Saturday, August 25, 2012
LA Dodgers/Red Sox
If the Dodgers don't win the World Series this year or next year, and they won't due to their massive lack of pitching depth, they will live to regret today's blockbuster with the Sox. The Sox on the other hand will be able to invest their money, go young, and will come back strong.
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TINSTAAP. There is no such thing as a pitching prospect.
ReplyDeleteRemember when everyone was hesitant to trade Carlos Carrasco, Jason Knapp, and Kyle Drabek? Carrasco had Tommy John, Jason Knapp disappeared, and Kyle Drabek can't find the strike zone. If you're the Dodgers, and you have the chance to land an absolute stud first baseman in Adrian Gonzalez on a long-term contract, and pair him with Matt Kemp in the lineup for many years to come, you have to do it. Keep in mind also that the Dodgers have hundreds of millions of dollars, minimum, coming their way as a result of their upcoming TV rights deal.
That's not to say the trade will definitely work out for the Dodgers, or that some of the prospects won't pan out for the Red Sox, or that the Sox won't turn around in a couple of years and be a contender again. It's just to say that the trade is kind of a no-brainer for a team with near-unlimited financial resources and a couple of pieces like Kemp and Kershaw already in place. When that's your core, you do whatever is necessary to surround it with talent that will help your team win a World Series. Adrian Gonzalez certainly qualifies, and Josh Beckett may very well fare much better in a pitcher's park and a pitcher's league.
Sorry, that should have been TINSTAAPP.
DeleteI could care less about the prospects that the Sox received. The Sox operate on a budget, and that budget was being heavily eaten away by Crawford/Gonzalez/Beckett. While all three are good players, all three are unquestionably overpaid. The Dodgers also will not have unlimited funds (I assume). So to simply absorb 250 million to get a 30 year old 1st baseman, an absolute question mark in Crawford, and an over the hill pitcher in Beckett is absurd. That's why if the Dodgers don't win right now, these players will continue to decline further and then will be paying declining players huge money - kind of like the Phillies are doing right now. On a related note, the Phillies should have let the Dodgers simply have Cliff Lee for free. Consider that most monster long term contracts are signed with the first few years in mind. The last few years are tacked on in order to get the player to sign. Phillies could have taken those last few years and said goodbye. While I'm sure the Red Sox would have liked to keep Gonzalez for a couple more years, they got the first 2 years of him (which they have to judge as the most valuable when making the investment), and dumped what is looking like the worst contract in baseball right now in Carl Crawford.
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