The Dodgers probably won’t trade for Adrian Gonzalez this month, but there’s a remote chance of a deal, Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times writes. Gonzalez, who’s now on revocable waivers, drew trade interest from the Dodgers last month. However, Hernandez hears that the Dodgers don’t expect the Red Sox to make Gonzalez available.
If the sides do discuss a trade, they won’t have to worry about Gonzalez’s limited no-trade clause, He can’t block a move to the Dodgers, according to Hernandez. The point would be moot if an American League team or a National League team with a worse record than the Dodgers were to claim the first baseman.
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 of Gonzalez's 2012 salary. While this sum would deter most teams, the Dodgers have been willing to spend under their new ownership group.
"We are trying to add players. That doesn't mean we will be able to," chairman Mark Walter said, speaking in general terms.
The Dodgers claimed Cliff Lee on waivers earlier this month after trading for Shane Victorino, Hanley Ramirez, Joe Blanton and Brandon League. They’ve also shown aggressiveness on the international market, signing Yasel Puig.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has heard that the Red Sox would only move Gonzalez in a transformative or franchise-changing move (Twitter link). A trade isn’t out of the question, but seems unlikely. Executives could see the Dodgers claiming Gonzalez, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). Still, the Red Sox wouldn’t let him go for nothing.
Steve Dilbeck of the LA Times examines the possibility that the Dodgers could persuade the Red Sox to part with Gonzalez by taking on Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett as well. Beckett drew some interest from the Dodgers leading up to the non-waiver trade deadline, according to Hernandez. However, this scenario sounds extremely unlikely to me given the money involved and Crawford’s elbow injury (he was scheduled to undergo Tommy John surgery today).
What motivation would the Red Sox have in trading him?
Lose that ridiculous contract for one. Besides, his performance has been underwhelming at best. He’s lost range, has clubhouse issues & he has very little power for a power hitting 1B. As a lifelong Red Sox fan, my fingers are crossed they get rid of him.
Would you rather have the contract of Pujols, Texiera, Fielder or Votto? Ill take AGon.
Its mind numbing. I see why Sox fans get such a bad wrap! He had a bad 3 months of baseball. Have you noticed what he has done since the all star break, or what his numbers were last year? Plus he plays great defense.
How about E) None of the above?
The 1B market is a cesspool of overpaid, one dimensional players because GM’s have a HR/RBI boner even after all these years. You’d think the 1982 Cardinals (couldn’t hit HR’s if their lives depended on it, but great defense, on base percentage, etc) would show you can win without breaking the bank for sluggers.
Great defense? He’s a first baseman! Adrian Beltre plays much, much better defense, has similar hitting numbers, and cost less. Oh, and we wouldn’t have had to trade Anthony Rizzo to get him.
Sadly, A-Gonz is the least of the bad things we’ve done in the last few seasons. The Red Sox are anchored down by bad deals.
Agreed. The marginal win cost for a first baseman is much, much higher than other positions. It would have been smarter to keep Beltre, preserve Youk’s health at first, and address other areas by dealing prospects like Rizzo, Kelly, and Fuentes
That would have left Beltre blocking Middlebrooks and Bogaerts, and Rizzo (who is nowhere near as good as Gonzalez) playing 1B. Kelly would have been nice to have, but I’d rather have Gonzalez (especially on that contract).
I would much prefer Gonzalez and Middlebrooks (possibly Gonzalez and Bogaerts at some point) over Rizzo and Beltre.
Trading for one of the best 1B in the game, and signing him to a team friendly deal was hardly a bad thing.
And Anthony Rizzo is half the player Gonzalez is.
Rizzo’s numbers adjusted for 162 games come out to a .289 avg with 29 HR and 89 RBI…for 457K…
You can’t take a small sample and project it out to a full season and pretend that it would actually hold up.
“Hey, I went 3-3 with a home run today! Projected out over 162 games I would be batting 1.000 with 162 home runs!!!” It’s obviously not that extreme, but it’s the same principle.
You’re crazy if you would rather have AGon than Votto, the guy gets on base and drives in runs like no other, but I agree with you that his contract is much more reasonable than the rest of those guys. The only difference, though, are the power numbers. AGon averages 30 homers per season (162 games)… Pujols averages 42, Prince 36, Tex 37, etc etc… AGon is a very good player, but he is not indispensable, especially with a fat contract that runs until he will be 36 years old. Even though AGon has been on fire of late the power is still not there, and that’s not good news for an offense struggling to score right now.
Do you have any idea when Vottos contract is up? Ill help, he will be 38 in a league that doesnt offer a DH. Also, he is hurt and missed a bit of time.
What about Pujols, he will be 41! Tex…Ill pass, avg going down, getting older etc. Prince, no chance I would rather have him.
But Yes, I would rather have AGON over Votto. Votto is currently dealing with a lingering knee issues and is locked for 9 more seasons. No thanks!
If you asked me who I would rather have this year, or next year, I’d take Votto, but the second you start considering contract vs production my answer quickly switches to Gonzalez.
Amazing the amount of people who post here and wear blinders/extremely short sighted.. Post just out and out…Gibberrish/hogwash/fantastic lunacy..
Rather have Votto?? For HOW LONG? Until his 200M+ contract over 10 years and he is 39? I guess Pujols making 23m and is 40?
This place sometimes attracts people that must have escaped the White House!!
Then the Red Sox would have no 1B man the closet one we have is in AA and definitely not ready. The whole reason A-Gon is on trade waivers is just to gauge interest. Also A-Gon is not a problem in the clubhouse so I don’t know where the issues are coming from that you thing he has.
What kind of issues has A-Gon had in the club house? Honestly there are no 1B prospects the Sox have that are ready to take over there.
If we signed Beltre, kept Youk at first, then we could’ve easily had Rizzo at first by now.
great.. talk about what if’s. thumbs down baby
Supposedly he has been a ringleader in calling for Bobby V’s head, blamed last year’s collapse on “too many Sunday night games” and “wasn’t God’s plan for us” to make the playoffs, and now didn’t attend Pesky’s funeral. Maybe he is likable in the clubhouse, who knows, but it’s almost like he’s gone out of his way to become unlikable amongst fans. As far as 1B goes, Mauro Gomez could be a pretty good stop gap (might win MVP in AAA and is only 27) until they find a replacement. Also, don’t forget that Bogaerts is probably only a year away, and is projected as a corner infielder in the bigs.
if he was a ringleader, plus 1 for Gonzo. As for the funeral, who cares. Seriously dude. Pedroia was as well.. we trading him too for not liking Bobby? Let’s just go with all minor leaguers next year. Good god man. Mauro Gomez? :Was that a serious comment? He’s a DH candidate at best (not even that really). He can’t field. Ortiz is a better 1B than Gomez. Clearly.
Notice how I said “stopgap”, meaning that this year is over and it’s time to start looking ahead. Am I saying that Gomez is an everyday big leaguer? No. But what happens when Bogaerts is ready for the bigs and you don’t have a spot for him in the infield? He’s not going to be a shortstop. And it’s absolutely disgraceful that only 4 Sox would attend Pesky’s funeral, if you are a Red Sox fan how does that not bother you? Especially knowing that this year has been a PR nightmare, and the fact that nearly the whole team showed up to Beckett’s Bowling BS that same day. My point is that Gonzales, while in Boston, has never showed a passion for the game or made one iota of effort to be liked by the fans. The guy is getting paid 20+ mil per year to not like his boss and you feel sorry for him? Give me a break. We’ll see how you’re feeling next year when we trot out the same group of losers because we have no payroll flexibility to go after decent pitching or a SS.
I don’t see how a certain segment of the fanbase’s opinion (or even the whole fanbase for that matter) of a player matters in the least. He’s an elite player, is on a relatively team friendly deal, and hasn’t started kicking babies or anything, so I don’t see the problem.
Only 4 players went to Pesky’s funeral, so I guess we have a lot of guys who are issues in the clubhouse.
Saying there were too many Sunday night games and saying it wasn’t in God’s plan is in no way causing clubhouse issues, I don’t even see how you can make that connection.
Gomez is a nobody, he’s a 27 (28 in two weeks) year old AAAA journeyman 1B/DH, who strikes out too much, doesn’t make enough contact, and is below average defensively at 1B.
And Bogaerts projects as a third baseman, not a first baseman. No way they move him all the way down the defensive spectrum to 1B, that would be foolish, if they move his down the spectrum beyond 3B (be it because he can’t play 3B, which is unlikely, or because Middlebrooks is playing well enough to keep the job, also unlikely) it will be to the outfield, probably RF.
Red Sox fans really are crazy. You have one of the best power hitting 1B in the game, on a very reasonable contract, and because he plays bad for a few months you call for his head? Crazy.
let’s be fair. gonzalez is one of the best overall 1B in the game and arguably one of the best pure hitters, but he hasn’t been an elite power hitter for a couple seasons now
Yeah, what do I know? The Red Sox wont trade him. Oh wait…
This year and last year are the two best defensive seasons of his career (this year will likely end up being even better than last), so no, he’s not “losing range.”
Also, the rest of that is garbage as well, for all the reasons pointed out by everyone else.
That and what are the odds of another team NOT blocking them knowing the likelihood of a trade is slim at best?
Dumping payroll and try to rebuild? I would assume…
Probably to start over and save a ton of money. Plus, it isn’t like Gonzalez is performing to his usual 30+HR & .300+BA average season.
As the article says, they would trade him if it were a “franchise-changing” deal, but that can be said of any player in baseball; short of a deal like that though I can’t see any motivation whatsoever to trade him. (also, unless the Dodgers are going to move key players from their major league roster I don’t think they have the pieces to pull off a “franchise-changing” deal).
No one’s considering how poisonous Gonzalez has been in the clubhouse this year. The guy’s basically engaging in open warfare against the team’s manager, and without having the same standing as the other guy causing trouble, Pedroia. Gonzalez can’t get away with that. The Red Sox clubhouse is in such bad shape right now that a “franchise-changing” deal for them is not the same as what a franchise-changing deal would be for another team. For the Red Sox, a franchise-changing deal means unloading Gonzalez and Beckett in one swoop, hopefully getting some good mid to high level prospects in return. More than anything in the entire world, that team needs to reset its clubhouse. The level of insubordination, media grandstanding, and stubborn noncooperation among those guys has been sickening. An embarrassment to Major League Baseball.
Good point re: AGon’s rep in the clubhouse.
Also, wouldn’t be surprised if ownership felt like maybe purging AGon’s attitude from the clubhouse as well.
AGon could benefit from a change of scenery. Get closer to his hometown of San Diego.
I think it could be a good trade all around.
That’s nonsense. All of it.
There’s no indication that Gonzalez has been a problem, he has been willing to play anywhere, and bat anywhere they needed him to, he’s always got along with his teammates, and what little was reported (by the awful, ridiculous Boston media) was overblown and quickly denied and/or corrected by Gonzalez and his teammates.
They aren’t going to trade one of the best 1B in the game, and they certainly aren’t going to give him away.
Exactly Maine.. A few NE writers inventing hogwash and some people fall for it.. Happens every year to fans who don’t know which NE media are full of it and which are not.
As for moving Gonzalez to the LAD? i did notice one tiny bit that could make it possible:
“the possibility that the Dodgers could persuade the Red Sox to part with Gonzalez by taking on Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett as well”
Boston has 3 prospects ranked ahead of the highest LAD, followed by 2 more closely behind Lee, or at least were ranked in the Sickels midseason report and the 3 were ranked in BA mid season.
i can think of no reason to move Gonzalez period.. Unless someone would take on..FULLY.. The entire contracts of both Beckett and Crawford and even then it would take prospects.
Boston isn’t going to give away the core (other than pedroia) away to anyone.
If they moved Gonzalez, beckett and Crawford in one, fell swoop” I t would show intent of a full rebuild mode and all it would mean is the team would engage Boras regarding a LT deal and then direct the pitching salary towards Anabel Sanchez this off season, leaving a mammoth hole at 1b.
I would just prefer to see them pay a team to take Beckett off of their hands, wait out crawford who looked good before the TJ, forget any LT deal with ellsbury and keep one of the best 1b in the game. it is a very bad idea all around.
Let LA find another 1b.
I don’t see it. If they were ever to trade Gonzalez they would want the biggest prospect haul possible to justify moving him; trading Beckett and Crawford (along with their contracts) hurts their ability to get that kind of package.
I think they would prefer to move the three separately, and eat some money, so they get the best possible prospects.
What was agreeing to all along bro.. it would mean a full rebuild they moved CC and Beckett and gonzalez is a core piece, who isn’t going anywhere, except in writers and a few fans of other teams fantasies.
Gonzalez, in a rebuild the team mode (should the team do that) could be packaged with beckett and Crawford. pedroia could be packaged with Lackey.. Blah, Blah.. This isn’t a Charlie O’Finley owned team however and Boston has not done a full rebuild since ***1965*** as I have harped on this site dozens of times, yet writers and fans of NUMEROUS teams refuse to get it through their thick heads that it has about a 99.9% chance of..Just not happening…
Boston WILL keep the core producing players (pedroia, Gonzalez) and be more than open to moving others. It is why they didn’t sell ANYONE off at the trade deadline when (IMO) they should have, or a couple of pieces at least.
28 other teams in the league go into FULL REBUILDS but you will NOT see Boston and the NYY go into it, or not sure when (if ever) I will again.
Sorry, I wrote my response without reading your last paragraph where you clarify that you would prefer moving the other two separately. My bad.
Yankees went into rebuild back in the late 80’s / early 90’s if im correct
Then why put him on waivers? If he wasn’t a problem and was so great and vital to the organization then why put him on waivers? I know the Boston media is ridiculous….but so is the chemistry or lack of chemistry on this team and with this entire organization. It is a soap opera nearly every day.
Literally almost every player in the game goes on waivers in August, it’s simply protocol. That way on the off chance that someone happens to come along and offer something you would actually trade him for you are able to do it. It’s really nothing more than that.
Just as an example: Jason Kubel was put on waivers last August, was owed very little money, and was playing really well; there was no way that he would make it through waivers, and there was no way they were going to let him go for nothing, but they put him on anyway just in case.
EDIT: And now Lester and Ellsbury are on waivers too, but they aren’t going anywhere either.
That’s nonsense. All of it.
Haters gonna hate.
Unless the Dodgers are offering up a clones of Clayton Kershaw and Joey Votto then no trade will happen. Period. Exclamation point.
Or more likely, they would be willing to deal Gonzalez if the Dodgers would also take the Crawford and Beckett contracts. The Red Sox might give them all three for nothing. It would take 65 million per year off their payroll for the next two years, and 40 for awhile after that.
As a Dodger fan I can live with that. It would fill three holes and while our prospects are thin, money is not.
I agree whole heartedly that this would be a decision that NO Red Sox fan should be against.
It certainly would hold the record for most amount of $$ coming off one teams’ book and onto another..
Joey Votto doesnt play for the Dodgers 🙂
Probably got him and Loney mixed up. Pretty much the same caliber player. Oh wait…
You missed the word clone.
Dude, neither does his clone!
This is as unlikely a trade as Lee was. No way the Red Sox don’t ask for a kings ransom especially with a black hole that will be left at 1st with his departure and no one behind him to take his place…Padres take him back
At this point, this club needs a HUGE shakeup, so Dodgers can take that contract which may be good for an Elite player, but not a Great player. Give us a prospect and take on the & and he’s yours.
Heck yeah do it if it means unloading another massive contract too. I mean, they can drop Gonzalez and Beckett and get Hamilton in the offseason….
That is a horrible idea.
What? Adding another often injured OF to an OF of Ellsbury and Crawford is a great idea!
Red Sox are bluffing. They will dump him for a can of corn to get rid of that salary.
How do you know this? They have no one to take over at 1B if they let him go so they won’t let him go unless they are getting a young power hitting 1B in return and some pitching prospects.
I doubt it. It was said before the July 31st deadline the Dodgers offered a package of players for A-Gon. If that is true and Red Sox shot that down, no way they give him up for nothing.
I don’t understand the purpose of putting someone on waivers when they clearly aren’t going to trade him.
It’s to gauge interest in the players so if they want to trade them later they know who liked them.
I highly doubt that the Dodgers would take on Crawford. I could see A-Gon + Beckett maybe, and Beckett was placed on waivers around the same time.
The fact that a deal couldn’t get worked out before the July 31st deadline, which would allow the Dodgers to include MLB roster guys, makes anything happening now very unlikely.
The Red Sox can re-evaluate things after the season and then deal with any team and target any players. It’s makes very little sense for the Red Sox to deal A-Gon now.
I wouldn’t be against taking on Beckett to get AGon, but the Red Sox would need to kick in some salary relief.
Maybe the Dodgers can offer to take Carl Crawford along with AGon in a trade? That would definitely be a franchise-changing move for the Red Sox.
Red Sox basically get to wipe the slate clean of two huge contracts and start over.
Considering the toxic atmosphere in the clubhouse and contentious relationship b/w the players and owners, that probably wouldn’t be a bad thing.
So the Red Sox hurt there clubhouse further by trading away one of the leaders and a guy who has a bit more of a leadership role and for what? That kind of trade doesn’t look like it would help the Red Sox at all.
I don’t think you’ve been paying attention. Gonzalez and Pedroia have been leading the revolution against Bobby V and the ownership. He is toxic.
“leading the revolution”?
go back to TMZ
Freeing up 40+ mil per year in payroll for the next 5 years could not hurt. Especially if it means getting any kind of prospects back in return. Crawford gone= Ells getting extended, and an opening at 1B means that either Middlebrooks or Bogaerts could be there this time next year, with the other at 3rd.
I’d assume the Dodgers would have realized already, or learned from the Yankee’s of years past, that just because you put together a super team on paper, doesn’t mean it’s going to translate to wins.
The Dodgers are in trouble. They need to finish the top of the division. Too much competition for the wild card (Braves, Pirates, Cardinals, DBacks). Don’t rule the D’Backs out. It’s not how you start the season, it’s how you finish the season. Baseball is a game of hot streaks.
I think the series with the Giants was an eye opener for the Dodgers. Being swept at home after their new acquisitions. Great pitching almost always wins over great hitting.
The Dodgers’ pitching isn’t exactly chopped liver. The Giants were just better.
Plus, its obvious that Kemp and Ethier have been pressing lately.
That said, yes, this team has holes, including 1B.
I want the Dodgers to make trades that keep an eye on the future along with the present.
Trade Zach Lee and, say, Chris Withrow, for AGon and the Red Sox shed a HUGE contract and get back some decent pitching prospects (including the Dodgers’ #1 SP prospect).
Helps everyone.
Man, I really wish you were Ned Colletti.
Signed, a Red Sox fan.
LOL, that’s fine with me.
Its not like the Dodgers don’t have other options at SP for next year. The depth of the Dodgers’ system is pitching.
Where the Dodgers are weak are infield position players. At least major-league ready infield position players.
they get $21M in payroll flexibility, which is valuable, but the contract itself isn’t a burden. gonzalez’s contract is part of what makes him so valuable
having said that, if it were centered around de la rosa and zach lee, they’d have to consider it
The Dodgers have great pitching. The problem is the team gets into these flat spots, and good luck explaining why that happens with any team. Were the Giants eyes opened when the Dodgers swept them at home in the previous series?
They should trade Gonsalves and Becket to LA and use Crawford at 1B. Then tfrade Lackey to the Cubs for Soriano, using him at DH.
I don’t even…
best thing for the red sox might be to relocate
Red sox can get loney
Any team can “get Loney”. No team will “want Loney”.
A lot of Red Sox fans seem not to get it, so let me explain.
We have only so many resources. I know, it’s stunning, but we can’t just throw huge contracts at every good player.
So, we have to take our scarce resources, and allocate them as efficiently as possible.
Enter Adrian Gonzalez. He’s okay. He’s not worth his contract. We could allocate his money to other players, players who might help us win more.
If, somehow, this front office was able to rid itself of Crawford, Gonzalez, and Beckett, that would free what, $65,000,000? How much productivity comes from these three right now? Maybe 5-6 more wins than calling up three 30 year old minor league all stars? $13 Mil per win is a bad, bad allocation of resources.
Would trading them make this team worse? Of course, if they aren’t replaced. But this is the vacuum baseline so many of you make your argument on. We wouldn’t be starting Mauro Gomez at 1st base, and using Brandon Duckworth 5th in the rotation. We would use the $65,000,000 to get new players. Maybe they’d be better value.
And of course, you also discount the fact that our ownership of the contracts means we could feasibly get a prospect or two out of these guys, so we might already have a gain over a Gomez baseline. Right now, there is not a lot of reason to be excited for the rest of this decade, if you’re a Red Sox fan, and it’s likely time to start cleaning up.
Gonzalez has been paid about $25M so far by the Sox and has been worth about $45M – his contract was a deal.
Gomez is nothing more than a AAAA journeyman, so he really has nothing to do with the conversation. And given the state of 1B overall in the Red Sox system there really wasn’t a better way to allocate those resources.
Those 3 total make $56.7M next season. Anyone crazy enough to take Crawford would also get relief, so that 56.7 number would drop 10-20M.
Still you point is valid, however the RedSox can get better impact players if they wait until the off season, so they can get MLB players vs prospects as well as salary relief.
Get rid of all three and hope the money is not coming out of your pocket. Get some prospects and start over.
If I were Boston Red Soxs I would want alot for 1st Baseman Adrian Gonzalez, Pitcher Eithan Martin, Outfielder Scott Van Slyke, Pitcher Zach Lee, 1st Baseman Alex Castraneos, Reliever Javy Guerra, The Dodgers would need to send this and more to Boston.
If Gonzalez was hitting 40+ home runs again, maybe. Now that he doesn’t hit for power anymore, I’d give two tops.
Martin is with Philly now (pitching extremely well in the minors BTW).
I would trade Lee, Van Slyke and Guerra for AGon. Take on his full salary, too.
Wonder if that would be sufficient for Boston?
I see no #1 pitching prospects in their farm so its not happening. We are getting a legit ace if he is leaving, we already got OF and SS prospects that are better than LA’s. Which is all beside the point that we got great prospects on the way and the 3rd best run scoring offense in baseball, stabilize the pitching, stay healthy and we are in the playoffs next year. There is no need to blow up this roster.
Adrian Gonzalez is not going anywhere, and he is not the problem on this team. He may not be hitting 30 + Home Runs but his power has come back lately and he is still getting RBI’s. Since the All Star Break he’s been one of the best hitters in the game. The problem is there is no one to take over at 1st base and there is no one to replace his productivity. Name me 5 Players that would be available between now and July 31st 2013 that the Red Sox could acquire that would hit .300, have .380 OBP, and hit almost .400 with RISP. The answer is you CAN’T. Josh Hamilton? Is that our answer? A player with a previous drug and alcohol problem? The media would tear him apart and most likely cause him to go back to the drugs after all the stress and anxiety they would cause him.
What about Zach Grienke? Is he our solution to our horrible pitching? He has an ERA of almost 7 since joining the Angels. There is no Free Agent that is available anytime soon that would be a major impact on this club, and the Red Sox would be hurting there farm if they had to make a trade in order to acquire him. I’m all for trading Crawford and Beckett and Lackey, and hell even Lester, but Adrian Gonzalez isn’t going anywhere.
Don’t count your chickens…..
Trade Agon! YES! Trade Jacoby to Seattle for , Fanklin Gutierrez . Mike Carp and another mid level prospect. He would love to play close to home.
Bring that bat to the Dodgers baby!!! Time to get rid of Loney
Here is a direction changing trade proposal, with the Dodgers:
From the Red Sox:
Adrian Gonzalez
Carl Crawford
Josh Beckett
John Lackey
Andrew Bailey, and,
Ryan Sweeney
From the LA Dodgers:
Rubby De La Rosa
Zack Lee
Kenley Jansen
Dee Gordon
Yasiel Puig
James Loney, and
Shawn Tolleson
To say the least, I would do naked cartwheels in my work parking lot if this happened.
Next trade proposal, with the Reds
From the Red Sox:
Jarrod SaltalamacchiaJames LoneyMike AvilesJon Lester
From the Reds:
Todd FrazierMat LatosSean Marshall
Dodger awarded claim on Gonzalez, according to Bill Shaikin