Opinion Corner: The trade of all trades
Mark it down, August 26, 2012, the day that saw the biggest trade in the history of Major League Baseball. Two storied franchises on opposite coasts swapped some serious star power as the Red Sox and Dodgers reshaped their identities.By: Ben Rodgers, The Jamestown Sun
Mark it down, August 26, 2012, the day that saw the biggest trade in the history of Major League Baseball.
Two storied franchises on opposite coasts swapped some serious star power as the Red Sox and Dodgers reshaped their identities.
On Saturday, Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez and Nick Punto flew in a private jet across the country to Hollywood. Carl Crawford will eventually join them as he rehabs from Tommy John surgery.
If names of under-preforming stars aren’t enough let’s talk dollars — how about a quarter billion of them? That’s the tab for some big stars that couldn’t get Boston to the postseason this year or last.
From bankruptcy to big names the Dodgers have undergone some major reconstructive surgery this past month and the team is half a game away from a wild-card spot.
There were never any doubts about Matt Kemp or Clayton Kershaw. Throw in Boston’s former big timers plus Hanley Ramirez, Shane Victorino, Joe Blanton and Brandon League and we have a nice game of Hollywood Squares.
After this facelift, Dodger fans should expect big things. Trades like this are traditionally reserved for the PlayStation, not Chavez Ravine.
If this collective bash of big league talent plays to partial potential the rest of the National League needs to be on alert.
But that’s a big “if.” Boston famously overpaid those players. Now they unloaded sacks of money and decades in years.
Back in Bean Town a move like this was needed. The Sox are seven games below .500 and for a team with that type of payroll that’s completely unacceptable.
Boston gets James Looney and four prospects fresh from the farm as GM Ben Cherington starts building for the future. Pulling this swap off certainly will be a nice feather in his hat.
Simple changes have not and will not work in Boston. This megadeal however could eventually provide a remedy for a team that wants to re-establish post-season dominance.
It may take a few years but two young stud pitchers (Allen Webster and Rubby De La Rosa) and a guy who is crushing the ball in AAA (Jerry Sands) are a good start.
Both squads got the change they needed and the rest of us have a piece of baseball history we can tell our grandchildren about — the day the Dodgers got hornswoggled and Boston hit a giant reset button.
Beckett will move from fried chicken to In-and-Out Burger and Crawford will eventually, the Dodgers hope, throw a baseball again six months from now. For the next few seasons the Dodgers will age before your eyes.
So what does this mean for the average fan? Probably that your ball club doesn’t have the cojones to gamble this big, I know mine doesn’t.
This move means the Halos aren’t the only team in Southern California willing to spend big on aging talent for a shot at a title.
It means a group of owners that paid $2.1 billion for the Dodgers won’t hesitate to land players with hefty contracts and lofty hopes.
It means a team can go from being broke with an incompetent owner to being a contender with Magic Johnson in owner’s box.
And, it means you better be in the right tax bracket if you’re planning on buying Dodger tickets.
Ben Rodgers is a news writer at the Jamestown Sun and frequent contributor to the Opinion Corner
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