on three huge Boston contracts.
Is this good for the company?
It's easy to understand both franchises' motivations for making the deal.
The Dodgers, with new managing general partner Mark Walter showing he's the real Magic man of this ownership group, are ready to power-wash the grim final days of the Frank McCourt era, papering over the embarrassment of a bankrupt franchise with wads of cash and shiny new players.
The Red Sox, ravaged by tens of millions of dollars of injured personnel, embarrassed by clubhouse chicken 'n beer, rogue text messages to ownership and a manager who seems as bad a fit for the Hub as many imagined, are all too eager to hit the reset button.
So sending Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett (and the $261 million owed them) along with Nick Punto (congrats, you're now a trivia question!) to the Dodgers gives the Red Sox a new life. And rolling the dice on unproven but intriguing talents such as Rubby De La Rosa and Jerry Sands may yield a big return.
And if you're a Dodger fan, it's hard not to salivate over the notion of an offensively-dysfunctional club having one of baseball's great run-producers in Gonzalez bracketed by Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier. Or the production potential of a star-studded and utterly athletic outfield manned by a healthy Crawford, Kemp and Ethier, all signed through at least 2017.
But let's stop looking at this through a sepia-toned lens for just a second and ponder what's not good.
First, the Red Sox.
General manager Ben Cherington may very well be seen as a conquering hero if he dumps the $32 million owed an embattled Beckett the next two seasons, along with the $157 million due the suddenly brittle Crawford and the $127 million Gonzalez will get through 2018.
But the Red Sox, with their two World Series titles last decade (and that seems a long time ago, yeah?), are playing in a market big on expectations and short on patience. Taking TNT to the roster is a great thing, but only if an organization has the time and space to build things back up properly.
In Boston, that ain't happening.
So while it's great that the Red Sox would be shedding the absurdly awful Crawford contract, and ridding an apparent clubhouse scourge in Beckett, and at the least the proverbial "bad fit in Boston" in Gonzalez, it does create one problem.
There is no middle of the order.
Gonzalez, though his power numbers have been in some decline, would be no small loss. He didn't turn into the monster many predicted hitting at Fenway Park, but he did produce a .957 OPS in an MVP-caliber 2011, and despite a lackluster 2012 campaign, he's still a .300 hitter this year in a season of poor health and many distractions.
Take away his automatic 30-homer, 100-RBI production, and what do you have?
An outstanding young hitter in Will Middlebrooks, and no one around him.
So, remember all that cash the Red Sox just saved?
Well, they better go out and lavish much it upon Josh Hamilton, whose leverage would skyrocket with this deal.
And here's the biggest problem with dealing Gonzalez: He's a relative bargain.
Gonzalez agreed to a seven-year, $154 million contract extension in December 2011. Since then, the game's financial landscape has undergone a Jenner-esque alteration.
Albert Pujols extracted $240 million from the Angels. Joey Votto was guaranteed an additional quarter-billion dollars by the Reds.
And now, the Red Sox must venture into this market for a power hitter, suddenly the scarcest commodity in the game.
Hamilton is the only legitimate bopper available this winter. He is well in position to make Gonzalez's contract look like chump change.
And he would come with the caveats of a body that sends him to the disabled list at least once every year, as well as the specter of his addiction history.
Good fit in Boston? Yeah, maybe Gonzalez doesn't look so bad now.
And as for the Dodgers?
Well, it's true that any sun-splashed day at Chavez Ravine is all the brighter when Frank McCourt doesn't own the team. But it's almost like Joseph and Co. are taking the club back to the pre-McCourt days, when Fox owned the Dodgers.
That era actually was less successful than the McCourt Era, marked by bad contracts (Kevin Brown, $105 million) and the lack of a cohesive plan.
Which begs the question: What, exactly, is the Dodgers' plan?
General manager Ned Colletti, who is assured of having a job exactly as long as a Mitt Romney campaign employee, seems to be throwing players and money around as if this were the be-all, end-all season for the Dodgers.
Let's just take Beckett and Hanley Ramirez, who the Dodgers acquired on July 25. Two guys in decline who had on-field and clubhouse issues in their most recent stops. Suddenly, it's good business to deal prospects and take on the roughly $63 million for two seasons of Beckett and Ramirez?
It should be noted that the Dodgers were 53-46 and 2 1/2 games out of first when they dealt for Ramirez. Since then: 14-12, and 2 1/2 games out of first.
And as for Crawford? Well congratulations, Barry Zito! You no longer have the worst contract in the NL West. Crawford, who had Tommy John surgery Thursday and may not be ready for the start of next season, will earn at least $20 million for the next five seasons, bringing in $21 million in 2017, when he's 35.
If Fenway Park did a number on his offensive production, just wait 'til he tries hitting at Dodger Stadium.
And that's ultimately where this is a bad fit.
Crawford-Kemp-Gonzalez-Ramirez-Ethier make for a nifty 2-6 in the lineup. In 2013, they'll also make a combined $90 million.
That's more than halfway to baseball's luxury tax threshold of $178 million for five players - one coming off Tommy John surgery.
And that's without paying a single dollar toward a pitcher.
Trouble is, pitching still rules in the NL West. And while the Dodgers have one of the best in Clayton Kershaw, the next four of Beckett, Chad Billingsley, Chris Capuano and Aaron Harang won't exactly send Giants fans crying into their glasses of Pinot Noir.
Oh, and by the way, Mr. Joseph: Do you still have a spare $160 million lying around for Mr. Kershaw in 2015?
Hey dude, if you wanna skyrocket past the luxury tax time and again, good on you. But collecting aging and wildly expensive malcontents isn't exactly the most progressive way to go about building a franchise.
Surely Joseph can spare the $1.30 to Redbox a copy of Moneyball one of these nights?
Maybe he ought to do just that this weekend. Let this deal swirl around a bit, sleep on it, wake up and see if it's really the right thing to do.
Which brings us to another old baseball saw: Sometimes the best trades are the ones you don't make.
Forget for a second the notion of a baseball trade that helps both clubs.
How about a trade that's equally toxic for both parties?
As the Dodgers and Red Sox ponder a trade of such blockbuster proportions it'd make Michael Bay blush, we can only hope each club takes a step back and asks:
Adrian Gonzalez would create a lineup void if he departed the Red Sox, but the Dodgers might soon find payroll inflexibility if they took on three huge Boston contracts.
CAPTIONBy David Richard, US PRESSWIREIs this good for the company?
It's easy to understand both franchises' motivations for making the deal.
The Dodgers, with new managing general partner Mark Walter showing he's the real Magic man of this ownership group, are ready to power-wash the grim final days of the Frank McCourt era, papering over the embarrassment of a bankrupt franchise with wads of cash and shiny new players.
The Red Sox, ravaged by tens of millions of dollars of injured personnel, embarrassed by clubhouse chicken 'n beer, rogue text messages to ownership and a manager who seems as bad a fit for the Hub as many imagined, are all too eager to hit the reset button.
So sending Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett (and the $261 million owed them) along with Nick Punto (congrats, you're now a trivia question!) to the Dodgers gives the Red Sox a new life. And rolling the dice on unproven but intriguing talents such as Rubby De La Rosa and Jerry Sands may yield a big return.
And if you're a Dodger fan, it's hard not to salivate over the notion of an offensively-dysfunctional club having one of baseball's great run-producers in Gonzalez bracketed by Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier. Or the production potential of a star-studded and utterly athletic outfield manned by a healthy Crawford, Kemp and Ethier, all signed through at least 2017.
But let's stop looking at this through a sepia-toned lens for just a second and ponder what's not good.
First, the Red Sox.
General manager Ben Cherington may very well be seen as a conquering hero if he dumps the $32 million owed an embattled Beckett the next two seasons, along with the $157 million due the suddenly brittle Crawford and the $127 million Gonzalez will get through 2018.
But the Red Sox, with their two World Series titles last decade (and that seems a long time ago, yeah?), are playing in a market big on expectations and short on patience. Taking TNT to the roster is a great thing, but only if an organization has the time and space to build things back up properly.
In Boston, that ain't happening.
So while it's great that the Red Sox would be shedding the absurdly awful Crawford contract, and ridding an apparent clubhouse scourge in Beckett, and at the least the proverbial "bad fit in Boston" in Gonzalez, it does create one problem.
There is no middle of the order.
Gonzalez, though his power numbers have been in some decline, would be no small loss. He didn't turn into the monster many predicted hitting at Fenway Park, but he did produce a .957 OPS in an MVP-caliber 2011, and despite a lackluster 2012 campaign, he's still a .300 hitter this year in a season of poor health and many distractions.
Take away his automatic 30-homer, 100-RBI production, and what do you have?
An outstanding young hitter in Will Middlebrooks, and no one around him.
So, remember all that cash the Red Sox just saved?
Well, they better go out and lavish much it upon Josh Hamilton, whose leverage would skyrocket with this deal.
And here's the biggest problem with dealing Gonzalez: He's a relative bargain.
Gonzalez agreed to a seven-year, $154 million contract extension in December 2011. Since then, the game's financial landscape has undergone a Jenner-esque alteration.
Albert Pujols extracted $240 million from the Angels. Joey Votto was guaranteed an additional quarter-billion dollars by the Reds.
And now, the Red Sox must venture into this market for a power hitter, suddenly the scarcest commodity in the game.
Hamilton is the only legitimate bopper available this winter. He is well in position to make Gonzalez's contract look like chump change.
And he would come with the caveats of a body that sends him to the disabled list at least once every year, as well as the specter of his addiction history.
Good fit in Boston? Yeah, maybe Gonzalez doesn't look so bad now.
And as for the Dodgers?
Well, it's true that any sun-splashed day at Chavez Ravine is all the brighter when Frank McCourt doesn't own the team. But it's almost like Joseph and Co. are taking the club back to the pre-McCourt days, when Fox owned the Dodgers.
That era actually was less successful than the McCourt Era, marked by bad contracts (Kevin Brown, $105 million) and the lack of a cohesive plan.
Which begs the question: What, exactly, is the Dodgers' plan?
General manager Ned Colletti, who is assured of having a job exactly as long as a Mitt Romney campaign employee, seems to be throwing players and money around as if this were the be-all, end-all season for the Dodgers.
Let's just take Beckett and Hanley Ramirez, who the Dodgers acquired on July 25. Two guys in decline who had on-field and clubhouse issues in their most recent stops. Suddenly, it's good business to deal prospects and take on the roughly $63 million for two seasons of Beckett and Ramirez?
It should be noted that the Dodgers were 53-46 and 2 1/2 games out of first when they dealt for Ramirez. Since then: 14-12, and 2 1/2 games out of first.
And as for Crawford? Well congratulations, Barry Zito! You no longer have the worst contract in the NL West. Crawford, who had Tommy John surgery Thursday and may not be ready for the start of next season, will earn at least $20 million for the next five seasons, bringing in $21 million in 2017, when he's 35.
If Fenway Park did a number on his offensive production, just wait 'til he tries hitting at Dodger Stadium.
And that's ultimately where this is a bad fit.
Crawford-Kemp-Gonzalez-Ramirez-Ethier make for a nifty 2-6 in the lineup. In 2013, they'll also make a combined $90 million.
That's more than halfway to baseball's luxury tax threshold of $178 million for five players - one coming off Tommy John surgery.
And that's without paying a single dollar toward a pitcher.
Trouble is, pitching still rules in the NL West. And while the Dodgers have one of the best in Clayton Kershaw, the next four of Beckett, Chad Billingsley, Chris Capuano and Aaron Harang won't exactly send Giants fans crying into their glasses of Pinot Noir.
Oh, and by the way, Mr. Joseph: Do you still have a spare $160 million lying around for Mr. Kershaw in 2015?
Hey dude, if you wanna skyrocket past the luxury tax time and again, good on you. But collecting aging and wildly expensive malcontents isn't exactly the most progressive way to go about building a franchise.
Surely Joseph can spare the $1.30 to Redbox a copy of Moneyball one of these nights?
Maybe he ought to do just that this weekend. Let this deal swirl around a bit, sleep on it, wake up and see if it's really the right thing to do.
Which brings us to another old baseball saw: Sometimes the best trades are the ones you don't make.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/dailypitch/post/2012/08/dodgers-red-sox-trade-/1
Forget for a second the notion of a baseball trade that helps both clubs.
How about a trade that's equally toxic for both parties?
As the Dodgers and Red Sox ponder a trade of such blockbuster proportions it'd make Michael Bay blush, we can only hope each club takes a step back and asks:
Adrian Gonzalez would create a lineup void if he departed the Red Sox, but the Dodgers might soon find payroll inflexibility if they took on three huge Boston contracts.
Is this good for the company?
It's easy to understand both franchises' motivations for making the deal.
The Dodgers, with new managing general partner Mark Walter showing he's the real Magic man of this ownership group, are ready to power-wash the grim final days of the Frank McCourt era, papering over the embarrassment of a bankrupt franchise with wads of cash and shiny new players.
The Red Sox, ravaged by tens of millions of dollars of injured personnel, embarrassed by clubhouse chicken 'n beer, rogue text messages to ownership and a manager who seems as bad a fit for the Hub as many imagined, are all too eager to hit the reset button.
So sending Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett (and the $261 million owed them) along with Nick Punto (congrats, you're now a trivia question!) to the Dodgers gives the Red Sox a new life. And rolling the dice on unproven but intriguing talents such as Rubby De La Rosa and Jerry Sands may yield a big return.
And if you're a Dodger fan, it's hard not to salivate over the notion of an offensively-dysfunctional club having one of baseball's great run-producers in Gonzalez bracketed by Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier. Or the production potential of a star-studded and utterly athletic outfield manned by a healthy Crawford, Kemp and Ethier, all signed through at least 2017.
But let's stop looking at this through a sepia-toned lens for just a second and ponder what's not good.
First, the Red Sox.
General manager Ben Cherington may very well be seen as a conquering hero if he dumps the $32 million owed an embattled Beckett the next two seasons, along with the $157 million due the suddenly brittle Crawford and the $127 million Gonzalez will get through 2018.
But the Red Sox, with their two World Series titles last decade (and that seems a long time ago, yeah?), are playing in a market big on expectations and short on patience. Taking TNT to the roster is a great thing, but only if an organization has the time and space to build things back up properly.
In Boston, that ain't happening.
So while it's great that the Red Sox would be shedding the absurdly awful Crawford contract, and ridding an apparent clubhouse scourge in Beckett, and at the least the proverbial "bad fit in Boston" in Gonzalez, it does create one problem.
There is no middle of the order.
Gonzalez, though his power numbers have been in some decline, would be no small loss. He didn't turn into the monster many predicted hitting at Fenway Park, but he did produce a .957 OPS in an MVP-caliber 2011, and despite a lackluster 2012 campaign, he's still a .300 hitter this year in a season of poor health and many distractions.
Take away his automatic 30-homer, 100-RBI production, and what do you have?
An outstanding young hitter in Will Middlebrooks, and no one around him.
So, remember all that cash the Red Sox just saved?
Well, they better go out and lavish much it upon Josh Hamilton, whose leverage would skyrocket with this deal.
And here's the biggest problem with dealing Gonzalez: He's a relative bargain.
Gonzalez agreed to a seven-year, $154 million contract extension in December 2011. Since then, the game's financial landscape has undergone a Jenner-esque alteration.
Albert Pujols extracted $240 million from the Angels. Joey Votto was guaranteed an additional quarter-billion dollars by the Reds.
And now, the Red Sox must venture into this market for a power hitter, suddenly the scarcest commodity in the game.
Hamilton is the only legitimate bopper available this winter. He is well in position to make Gonzalez's contract look like chump change.
And he would come with the caveats of a body that sends him to the disabled list at least once every year, as well as the specter of his addiction history.
Good fit in Boston? Yeah, maybe Gonzalez doesn't look so bad now.
And as for the Dodgers?
Well, it's true that any sun-splashed day at Chavez Ravine is all the brighter when Frank McCourt doesn't own the team. But it's almost like Joseph and Co. are taking the club back to the pre-McCourt days, when Fox owned the Dodgers.
That era actually was less successful than the McCourt Era, marked by bad contracts (Kevin Brown, $105 million) and the lack of a cohesive plan.
Which begs the question: What, exactly, is the Dodgers' plan?
General manager Ned Colletti, who is assured of having a job exactly as long as a Mitt Romney campaign employee, seems to be throwing players and money around as if this were the be-all, end-all season for the Dodgers.
Let's just take Beckett and Hanley Ramirez, who the Dodgers acquired on July 25. Two guys in decline who had on-field and clubhouse issues in their most recent stops. Suddenly, it's good business to deal prospects and take on the roughly $63 million for two seasons of Beckett and Ramirez?
It should be noted that the Dodgers were 53-46 and 2 1/2 games out of first when they dealt for Ramirez. Since then: 14-12, and 2 1/2 games out of first.
And as for Crawford? Well congratulations, Barry Zito! You no longer have the worst contract in the NL West. Crawford, who had Tommy John surgery Thursday and may not be ready for the start of next season, will earn at least $20 million for the next five seasons, bringing in $21 million in 2017, when he's 35.
If Fenway Park did a number on his offensive production, just wait 'til he tries hitting at Dodger Stadium.
And that's ultimately where this is a bad fit.
Crawford-Kemp-Gonzalez-Ramirez-Ethier make for a nifty 2-6 in the lineup. In 2013, they'll also make a combined $90 million.
That's more than halfway to baseball's luxury tax threshold of $178 million for five players - one coming off Tommy John surgery.
And that's without paying a single dollar toward a pitcher.
Trouble is, pitching still rules in the NL West. And while the Dodgers have one of the best in Clayton Kershaw, the next four of Beckett, Chad Billingsley, Chris Capuano and Aaron Harang won't exactly send Giants fans crying into their glasses of Pinot Noir.
Oh, and by the way, Mr. Joseph: Do you still have a spare $160 million lying around for Mr. Kershaw in 2015?
Hey dude, if you wanna skyrocket past the luxury tax time and again, good on you. But collecting aging and wildly expensive malcontents isn't exactly the most progressive way to go about building a franchise.
Surely Joseph can spare the $1.30 to Redbox a copy of Moneyball one of these nights?
Maybe he ought to do just that this weekend. Let this deal swirl around a bit, sleep on it, wake up and see if it's really the right thing to do.
Which brings us to another old baseball saw: Sometimes the best trades are the ones you don't make.
Forget for a second the notion of a baseball trade that helps both clubs.
How about a trade that's equally toxic for both parties?
As the Dodgers and Red Sox ponder a trade of such blockbuster proportions it'd make Michael Bay blush, we can only hope each club takes a step back and asks:
Adrian Gonzalez would create a lineup void if he departed the Red Sox, but the Dodgers might soon find payroll inflexibility if they took on three huge Boston contracts.
CAPTIONBy David Richard, US PRESSWIREIs this good for the company?
It's easy to understand both franchises' motivations for making the deal.
The Dodgers, with new managing general partner Mark Walter showing he's the real Magic man of this ownership group, are ready to power-wash the grim final days of the Frank McCourt era, papering over the embarrassment of a bankrupt franchise with wads of cash and shiny new players.
The Red Sox, ravaged by tens of millions of dollars of injured personnel, embarrassed by clubhouse chicken 'n beer, rogue text messages to ownership and a manager who seems as bad a fit for the Hub as many imagined, are all too eager to hit the reset button.
So sending Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett (and the $261 million owed them) along with Nick Punto (congrats, you're now a trivia question!) to the Dodgers gives the Red Sox a new life. And rolling the dice on unproven but intriguing talents such as Rubby De La Rosa and Jerry Sands may yield a big return.
And if you're a Dodger fan, it's hard not to salivate over the notion of an offensively-dysfunctional club having one of baseball's great run-producers in Gonzalez bracketed by Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier. Or the production potential of a star-studded and utterly athletic outfield manned by a healthy Crawford, Kemp and Ethier, all signed through at least 2017.
But let's stop looking at this through a sepia-toned lens for just a second and ponder what's not good.
First, the Red Sox.
General manager Ben Cherington may very well be seen as a conquering hero if he dumps the $32 million owed an embattled Beckett the next two seasons, along with the $157 million due the suddenly brittle Crawford and the $127 million Gonzalez will get through 2018.
But the Red Sox, with their two World Series titles last decade (and that seems a long time ago, yeah?), are playing in a market big on expectations and short on patience. Taking TNT to the roster is a great thing, but only if an organization has the time and space to build things back up properly.
In Boston, that ain't happening.
So while it's great that the Red Sox would be shedding the absurdly awful Crawford contract, and ridding an apparent clubhouse scourge in Beckett, and at the least the proverbial "bad fit in Boston" in Gonzalez, it does create one problem.
There is no middle of the order.
Gonzalez, though his power numbers have been in some decline, would be no small loss. He didn't turn into the monster many predicted hitting at Fenway Park, but he did produce a .957 OPS in an MVP-caliber 2011, and despite a lackluster 2012 campaign, he's still a .300 hitter this year in a season of poor health and many distractions.
Take away his automatic 30-homer, 100-RBI production, and what do you have?
An outstanding young hitter in Will Middlebrooks, and no one around him.
So, remember all that cash the Red Sox just saved?
Well, they better go out and lavish much it upon Josh Hamilton, whose leverage would skyrocket with this deal.
And here's the biggest problem with dealing Gonzalez: He's a relative bargain.
Gonzalez agreed to a seven-year, $154 million contract extension in December 2011. Since then, the game's financial landscape has undergone a Jenner-esque alteration.
Albert Pujols extracted $240 million from the Angels. Joey Votto was guaranteed an additional quarter-billion dollars by the Reds.
And now, the Red Sox must venture into this market for a power hitter, suddenly the scarcest commodity in the game.
Hamilton is the only legitimate bopper available this winter. He is well in position to make Gonzalez's contract look like chump change.
And he would come with the caveats of a body that sends him to the disabled list at least once every year, as well as the specter of his addiction history.
Good fit in Boston? Yeah, maybe Gonzalez doesn't look so bad now.
And as for the Dodgers?
Well, it's true that any sun-splashed day at Chavez Ravine is all the brighter when Frank McCourt doesn't own the team. But it's almost like Joseph and Co. are taking the club back to the pre-McCourt days, when Fox owned the Dodgers.
That era actually was less successful than the McCourt Era, marked by bad contracts (Kevin Brown, $105 million) and the lack of a cohesive plan.
Which begs the question: What, exactly, is the Dodgers' plan?
General manager Ned Colletti, who is assured of having a job exactly as long as a Mitt Romney campaign employee, seems to be throwing players and money around as if this were the be-all, end-all season for the Dodgers.
Let's just take Beckett and Hanley Ramirez, who the Dodgers acquired on July 25. Two guys in decline who had on-field and clubhouse issues in their most recent stops. Suddenly, it's good business to deal prospects and take on the roughly $63 million for two seasons of Beckett and Ramirez?
It should be noted that the Dodgers were 53-46 and 2 1/2 games out of first when they dealt for Ramirez. Since then: 14-12, and 2 1/2 games out of first.
And as for Crawford? Well congratulations, Barry Zito! You no longer have the worst contract in the NL West. Crawford, who had Tommy John surgery Thursday and may not be ready for the start of next season, will earn at least $20 million for the next five seasons, bringing in $21 million in 2017, when he's 35.
If Fenway Park did a number on his offensive production, just wait 'til he tries hitting at Dodger Stadium.
And that's ultimately where this is a bad fit.
Crawford-Kemp-Gonzalez-Ramirez-Ethier make for a nifty 2-6 in the lineup. In 2013, they'll also make a combined $90 million.
That's more than halfway to baseball's luxury tax threshold of $178 million for five players - one coming off Tommy John surgery.
And that's without paying a single dollar toward a pitcher.
Trouble is, pitching still rules in the NL West. And while the Dodgers have one of the best in Clayton Kershaw, the next four of Beckett, Chad Billingsley, Chris Capuano and Aaron Harang won't exactly send Giants fans crying into their glasses of Pinot Noir.
Oh, and by the way, Mr. Joseph: Do you still have a spare $160 million lying around for Mr. Kershaw in 2015?
Hey dude, if you wanna skyrocket past the luxury tax time and again, good on you. But collecting aging and wildly expensive malcontents isn't exactly the most progressive way to go about building a franchise.
Surely Joseph can spare the $1.30 to Redbox a copy of Moneyball one of these nights?
Maybe he ought to do just that this weekend. Let this deal swirl around a bit, sleep on it, wake up and see if it's really the right thing to do.
Which brings us to another old baseball saw: Sometimes the best trades are the ones you don't make.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/dailypitch/post/2012/08/dodgers-red-sox-trade-/1
Yup, some teams like to win June, some like to win October. The Yankees, two games under .500 since July 18 and facing the post-season with only two front-line starting pitchers (Sabathia and Kuroda) figure to see a short stay in the post-season. Having blown 2/3 of their 10 game lead in the past month, one wonders whether which of the two will start the Wild Card game.who cares, the Yanks are in first and every month should be named JUNE.
Thanks for the article from the unknown USA today writer. It's good to see that there's one person in the world who doesn't think this is a fantastic move for the Sox. "No protection in the lineup for Middlebrooks." What a dope. Guess he's never heard of Pedroia or Ortiz. I guess Gabe Laques was the only one on the sports desk at USA Today late Friday night. Wait til the boss finds out what he put on-line.
So here's how I see the Sox lineup next year...one that will have no trouble scoring runs.
Ellsbury CF
Pedroia 2b
Middlebrooks 3b
Ortiz DH
Swisher 1b
Ross RF
Lavarnway C
LF to be determined
Iglesias SS
What the dope from USA Today also seems to be forgetting is that the Sox have $76 M coming off their payroll after this year with the subtractions of Gonzalez, Crawford, Beckett, Youkilis, and Matsuzaka. Some of it will be spent on Swisher, some on a left fielder, some on a starting pitcher, and some will be saved to keep them under the luxury tax threshold.
The Yankees have also sworn to get under the threshold, which means Swisher is gone and it's questionable whether or not they keep Granderson. And the rest just keep getting older.
Ellsbury CF
Pedroia 2b
Middlebrooks 3b
Ortiz DH
Swisher 1b
Ross RF
Lavarnway C
LF to be determined
Iglesias SS
What the dope from USA Today also seems to be forgetting is that the Sox have $76 M coming off their payroll after this year with the subtractions of Gonzalez, Crawford, Beckett, Youkilis, and Matsuzaka. Some of it will be spent on Swisher, some on a left fielder, some on a starting pitcher, and some will be saved to keep them under the luxury tax threshold.
The Yankees have also sworn to get under the threshold, which means Swisher is gone and it's questionable whether or not they keep Granderson. And the rest just keep getting older.
It's done: Red Sox, Dodgers complete huge nine-player deal
http://content.usatoday.com/communi...red-sox-dodgers-trade-complete/1#.UDjgaaDhfNs
The Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers have completed one of the biggest trades in the long, storied histories of each franchise, the biggest in Beantown since Babe Ruth.
The blockbuster nine-player deal, involving more than $270 million in moving salaries and an immeasurable amount of culture change for two of baseball's most storied franchises, has been completed.
Multiple Boston-area outlets reported Saturday morning that the final steps in the deal have been completed.
Headed from Fenway Park to Chavez Ravine: first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, pitcher Josh Beckett, outfielder Carl Crawford, infielder Nick Punto and about $12 million in cash.
Going from Los Angeles to Boston: first baseman James Loney - who is eligible for free agency after this season - young pitchers Rubby De La Rosa and Allen Webster, infielder Ivan DeJesus Jr. and outfielder Jerry Sands.
Analysis: A bad deal for both sides?
Gonzalez will be in the lineup tonight at Dodger Stadium, clad in the No. 23 once worn by Kirk Gibson, against the Miami Marlins.
In supplanting Loney, he gives the Dodgers a menacing presence in the middle of the order to pair with Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier. But coming with him are the toxic contracts of Crawford (owed $103 million through 2017) and Beckett ($32 million in 2013 and '14), who struggled with injuries, poor performance and the occasional controversy the past two seasons in Boston.
The Red Sox, meanwhile, get massive financial relief and a chance to re-formulate the chemistry in a clubhouse gone foul the past two seasons. Despite giving the Sox a lot of contract room to retool and try to resign good proven players like Ellsbury the main problem remains...owner-managerial organization. This team needs badly to define who is in charge of what.
It's also a stunning bit of backpedaling less than two seasons after they signed Crawford and traded for Gonzalez, guaranteeing both $294 million.
The Red Sox will fail to make the playoffs in both seasons with Crawford and Gonzalez. And it is the latter's acquisition that may haunt the Red Sox's efforts to rebuild.
To acquire Gonzalez in December 2011, the Red Sox sent top-shelf prospects in first baseman Anthony Rizzo and pitcher Casey Kelly to the San Diego Padres. Rizzo since has blossomed into a crucial part of the Chicago Cubs' rebuilding efforts.
Both Rizzo and Kelly were drafted under the previous collective bargaining agreement's draft rules, in which clubs like Boston could lavish large signing bonuses on hard-to-sign players later in the draft. Now, Boston's farm system is bereft of top-shelf prospects, and it won't be able to flex its financial might in the amateur arena as it once did.
Well, now there's only one big parasite contract left in Lackey with Matsuzaka gone and not soon enough after this season. This gives the Red Sox a huge opportunity to retool and help sign key players like Ellsbury. But the main problem remains and it's about leadership structure and boundaries.
1. Ownership back up those you hired to do the job and stop responding to whiney players jumping over management, thus cutting out the legs of your leadership. When kids keep running to a permissive mommy to get their way because dad said "NO" you get a screwed up family and spoiled brats. If you don't agree with the management then get rid of them, but don't ever undercut them.
2. Lucchino, do your job and let Cherrington do his. A general manager is chosen for his ability and vision for the team. Once he his chosen give him the power to apply his skills and vision. Teams take time to develop. Second guessing and/or over-riding the general manager on everything is destructive to the entire team. In other words...F-OFF Larry!!!
3. Manager, give him the authority and flexibility to make the team work on the field. I never liked Valentine and he has been poor. But hamstringing the manager so he could not pick his coaches ...allowing the players to run around him with complaints ...interfering in his decisions has been another big factor in generating a poisonous clubhouse atmosphere and attitude among some players.
Gonzalez is a big loss even if he didn't live up to his projected Fenway potential or the size of his contract. My knock on him was his absence in crunch time with a lack of clutch hitting. But overall he was a very good producer and a terrific fielder. It's too bad he had to be the lure that got rid of the player diseases. But this whole deal only creates opportunity. Of itself it doesn't fix much of anything if the leadership organization isn't fixed and a lot more wisdom isn't used in future contracts. Also, the clubhouse attitude isn't going away just because Beckett and Crawford are gone.
Lastly, I think the Dodgers are nuts to take on players with poor attitudes, two or more years of greatly under-producing seasons, heavily burdensome contracts, and highly problematic surgery issues. Improved offense is fine, but as the Sox and other teams have shown it can't compensate for solid pitching and a solidly competitive attitude. Gonzalez can't do enough alone to make this deal worthwhile. But thanks for taking away some of the Red Sox huge player burdens.
Oh...sorry you can't bitch about Sox payrolls anymore Yankee fans...at least for a while.
Merci,
Merlot
http://content.usatoday.com/communi...red-sox-dodgers-trade-complete/1#.UDjgaaDhfNs
The Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers have completed one of the biggest trades in the long, storied histories of each franchise, the biggest in Beantown since Babe Ruth.
The blockbuster nine-player deal, involving more than $270 million in moving salaries and an immeasurable amount of culture change for two of baseball's most storied franchises, has been completed.
Multiple Boston-area outlets reported Saturday morning that the final steps in the deal have been completed.
Headed from Fenway Park to Chavez Ravine: first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, pitcher Josh Beckett, outfielder Carl Crawford, infielder Nick Punto and about $12 million in cash.
Going from Los Angeles to Boston: first baseman James Loney - who is eligible for free agency after this season - young pitchers Rubby De La Rosa and Allen Webster, infielder Ivan DeJesus Jr. and outfielder Jerry Sands.
Analysis: A bad deal for both sides?
Gonzalez will be in the lineup tonight at Dodger Stadium, clad in the No. 23 once worn by Kirk Gibson, against the Miami Marlins.
In supplanting Loney, he gives the Dodgers a menacing presence in the middle of the order to pair with Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier. But coming with him are the toxic contracts of Crawford (owed $103 million through 2017) and Beckett ($32 million in 2013 and '14), who struggled with injuries, poor performance and the occasional controversy the past two seasons in Boston.
The Red Sox, meanwhile, get massive financial relief and a chance to re-formulate the chemistry in a clubhouse gone foul the past two seasons. Despite giving the Sox a lot of contract room to retool and try to resign good proven players like Ellsbury the main problem remains...owner-managerial organization. This team needs badly to define who is in charge of what.
It's also a stunning bit of backpedaling less than two seasons after they signed Crawford and traded for Gonzalez, guaranteeing both $294 million.
The Red Sox will fail to make the playoffs in both seasons with Crawford and Gonzalez. And it is the latter's acquisition that may haunt the Red Sox's efforts to rebuild.
To acquire Gonzalez in December 2011, the Red Sox sent top-shelf prospects in first baseman Anthony Rizzo and pitcher Casey Kelly to the San Diego Padres. Rizzo since has blossomed into a crucial part of the Chicago Cubs' rebuilding efforts.
Both Rizzo and Kelly were drafted under the previous collective bargaining agreement's draft rules, in which clubs like Boston could lavish large signing bonuses on hard-to-sign players later in the draft. Now, Boston's farm system is bereft of top-shelf prospects, and it won't be able to flex its financial might in the amateur arena as it once did.
Well, now there's only one big parasite contract left in Lackey with Matsuzaka gone and not soon enough after this season. This gives the Red Sox a huge opportunity to retool and help sign key players like Ellsbury. But the main problem remains and it's about leadership structure and boundaries.
1. Ownership back up those you hired to do the job and stop responding to whiney players jumping over management, thus cutting out the legs of your leadership. When kids keep running to a permissive mommy to get their way because dad said "NO" you get a screwed up family and spoiled brats. If you don't agree with the management then get rid of them, but don't ever undercut them.
2. Lucchino, do your job and let Cherrington do his. A general manager is chosen for his ability and vision for the team. Once he his chosen give him the power to apply his skills and vision. Teams take time to develop. Second guessing and/or over-riding the general manager on everything is destructive to the entire team. In other words...F-OFF Larry!!!
3. Manager, give him the authority and flexibility to make the team work on the field. I never liked Valentine and he has been poor. But hamstringing the manager so he could not pick his coaches ...allowing the players to run around him with complaints ...interfering in his decisions has been another big factor in generating a poisonous clubhouse atmosphere and attitude among some players.
Gonzalez is a big loss even if he didn't live up to his projected Fenway potential or the size of his contract. My knock on him was his absence in crunch time with a lack of clutch hitting. But overall he was a very good producer and a terrific fielder. It's too bad he had to be the lure that got rid of the player diseases. But this whole deal only creates opportunity. Of itself it doesn't fix much of anything if the leadership organization isn't fixed and a lot more wisdom isn't used in future contracts. Also, the clubhouse attitude isn't going away just because Beckett and Crawford are gone.
Lastly, I think the Dodgers are nuts to take on players with poor attitudes, two or more years of greatly under-producing seasons, heavily burdensome contracts, and highly problematic surgery issues. Improved offense is fine, but as the Sox and other teams have shown it can't compensate for solid pitching and a solidly competitive attitude. Gonzalez can't do enough alone to make this deal worthwhile. But thanks for taking away some of the Red Sox huge player burdens.
Oh...sorry you can't bitch about Sox payrolls anymore Yankee fans...at least for a while.
Merci,
Merlot
Bold move? More like full reboot
by Gordon Edes, ESPN Boston
BOSTON -- When Haywood Sullivan became Boston Red Sox owner in 1977, he was asked about the wisdom of trading star players.
"I don't think you can trade a [Carlton] Fisk, a Jimmy Rice, a Fred Lynn, a Carl Yastrzemski or a Rick Burleson," Sullivan said. "When you trade key men like that, you are just defeating your own purpose."
Three winters later Sullivan traded Lynn and Burleson, who were a year away from free agency, to the Angels in separate deals (Butch Hobson also went in the Burleson deal) and lost Fisk to free agency on a technicality, foolishly mailing his contract to be tendered two days after it was required. A team was transformed.
Red Sox fans reeled in shock. Lynn, The Natural, was five years removed from winning the American League MVP and Rookie of the Year. Fisk was the granite-hewn face of the franchise, the man who hit the most famous home run in the team's history. Burleson was a fan favorite, "the Rooster," a Dustin Pedroia type and three-time All-Star who considered it a bad day if his uniform wasn't covered with dirt.
"I still don't know what their objective is -- to win or to make money," Lynn said at the time. "I'm sure they'll make money. I don't think they can win."
The Red Sox did not win their division for the next five seasons. They finished fifth twice, sixth once.
On the 24th of August, the Red Sox were on the verge of completing another transformative deal, one that stands alone in baseball history by at least one important measure -- the money involved. Only one $100 million player has been traded in baseball history. That was Alex Rodriguez. On Friday, the Red Sox packaged two -- first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and outfielder Carl Crawford, along with pitcher Josh Beckett and reserve infielder Nick Punto -- in a deal to the Los Angeles Dodgers that was all but completed.
Together, those four players represent 11 All-Star appearances, four Gold Gloves, three World Series rings, one World Series MVP, one LCS MVP and one All-Star MVP.
Collectively, they have been paid more than $200 million in their careers and are owed an additional $261 million.
This is the franchise that sold Babe Ruth and over the years has traded away Tris Speaker, the Ferrell brothers and Nomar Garciaparra, while losing Roger Clemens, Mo Vaughn and Pedro Martinez to free agency. It has never made a single deal that approximates this one in any way. Like an earlier generation, Red Sox fans are reeling in shock.
"If it happens," one high-ranking Red Sox official said late Friday night, "it will give us enormous flexibility to build a new winning team. This is certainly not a timid decision. But we needed to push the reset button."
This was unimaginable just 20 months ago, when first Gonzalez, then Crawford, were introduced to Boston as the building blocks of a brave new world that would ensure the team's success into perpetuity -- or at least the next seven years. Gonzalez was the slugger who would ultimately succeed David Ortiz as the team's biggest basher. Crawford was hailed as the game-changer, a combination of speed, defense and daring rarely seen on Yawkey Way.
Now, they are both on the verge of becoming Magic men in L.A., a place where real money has replaced Frank McCourt's house of cards and Magic Johnson is the public face of a franchise determined to woo back Dodgers fans by spending whatever it takes to win -- and what better time than now? Gonzalez was the piece they coveted, a Southern California native and Mexican-American who will have the chance to reenact the closest thing to Fernando-mania the club has seen since Fernando Valenzuela was the darling of Angelenos.
The Red Sox were not eager to part with Gonzalez. "I haven't been around more of a professional, good guy, terrific player as him in a long time -- if ever," manager Bobby Valentine said of Gonzalez, who denied a Yahoo! Sports report that identified him as leader of a clubhouse cabal against Valentine late last month.
On Thursday, CEO Larry Lucchino spoke in glowing terms of Gonzalez, saying he had been everything the club had hoped for, both on and off the field, especially once he started hitting home runs again after a slow start this season. "We loved Adrian," another Sox source said Friday.
Yet all the while, Lucchino was going back and forth with his Dodgers counterpart, Stan Kasten, while GM Ben Cherington was working the phones with Dodgers GM Ned Colletti. The Red Sox were motivated by a recognition of the changes they needed to effect in a ballclub headed for its third straight season of missing the playoffs, and one that had alienated the affections of its fan base.
Sacrificing Gonzalez, whom they still regarded more as part of the solution than the problem, was the price they had to pay for getting out from under the $135 million or so still owed to Beckett and Crawford. It was almost inconceivable they would find a team willing to take on both salaries, especially given the injury history of both players and their subpar performances. The Dodgers were that team.
In one trade, the Red Sox eliminated nearly $60 million in guaranteed money from their 2013 payroll, a number that shrank from roughly $107 million to $47 million, according to numbers provided by Baseball Prospectus. What they do with that flexibility, of course, will ultimately determine how history will judge this deal. Rebuild? That word still does not exist in Lucchino's vocabulary. "Reset" is the operative principle here.
The focus will be on rebuilding the starting rotation, a process that commenced with the Dodgers' agreeing to part with the gifted Rubby (pronounced like Ruby) De La Rosa, a 22-year-old Dominican right-hander who just came back from Tommy John surgery and is topping out in the high 90s on the radar gun, and Allen Webster, a highly regarded sinkerballer. De la Rosa, who will be identified as a player to be named later because he did not clear waivers, can be expected to join Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz in the Sox rotation.
The free-agent pickings are slim, although a bulldog such as Jake Peavy could be available if the White Sox don't exercise his $22 million option, and Tampa Bay isn't expected to exercise James Shield's $9 million option. John Lackey (don't laugh) might offer depth, Franklin Morales will be given a shot and the Sox will be aggressive on the trade front.
They will also have the money, should they choose, to pursue Josh Hamilton or make a bid to lock up their own Jacoby Ellsbury before he becomes eligible for free agency after 2013. A big winner in this deal could be David Ortiz, who almost certainly will be brought back -- assuming his Achilles holds up.
There is a chance that Gonzalez will put up monster numbers, Beckett will pitch in his third World Series and Crawford will become the player Boston imagined in the more comfortable environs of Chavez Ravine. The Sox understand the risk they are taking. Lucchino said before the trade deadline -- when the Dodgers first approached the Sox about Gonzalez -- that Cherington was empowered to be bold.
http://espn.go.com/boston/mlb/story...os-angeles-dodgers-more-full-reboot-bold-move
by Gordon Edes, ESPN Boston
BOSTON -- When Haywood Sullivan became Boston Red Sox owner in 1977, he was asked about the wisdom of trading star players.
"I don't think you can trade a [Carlton] Fisk, a Jimmy Rice, a Fred Lynn, a Carl Yastrzemski or a Rick Burleson," Sullivan said. "When you trade key men like that, you are just defeating your own purpose."
Three winters later Sullivan traded Lynn and Burleson, who were a year away from free agency, to the Angels in separate deals (Butch Hobson also went in the Burleson deal) and lost Fisk to free agency on a technicality, foolishly mailing his contract to be tendered two days after it was required. A team was transformed.
Red Sox fans reeled in shock. Lynn, The Natural, was five years removed from winning the American League MVP and Rookie of the Year. Fisk was the granite-hewn face of the franchise, the man who hit the most famous home run in the team's history. Burleson was a fan favorite, "the Rooster," a Dustin Pedroia type and three-time All-Star who considered it a bad day if his uniform wasn't covered with dirt.
"I still don't know what their objective is -- to win or to make money," Lynn said at the time. "I'm sure they'll make money. I don't think they can win."
The Red Sox did not win their division for the next five seasons. They finished fifth twice, sixth once.
On the 24th of August, the Red Sox were on the verge of completing another transformative deal, one that stands alone in baseball history by at least one important measure -- the money involved. Only one $100 million player has been traded in baseball history. That was Alex Rodriguez. On Friday, the Red Sox packaged two -- first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and outfielder Carl Crawford, along with pitcher Josh Beckett and reserve infielder Nick Punto -- in a deal to the Los Angeles Dodgers that was all but completed.
Together, those four players represent 11 All-Star appearances, four Gold Gloves, three World Series rings, one World Series MVP, one LCS MVP and one All-Star MVP.
Collectively, they have been paid more than $200 million in their careers and are owed an additional $261 million.
This is the franchise that sold Babe Ruth and over the years has traded away Tris Speaker, the Ferrell brothers and Nomar Garciaparra, while losing Roger Clemens, Mo Vaughn and Pedro Martinez to free agency. It has never made a single deal that approximates this one in any way. Like an earlier generation, Red Sox fans are reeling in shock.
"If it happens," one high-ranking Red Sox official said late Friday night, "it will give us enormous flexibility to build a new winning team. This is certainly not a timid decision. But we needed to push the reset button."
This was unimaginable just 20 months ago, when first Gonzalez, then Crawford, were introduced to Boston as the building blocks of a brave new world that would ensure the team's success into perpetuity -- or at least the next seven years. Gonzalez was the slugger who would ultimately succeed David Ortiz as the team's biggest basher. Crawford was hailed as the game-changer, a combination of speed, defense and daring rarely seen on Yawkey Way.
Now, they are both on the verge of becoming Magic men in L.A., a place where real money has replaced Frank McCourt's house of cards and Magic Johnson is the public face of a franchise determined to woo back Dodgers fans by spending whatever it takes to win -- and what better time than now? Gonzalez was the piece they coveted, a Southern California native and Mexican-American who will have the chance to reenact the closest thing to Fernando-mania the club has seen since Fernando Valenzuela was the darling of Angelenos.
The Red Sox were not eager to part with Gonzalez. "I haven't been around more of a professional, good guy, terrific player as him in a long time -- if ever," manager Bobby Valentine said of Gonzalez, who denied a Yahoo! Sports report that identified him as leader of a clubhouse cabal against Valentine late last month.
On Thursday, CEO Larry Lucchino spoke in glowing terms of Gonzalez, saying he had been everything the club had hoped for, both on and off the field, especially once he started hitting home runs again after a slow start this season. "We loved Adrian," another Sox source said Friday.
Yet all the while, Lucchino was going back and forth with his Dodgers counterpart, Stan Kasten, while GM Ben Cherington was working the phones with Dodgers GM Ned Colletti. The Red Sox were motivated by a recognition of the changes they needed to effect in a ballclub headed for its third straight season of missing the playoffs, and one that had alienated the affections of its fan base.
Sacrificing Gonzalez, whom they still regarded more as part of the solution than the problem, was the price they had to pay for getting out from under the $135 million or so still owed to Beckett and Crawford. It was almost inconceivable they would find a team willing to take on both salaries, especially given the injury history of both players and their subpar performances. The Dodgers were that team.
In one trade, the Red Sox eliminated nearly $60 million in guaranteed money from their 2013 payroll, a number that shrank from roughly $107 million to $47 million, according to numbers provided by Baseball Prospectus. What they do with that flexibility, of course, will ultimately determine how history will judge this deal. Rebuild? That word still does not exist in Lucchino's vocabulary. "Reset" is the operative principle here.
The focus will be on rebuilding the starting rotation, a process that commenced with the Dodgers' agreeing to part with the gifted Rubby (pronounced like Ruby) De La Rosa, a 22-year-old Dominican right-hander who just came back from Tommy John surgery and is topping out in the high 90s on the radar gun, and Allen Webster, a highly regarded sinkerballer. De la Rosa, who will be identified as a player to be named later because he did not clear waivers, can be expected to join Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz in the Sox rotation.
The free-agent pickings are slim, although a bulldog such as Jake Peavy could be available if the White Sox don't exercise his $22 million option, and Tampa Bay isn't expected to exercise James Shield's $9 million option. John Lackey (don't laugh) might offer depth, Franklin Morales will be given a shot and the Sox will be aggressive on the trade front.
They will also have the money, should they choose, to pursue Josh Hamilton or make a bid to lock up their own Jacoby Ellsbury before he becomes eligible for free agency after 2013. A big winner in this deal could be David Ortiz, who almost certainly will be brought back -- assuming his Achilles holds up.
There is a chance that Gonzalez will put up monster numbers, Beckett will pitch in his third World Series and Crawford will become the player Boston imagined in the more comfortable environs of Chavez Ravine. The Sox understand the risk they are taking. Lucchino said before the trade deadline -- when the Dodgers first approached the Sox about Gonzalez -- that Cherington was empowered to be bold.
http://espn.go.com/boston/mlb/story...os-angeles-dodgers-more-full-reboot-bold-move
The trade does not really do much to address the Red Sox biggest problem, which is pitching. The Red Sox get De La Rosa but he is just a young prospect with very little major league experience and unproven over a full season. Basically the trade was just a huge salary dump. I am kind of surprised LA was willing to take on so much of those salaries, but with the acquisition of Hanley Ramirez, and now Gonzalez, they must think they have a team that can win the NL. LA seems to have taken a lot of additional salary onto their books. I wonder where they now stand among the biggest payrolls in MLB.
In your dreams, Rumps.
The Yankees will keep both Swisher and Granderson.
Plus, Rumps, you have Swisher on 1st. Your beloved team just traded away a very good first baseman named Adrian Gonzalez, and got James Loney in return. Don't you think they will be playing Loney? Loney, while not all-star material, is decent.
Dream on, Rumps.
Beav, the Sox have some pretty good pitching at the top. You start with Buchholz and Lester. Remember, when he was healthy, John Lackey was a pretty good pitcher. Doubront is a 24 y/o lefty and maturing quite nicely. Connecticut Matt Barnes is a top prospect. The Sox also have about $80 M they can spend this winter and still stay under the luxury threshold.
Probably the best analyst of minor league prospects there is is John Sickels. Going into this season, he gave no Red Sox or Yankees an A rating. He did give Gary Sanchez a B+. He rated Banuelos, Betances, Williams, Bichette and Campos as Bs. For the Sox, he rated both Bogaerts and Barnes at B+. Middlebrooks, Lavarnway, and Cecchini at B. That's just to give you a little perspective. This morning, posted an analysis of the trade and rated both pitchers at B+. Interestingly, both Webster and de la Rosa were untouchable just a month ago. The Cubs wanted Webster for Dempster, but were rebuffed.
Rather than piss in the wind, you ought to try reading some stuff. Loney was a throw in, a guy to fit the first base slot for the balance of the season. He will be a free agent and the Sox are not going to sign him.
If you kept up with your beloved New York Yankees, you'd know that they are themselves determined to get under the luxury tax threshold by 2014. They cannot afford Swisher. I know this. Beav knows this. In fact, everybody knows this but you. Curtis Granderson has a relatively cheap option for 2013. If they really want to get under the threshold by 2014, they'll probably have to wave bye-bye to Granderson after next year. They're already committed for $80 M for 2015 for Jeter, Teixeira, Sabathia, and Rodriguez. Considering that two (Rodriguez and Teixeira) of the four are already well into their decline phases and that the other two will be by then, they'll be in a pretty tough situation. They have to sign Cano; that puts them at, say, $105 for five players. You can bet they're going to give Soriano 3-5 years, taking them up close to $120 for six players. Granderson takes it up to $140; they have to draw the line somewhere and you can bet they draw it at Granderson. Plus Gardner, Robertson, and Hughes will all be Arb3 guys; there goes another $15 Million. The starting rotation is Sabathia, Pineda (arb1) and Hughes. Bye-bye Grandy. Bye bye Swisher.
I've heard this afternoon that Cashman has been on the phone to Los Angeles to see if they want Teixeira and Rodriguez.
Holy crap, you should be headed to Vegas Rumple4skin, you could have a very lucrative career as a stand up comedian. :lol:
Well, they say the team who gets the best player wins a trade, sorry boston, you LOSE, yet again. The official throwing in of the white towel happened today in chowdah-land, and frankly I do not see that club turning things around much for at least 2-3 years, life is good :thumb:
Well, they say the team who gets the best player wins a trade, sorry boston, you LOSE, yet again. The official throwing in of the white towel happened today in chowdah-land, and frankly I do not see that club turning things around much for at least 2-3 years, life is good :thumb:
Who says? You? Mr. Voice of Authority, who reads nothing but Yankee fan blogs? ROFLMAO. As for this particular deal, I tend to agree with the consensus of people who actually think. This is a HUGE win for both teams.
That it. That's what you get, iggy. One response and I go back to ignoring you until you give the slightest indication, which you haven't yet, that you know what you're talking about. And, by the way, that goes for your BIB (Buddy in Bachmann), the man (?) with the most appropriate handle in merb history.
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Oh boy!! I don't think i've laughed so much since the time i saw Sarah Palin getting interviewed by Katie Couric!!! Oh my!!! That was absolutely hillarious!!!!!!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:
Yup, typical Lib, your right, everyone else is wrong, insult then run away when you fail. It's ok rumps, you can ignore all you want, we all know you still read everything. Go Dodgers!
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The scary thing tho, Doc, is he actually believes what he wrote, now that my friend is some funny stuff :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:: Man there are way too many smileys in this post, then again, it was a classic by 4skin so well deserved!
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