Eleven months removed from a disastrous finish to their last season and with hopes dashed for this one, the Red Sox Friday hit the re-set button on their franchise, moving closer to finalizing a blockbuster nine-player deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers that rocked baseball and rolled their own roster over.
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The deal, which was still in need of both teams going over the medical reports and some players to contractually approve, would send Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez and Nick Punto to the Dodgers in exchange for first baseman James Loney, pitching prospects Allen Webster and Rubby De La Rosa, infielder Ivan DeJesus Jr. and first baseman/outfielder Jerry Sands.
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According to a baseball source, the Dodgers would absorb the vast majority of salary obligations owed to the four Red Sox players, a figure estimated at $275 million.
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It's believed that amount of money transfer is the largest amount ever in a trade between two teams.
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Late Friday night, the deal was still pending the approval of Beckett -- who has 10-5 rights and can refuse any deal -- and Carl Crawford, whose limited no-trade clause includes the Dodgers.
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A baseball source said neither was expected to hold up the deal.
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The deal comes as the Red Sox find themselves with an angry fan base, upset with underperforming, overpaid veterans. The team has taken on the appearance of a soap opera, especially following word last week that a number of players met with ownership last month in an apparent attempt to get manager Bobby Valentine ousted.
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"We had to do something," said a Red Sox source Friday night.
The deal, which could be completed Saturday, does a couple of things for the Red Sox, who are six games under .500 and effectively out of contention for the post-season and set to miss the playoffs for the third year running despite a payroll which ranked in the top three in the game.
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1. It changes the clubhouse culture.
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Beckett was the face of the team's "chicken-and-beer" scandal last fall when the team blew a 9 1/2 game lead in the final month, resulting in Terry Francona being fired and a handful of other off-season after-shocks.
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Beckett was the leader of the team's pitching staff, but his poor conditioning and clubhouse behavior set a troubling example for the younger pitchers.
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While teammate Jon Lester showed real contrition last winter in the aftermath of the scandal, Beckett seemed more focused last spring on finding the source -- or "snitch" as he termed it -- of the story.
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He got himself into further trouble when it was reported that he had played golf on a Boston-area course days after being scratched from a scheduled start because of a sore lat muscle. Beckett then defiantly defended the round of golf, angering fans.
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Gonzalez, too, seemed far less happy in his second season with the Red Sox, and just this week, complained about the "gossip" and "rumors" that seemed to envelop the team.
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A southern Californian and Mexican-American, he'll return closer to his home and could act as a draw for the Dodgers, who are still repairing their image after former owner Frank McCourt damaged the team's brand during his ownership tenure.
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2. It provides great salary relief and flexibility.
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In unloading most of the money due Beckett ($31.5 million after this season), Gonzalez ($127 million after this year) Crawford ($102.5 million) and Punto ($1.5 million after this year), the Sox will give themselves the ability to spend the money in a more efficient way.
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Presumably, that money will be invested in younger players -- all four of the players in the deal with the Dodgers are over 30 -- and will help the Sox reach the goal of getting under the CBT (competitive balance tax) threshold of $183 million in 2013. The latter will enable the Sox to avoid costly luxury tax payments and make them eligible for refunds from baseball's revenue sharing fund.
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The Sox can also use some of the money saved to attempt to extend outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, who is eligible for free agency after 2013 and perhaps also re-sign DH David Ortiz, who is a free agent again this off-season.
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It's doubtful the Sox will invest heavily in this winter's free agent class, which doesn't offer much in the way of front-line starters (except Zack Greinke) or impact position players (other than Josh Hamilton).
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The short-term impact of the players from the Dodgers will be minimal.
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Loney will likely serve as the first baseman for the remainder of the season, but is eligible for free agency this fall and probably won't be re-signed.
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Webster and De La Rosa are the two biggest parts of the deal. De La Rosa is a power reliever who recently returned from Tommy John surgery and could be a dominant set-up man.
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Webster is thought of as perhaps the Dodgers' best starting pitching prospect and has been compared with Derek Lowe thanks to a powerful sinking fastball in the mid-90s.
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DeJesus projects as versatile infielder, while Sands' stock has fallen in the last two years. The Dodgers' Minor League Player of the Year in 2010, he's struggled in brief time in the big leagues and will turn 25 next month.
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One baseball source said the two teams began putting the trade together in the days leading up to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, but time ran out.
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More recently, the deal was resurrected and began to take shape when the Sox at first placed Gonzalez on trade waivers Wednesday and then placed Beckett there Friday.
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Both were claimed by the Dodgers to both keep them from being claimed by others and provide the framework for the mega deal.
Tags: Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, Adrian Gonzalez, Sean McAdam, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford
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