DEAL DONE? SOX & DODGERS COMPLETE BLOCKBUSTER

“You want to fix Boston? Trade away your trouble makers and eat their contracts and bring in and up young energy. Boston needs to rebuild and half of the problem is the manager and the other half are the guys that won’t play for him.” 

–BYB- LEADERSHIP IS EARNED, NOT ASSUMED

Yeah yeah, I’m quoting myself.  OK, it’s looks like I’m an arrogant jerk, I’m not... I’m making a point. And it's this same point I'm struggling with though ironically, because as much as I’d like to act like someone on the Sox and Dodgers paid attention to Bleeding Yankee Blue, my quote above was obvious. Plus, now, as a baseball fan, I'm in a spot. More on that in a moment. Bottom line, Red Sox Nation is in shambles and the only way for them to move forward is to either fire Bobby Valentine, which John Henry would never do, or get rid of the trouble makers.

In this case, Josh Beckett, one of the ring leaders in the Chicken & Beer parties, Adrian Gonzalez, the guy who allegedly texted Sox brass about getting rid of Valentine, Carl Crawford, the most expensive bust in baseball and…Nick Punto… right… Nick Punto have been moved.   OK then.  According to MLB.com, "Crawford and Punto both cleared waivers and can be dealt to any team. Crawford underwent Tommy John surgery on his left elbow earlier this week, so he won't be able to play until 2013." Read HERE.

(In Photo: James Loney)

In return, and according to Jon Heyman, Dodgers will give up "James Loney and four young players -- Rubby De La Rosa, Jerry Sands, Allen Webster and Ivan De Jesus. In terms of dollars, it may be the biggest, with about $270 million in contracts remaining going to LA. (minus the cash the Dodgers will receive)." Read HERE.

Now this is the part that I’m having a hard time with...the part I'm struggling with....  Holy crap… The Dodgers actually may have a productive team for every Yankee fans favorite player, Don Mattingly!  Magic Johnson is hungry and the fact that a guy like Gonzalez is actually being sent to LA is great for Donnie! Adrian will really help that lineup! But the whole thing is crazy to me, because I like to root for Donnie, but I can't stand guys like Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett. How am I supposed to do this now?  Yeah I want Donnie to succeed, but I don't want those guys winning anything!  

So yeah,  “It’s the deal of the century” for both teams as I read on Twitter from many, meaning, it’s a fire sale for the Sox. They can now rebuild and the Dodgers get a few guys that can actually be productive for them in what appears to be a pretty tough pennant race in the NL West.  Nuts to think about, but true.

And where does that leave the Yankees? Focused in the AL East, they have to be!  This doesn't change a thing for them, it's one game at a time.  They still have the Rays breathing down their neck.  They still have Buck Showalter in the Orioles in 3rd with something to prove.  They just need to ignore it and go out and play good baseball. That's it.

There are conflicting reports on if this deal is officially done or not, the latest report is it's done, but it will hinge on a Josh Beckett physical, read HERE.

MLB Trade Rumors reports the money part of this which I'm very interested in:

•  Gonzalez will earn $21MM per season through 2016 and obtain a raise to $21.5MM for 2017-18. The total exceeds $130MM when accounting for the remainder his 2012 salary.
• Beckett will earn $15.75MM per season through 2014.
• Crawford will earn $20MM in 2013, $20.25MM in 2014, $20.5MM in 2015, $20.75MM in 2016 and $21MM in 2017.
• Punto earns $1.5MM per season through 2013.

Deal Done, according to many... Wow.
 

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