In 2010, the Gosselins still (inexplicably) had a TV show, Courtney Love hadn’t changed her name to Courtney Michelle and Sandra Bullock didn’t know her blind side was under attack from Michelle "Bombshell" McGee.
That year, Carl Crawford hit career highs for home runs (19) and runs batted in (90) as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays. San Diego's Adrian Gonzalez was in the midst of 4 straight 30+ home runs/99+ RBI seasons. Even Josh Beckett flashed signs of the form that propelled him to winning 20 games during the Red Sox 2007 title run. On the back of these performances and their career development, Crawford, Gonzalez and Beckett earned $365 million in contracts from the Boston Red Sox during the offseason.
Funny how things aren't like they were in 2010, right? The Red Sox sent Crawford, Gonzalez, Beckett and more than $250 million remaining on their combined contracts to the Los Angeles Dodgers last Friday. The Dodgers are turning into MLB's Real Madrid, acquiring the most expensive talent with all the restraint of a spoiled teenager planning a party on "My Sweet 16". This massive trade with the Red Sox comes weeks after the Dodgers traded for Hanley Ramirez, the Miami Marlins’ franchise player. If you can't beat them…pay for them to join your team.
Grade the trade:
Red Sox: A+
No grade inflation here, folks. This is a good baseball decision and an even better financial decision. Shedding a quarter of a billion dollars in salary for players that are already in their early 30s and would be in their late 30s by their contracts’ conclusion just makes sense. The logic is so easy to follow, a caveman Missouri congressman can get it. Athletes on the wrong side of 30 underperforming is as cliché as a short marriage in Hollywood. Even though we still expect it, we act completely surprised when it repeatedly happens. At 32, Beckett is easily enduring the worst season of the 3 former Red Sox with 5 wins, 11 losses and an ERA north of 5. He may never regain the form that made him a dominant pitcher. And despite how good you feel about paying Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez $42 million/year in 2012, you can’t feel too excited about paying the 37 and 36 year old versions of Crawford and Gonzalez that same kind of money in 2018.
The returns from LA are decent too. James Loney is a journeymen veteran that can start at multiple infield positions and pitcher Rubby de la Rosa was once the prize of the Red Sox minor league system. The Red Sox will also gladly accept the $11 million the Dodgers placed on their door step. Ultimately, this move gets graded by the players leaving Boston and on that front, Red Sox management did their homework.
Dodgers: B/Incomplete
I know, I gave them two grades, but there’s reason. Fans enjoy their teams acting aggressively in the trade market. It shows a desire to remake the franchise and (usually) establishes winning as a priority. That starts the curve at a B. Nonetheless, when you take on $42 million in yearly salary AND you’re already paying your best 3 players a combined $36 million a year, you’re all-in on winning RIGHT NOW.
We’ve seen the superfriends approach in other sports (Miami Heat, Philadelphia Eagles, Real Madrid, any Yankees team after 2002) and the results are mixed. Assembling the best team on paper only secures one title: “Best team on paper”. Chemistry, trust, and the other intangibles that successful teams own in spades are very difficult to measure on paper. It’s why the Yankees spent over $1 billion in player salaries over the last decade and only have one World Series title to show for it.
Embracing the superfriends approach places the Dodgers under an unrelenting microscope. A win-or-bust mentality is the definition of being between a rock and a hard place. The Dodgers sacrificed their financial flexibility in the future for a chance to win now. That’s where the incomplete comes in and although the chance to trade any of the players on the roster exists, it doesn’t seem like that Dodgers are headed in that direction. At least MLB’s best are headed to 90210.
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