Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Nick Punto to LAD

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

Watch AGon and Beckett light up the NL, the Dodgers prospects flop, whoever the Red Sox sign ends up sucking, etc.

 

That would be glorious.

[Whitewashed in '05]

This could very well cost Colletti his job within a year or so. How he didn't get money back on this is unbelievable.

[iamshack]

This could very well cost Colletti his job within a year or so. How he didn't get money back on this is unbelievable.

One gets the feeling this was way over Colletti's head and was something Ownership had their hands in...

[Whitewashed in '05]

One gets the feeling this was way over Colletti's head and was something Ownership had their hands in...

That's true, however you'd think they would listen if he advised against it. Even then, if they don't perform someones going to have to be held responsible... And ownership can't get "fired" as easily.

[southsider2k5]

60 million a year?? huh?

 

They got one good player in Gonzalez. The rest are $40 million a year in deadweight.

[Balta1701]

That's true, however you'd think they would listen if he advised against it. Even then, if they don't perform someones going to have to be held responsible... And ownership can't get "fired" as easily.

Ownership wants playoff appearances and high ratings for the next 1.5 years before te TV deal is up. That's the most important thig for them. 2 playoff appearances would make them more than $250 million on that contract.

[Melissa1334]

agone with a 3r hr

[Cali]

Not to get all heady and out there, but I think this move flops for the Dodgers... The baseball Gods won't allow it to work. I just can't see a team coming together with one month left. All these new players. It screams desperation without the need for it.

 

They were in first a good chunk of the season with the team they had. Why f*** with that? Scared of the Angels taking over the town? Not happening. The fans hated McCourt and LOVE Magic. They were already coming back. Dumb move.

[Quin]

agone with a 3r hr

 

It's a start.

 

 

[caulfield12]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...,5040070.column

 

 

[Dick Allen]

This could very well cost Colletti his job within a year or so. How he didn't get money back on this is unbelievable.

I don't think Colletti had much to do with this deal, although I do agree, if it blows up in their faces, there's a good chance he's the fall guy.

Edited August 26, 2012 by Dick Allen

[caulfield12]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-leag...Y3Rpb25z;_ylv=3

 

Valentine in hot water again, leading to a 3 game suspension for Aceves...

 

 

 

........Does this trade mark the end of Boston as a destination for big-time free agents?

.

.By Kevin Kaduk (www.yahoo.com/sports)

.PostsWebsiteEmailRSS .By Kevin Kaduk | Big League Stew – 22 hours ago

........

Saturday's Boston Herald pulls no punches.Viewed in the here and now, this weekend's blockbuster deal between the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers is a giant 'get out of jail free' card for the team on the east coast. With the team's 2012 season sunk by poor play and a fractured clubhouse, GM Ben Cherington has a chance to climb out from under the weight of three giant contracts handed out by his predecessor and plan for a "first principles" future that suddenly includes the term "financial flexibility." The only visible cost of the deal at the moment is a couple more years of Adrian Gonzalez's prime — which could indeed be significant — and the $12.5 million they'll be sending the Los Angeles Yankees (sic) to help pay the quarter-billion's worth of contracts that are headed west.

 

But looking forward, you have to wonder if that financial flexibility will mean anything given the atmosphere that's seeing the trio of Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford (plus Nick Punto, why won't anyone think of poor Nick Punto?) ushered out of town in the most unceremonious way possible. That possibility of Beantown being treated like a no-entry zone crystallized itself on Saturday morning after seeing the cover of the Boston Herald touting all three of the big names as dead weight. "BUMS AWAY," blared the headline and you had to wonder the tab bothered showing any type of restraint by omitting a exclamation point.

There's no arguing that the three players provided some key points of contention to fuel Boston's media and its fanbase: Gonzalez with his willingness to let Kelly Shoppach borrow his smartphone, Crawford by posting a dismal 2011 before turning in an injury-shortened 2012 and Beckett by not conforming to the ideals of how a ballplayer should prepare for a game or preen for the public in front of the press.

 

None of the three, however, were the heavy anchors that the newspaper page makes them out to be. One is a pitcher who played a large role in winning the 2007 World Series, one is a first baseman still capable of winning an MVP in a push for another title and one is an All-Star outfield who ran into the common pressure of playing up to a big contract in a big market and was never given the time (nor the health) to work his way back. It's hard to imagine that any future free agent will look at the way these three were treated and want to sign a long deal to play in Boston. Not with new TV riches making Boston and New York far from the only markets to fatten one's wallet and not with an ownership group that paid no attention to the wishes of its players when it answered the dysfunctional end to the 2011 season by bringing in the most divisive manager to solve things. Three players are being scapegoated for Boston's awful season when the list of responsible parties in much longer. Don't think the rest of the league doesn't notice.

 

Money, of course, will ultimately speak loudest in the end. It did when Crawford passed up a lot of money to play in his preferred destination with the Los Angeles Angels to sign for even more cash in Boston. But after seeing how this whole thing went down, it's worth wondering whether free agents will demand an even higher premium to submit themselves to a leading role in Boston's summer soap opera. Sure, the Red Sox may be saving a lot of money now, but it could cost them a lot more — both in payroll and lost seasons — in the end.

 

 

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/blockbuster-d...-and-sense.html

 

Insightful Jeff Passan article, one of the better ones yet written on the trade.

Edited August 26, 2012 by caulfield12

[caulfield12]

Baseball's financial insanity finds a new home in LA

By PETE GRATHOFF

The Kansas City Star

By PETE GRATHOFF

Updated: 2012-08-26T03:19:10Z

 

You could make the case that Los Angeles gained more than three All-Stars in the blockbuster trade between Boston and the Dodgers was completed Saturday.

It also has become home to uncontrolled spending. For years, the Red Sox and Yankees have been baseball's most aggressive teams, throwing huge bucks at free agents and trading prospects for established stars with impunity.

 

But the teams in Los Angeles have supplanted the Yankees and Red Sox as baseball's most ambitious (or, depending on your point of view, reckless) franchises. Not that they care.

 

"Are you playing within the rules? That's what I always looked at," Dodgers manager and former Yankees star Don Mattingly told the Los Angeles Times. "They used to say all that about the Yankees. If you don't like it, change the rules."

 

But don't confuse the Dodgers with the Yankees, because LA is in uncharted territory.

 

The Dodgers acquired first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, pitcher Josh Beckett, outfielder Carl Crawford and infielder Nick Punto from Boston for first baseman James Loney, two minor-league players (infielder Ivan De Jesus Jr., and pitcher Allen Webster) and two players to be named later (expected to be pitcher Rubby De La Rosa and infielder Jerry Sands).

 

LA was so eager to gain an impact bat at first base that it agreed to take on an injured outfielder and an underachieving pitcher. But the key part of the deal is the more than $250 million of salary the Dodgers added.

 

Clearly, money is no object in the city of angels. The Dodgers were sold this year to a group that includes Mark Walter, Magic Johnson and Stan Kasten for $2.15 billion. Before the Red Sox deal, they already had made one of the biggest trades of the year, getting former All-Star shortstop Hanley Ramirez from the Marlins.

But the Dodgers are merely keeping up with the Angels.

 

In the offseason, the Angels got a $3 billion TV deal and went on a spending spree, dropping more than $300 million on contracts for free agents Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson.

 

Last month, the Angels traded three minor-leaguers, including their top prospect, to the Brewers for pitcher Zack Greinke. He will be a free agent at season's end and had previously turned down a $100 million contract offer from Milwaukee.

 

The Angels must feel confident that they'll sign Greinke to a new deal, and why wouldn't they? The LA teams have shown that money is no object in the pursuit of a World Series title. That used to be said about the Yankees and Red Sox, but those teams were mostly quiet last winter, seemingly concerned about baseball's increasing luxury taxes.

 

No such worries in LA, where the Dodgers are due to get a new TV contract of their own after the 2013 season.

 

"We continue to do everything in our power to strengthen our team for the stretch drive in an effort to reach the postseason," Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said in a statement. "This trade today exemplifies ownership's commitment to making the team as good as possible not only for 2012 but for many seasons to come."

 

Will this affect the Royals? The consensus among fans is that the team must acquire a top-of-the rotation pitcher this winter. The Dodgers' trade could complicate matters, because they essentially freed up a ton of cash for the Red Sox to sign a starter or two. That could make the market less palatable for the Royals, who by the way are due to receive less than $20 million per season through 2019 for their television deal.

 

The young pitchers in the minors are either not ready or injured. But that's what the Royals might have to rely on as the teams in LA make the Red Sox and Yankees look like penny-pinchers.

 

In fact, Mattingly told the Los Angeles Times that small-market teams should rely on their farm system, pointing out the Twins' success. Of course, Minnesota is in last place and hasn't won a playoff game since 2004, but Mattingly didn't seem to know or care.

 

"There is a beauty in doing what the Twins do," he said. "You have to be really good at what the Twins do. You build your minor-league system. You do everything right. That's the way we should be. Our system should be great. We should teach our guys to play the game right. But right now … to me, it's the best of both worlds."

Or, to some looking at the trade with Boston, it's out of this world.

 

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/08/25/37792...l#storylink=cpy

Edited August 26, 2012 by caulfield12

[hawksfan61]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-leag...Y3Rpb25z;_ylv=3

 

Valentine in hot water again, leading to a 3 game suspension for Aceves...

 

 

 

........Does this trade mark the end of Boston as a destination for big-time free agents?

.

 

Kaduk is nuts if he thinks that players are going to avoid the Red Sox in free agency. 90% of players will go to whoever is offering the most money, and the Red Sox have a lot of that to throw around now. I can't see many people turning down money just because they got rid of two underachievers and a whiner with big contracts.

[Kyyle23]

Kaduk is nuts if he thinks that players are going to avoid the Red Sox in free agency. 90% of players will go to whoever is offering the most money, and the Red Sox have a lot of that to throw around now. I can't see many people turning down money just because they got rid of two underachievers and a whiner with big contracts.

 

I think if Valentine stays, it WILL mitigate some of the money lure to Boston. Valentine pissed off every star player on that team it seems.

[southsider2k5]

Kaduk is nuts if he thinks that players are going to avoid the Red Sox in free agency. 90% of players will go to whoever is offering the most money, and the Red Sox have a lot of that to throw around now. I can't see many people turning down money just because they got rid of two underachievers and a whiner with big contracts.

 

That is the other thing. Unless you are going to make a run at Hamilton, which is pretty risky, who is left to go after this year?

[caulfield12]

That is the other thing. Unless you are going to make a run at Hamilton, which is pretty risky, who is left to go after this year?

 

Greinke

[Kyyle23]

Greinke

 

I bet Greinke stays in SoCal

[hawksfan61]

I think if Valentine stays, it WILL mitigate some of the money lure to Boston. Valentine pissed off every star player on that team it seems.

 

Agreed, but I would also be stunned at this point if Bobby V is back next year. He has been a huge disaster and it seems like all the players hate him.

[caulfield12]

Would be pretty hilarious if YOUK goes back to Boston to play 1B.

 

Makes sense for them. They can't rebuild around Laser Light Show and Ellsbury alone, along with Middlebrooks.

 

 

[hawksfan61]

That is the other thing. Unless you are going to make a run at Hamilton, which is pretty risky, who is left to go after this year?

 

Free agent market is very weak this year, and I don't think either Grienke or Hamilton would go there. However this gives them to take on contracts via trade or trade for a guy at the end of their contract and sign them to a big money extension. I don't expect Boston to sit on this pile of cash and wait until 2014 to spend it. Their fans will go nuts if that happens.

[LittleHurt05]

The Dodgers have four players under contract thru 2017 at a total of $81.5 million. I think Crawford will be much better in LA than he was in BOS, but at that money? Wow.

[Dick Allen]

While I agree this trade looks insane from a Dodger perspective, as a fan, would you rather see the players get tbe money or the owners pocket it?

[justBLAZE]

While I agree this trade looks insane from a Dodger perspective, as a fan, would you rather see the players get tbe money or the owners pocket it?

 

If the trade doesn't happen fans don't know there is money to be spent.

 

If you have $250mil to spend, is that how you do it? Not so sure.

[LittleHurt05]

While I agree this trade looks insane from a Dodger perspective, as a fan, would you rather see the players get tbe money or the owners pocket it?

 

I'd rather see the money spent on players who will play at or above the value of their contract.

 

The question is do the owners have the money? They did just spend $2 billion to buy the team.