It's the talk of the sports world, and the culmination of 14 months of rough-going for the Boston Red Sox organization. The Red Sox have traded Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez and Nick Punto to the Los Angeles Dodgers for James Loney and prospects Allen Webster, Rubby De La Rosa, Ivan De Jesus, and Jerry Sands.
When I first heard about this, my heart sank. This was the worst trade the Red Sox had made since trading Nomar Garciaparra in 2004. And this would not result in a World Series victory. The way I saw it originally, getting rid of Beckett was a great idea, and losing Crawford's gigantic contract (which has hardly worked out) was a good move. But Adrian Gonzalez? I couldn't understand that. I found myself asking whether giving up your best player was necessary to dump salary.
After thinking about it some, and looking into the deal, I am much more okay with it. I definitely do not love the trade, but it has the potential to be a great deal in the future. Here's why:
In addition to the enormous amount of salary coming off the books- freeing up space to lock up Jacoby Ellsbury long-term- the Red Sox receive a package of some highly touted prospects.
Let's take a look at each of them.
Allen Webster: Webster is a 22-year-old righty currently in Double-A. Prior to the 2012 season he was rated the #95 prospect in baseball, according to Baseball America and named the Dodgers' #3 prospect by MLB.com. Primarily used as starting pitcher, Webster has a 6-8 record in 22 starts, with an ERA of 3.55 and 117 strikeouts in 121 2/3 innings. He is still a few years away from contributing at a major league level, but when he does, he should be great. Webster was a piece of a proposed trade that would have brought Ryan Dempster to LA at the trade deadline, but Ned Colletti and co. balked at that idea.
Ivan De Jesus: De Jesus is a 25-year-old utility player, who has seen time at second base, third base, shortstop and has even seen time in the corner outfield positions this season. He has been called up to the majors in each of the last two seasons. De Jesus has no power whatsoever and average speed, at best. He does have a average, though, with a career .297 batting average in eight minor league seasons. He will most likely serve as organizational depth, for now.
Jerry Sands: Sands is a big (6'4", 225) 24-year-old 1B/3B/outfielder. He has big power and average speed. He has 24 homers and 101 RBI through 109 games at Triple-A Albuquerque this year and has 35 and 29 home runs over the past two seasons. Sands has been called a "Jason Bay Lite" type of player, and has the potential to fight for the starting first base spot in 2013. He as a .290 minor league career average and figures to play for Boston as soon as this season. Look for Sands to make an impact very soon.
Rubby De La Rosa: De La Rosa is 23-year-old righty. He is currently rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, but was seen hitting 95 on the radar gun as recently as last week. He has been known to throw over 100, but is still young. He was rated the #90 prospect pre-2011 by Baseball America. He is technically in Triple-A, but has never played a game above Double-A. If all goes according to plan, De La Rosa will compete for a spot in the rotation in 2013, but that is being optimistic. He has the stuff to be a legitimate fireballer. The question is when he will "arrive."
The prospects Boston receives are definitely a good group to acquire, but are they worth the price? For the Dodgers, this trade was all about getting Gonzalez. For Boston, they were only able to dump Crawford and Beckett's bad contracts/attitudes by including Gonzalez. Gonzalez, arguably, also had a bad contract, and Boston may have realized the error of their (Theo's) ways. Those big contracts were bad for business and this trade cleans the books. Will Jerry Sands be as good as Adrian Gonzalez? Probably not, but the payroll reduction ($260 million) is a huge relief for the Red Sox, who now have the space to make moves. The Red Sox weren't winning after two seasons with Crawford and Gonzalez's contracts, so I understand the logic behind the deal. Beckett was a huge problem in the clubhouse and everyone can agree that he had to go. Would I have made this deal, were I Ben Cherington? No. But, it is most likely a step in the right direction given the turmoil in Boston over the past year. Bobby Valentine himself admitted that something needed to be done, and I agree with him (for a change). If this trade could have been made without Adrian Gonzalez, this would be a phenomenal trade. With him? The jury is out, at least until these prospects come up. Think of it this way: the Red Sox never had Adrian Gonzalez, and just traded Casey Kelly and Anthony Rizzo for four prospects who are probably better than either of them, as a whole.
I'm no longer on the verge of tears for losing Gonzalez, but he will be missed.
I give this trade, at this current juncture, a C. That may change for the positive or negative, neither which will be apparent until next season. Time will tell, as they say.
The Red Sox also got rid of Nick "Shredder" Punto, which saves the Red Sox money in the uniform department.
