You don’t make that type of deal unless you believe there are benefits that are more tangible and important than payroll flexibility.
Sorry, Ben. The Sox needed an organizational reboot, and you knew that booting some high-priced problems was the only way to do it.
The Dodgers delivered the equivalent of a death row pardon to the Sox by agreeing to take on these contract obligations with the Sox chipping in just $11 million.
Desperate to make a dent in the short-attention-span capital of North America, the Dodgers took the remaining six seasons and $127 million of Gonzalez’s deal, the remaining five seasons and $102.5 million of Crawford’s contract, and the remaining two years and $31.5 million of Beckett’s contract. They also agreed to pay a portion of the salaries of all four Sox players’ salaries for this season.
Instead of “Sweet Caroline,” the Sox should now play Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.” in the eighth inning. These contracts were thought to be the definition of untradable.
After years of feeding the monster with big contracts and big egos, this trade showed the Sox have finally gotten fed up.
The recognition of their problems finally trumps brand recognition.
Christopher L. Gasper is a Globe columnist and can be reached at cgasper@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @cgasper.
