Hmmm...it's amazing what happens when a team having to scrape by on pennies for a couple of years all of a sudden is sold to a guy with gazillion's of dollars to spend.That's what happened over the last 48 hours as the Los Angeles Dodgers completed a massive trade with the Boston Red Sox.
The end result, the Dodgers get Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett along with Nick Punto for James Loney and 4 minor leaguer's. Granted the minor league guys were all prospects, but still a strange trade.
The Dodgers take on some $250 million more in Salary and the Red Sox clear space for next year. The Dodgers are 3 back of San Francisco as we write this, the Red Sox, all but out of the playoff's.
Our Take: The Dodgers are going out on a limb. A BIG limb. Gonzalez hasn't been the same guy he was since leaving San Diego. Crawford is and has been hurt...and done nothing in Boston. Beckett has been pretty good, though he has sucked so far this year. And now, if this doesn't work out...there's nobody of note left in the minor league system to bail them out.
And the Sox, finally stop trying to be "The Yankees" north. They have the flexibility and depth in the system to get much younger, leaner and probably in the long run...better.
Sure, there are a lot of baseball people who said "Oh, crap, the Dodgers just bought the championship". To them we say "Settle Down".
They may win won someday, but anyone who follows baseball closely knows you don't win on paper. And while on "Paper" they have lots of big names, unless those names live up to their paychecks, this may be a decision the Dodgers regret for a long, long time.
SUNDAY UPDATE: So, Gonzalez hits a home run in his Dodgers debut- good enough for the 8-2 win...
He speaks...
((HT: PTDodgers))
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