Quickie analysis on the deal that looks certain to go down before I leave for the McC meetup:
It looks to be Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett, and Nick Punto for James Loney, Rubby De La Rosa, Ivan DeJesus, Jerry Sands, and possibly a prospect like Zach Lee. The simple, short-term response to this unbelievable and stunning trade is similar to how Giants fans could feel about the Hunter Pence trade. Just, you know, more so. For the next two months, Pence was going to make the team better, even if only by a small amount. Forget the long term; in the short term, the 25-man roster is better. At least, Pence was supposed to make the Giants better, dang it. But for the next month-plus, the Dodgers will be an improved team.
Maybe even much better. Adrian Gonzalez is quite good, early-season slump notwithstanding. And he's replacing James Loney, who is like Desi Wilson without the power. They'll get better. For a month and a week, at least.
After that, they'll owe so, so much money to Carl Crawford. This is their big move, the big splash. Adrian Gonzalez is the Prince Fielder who wasn't, and to get him they had to commit to Carl Crawford. And Josh Beckett. Mercy, that's a lot of money. About $260 million in commitments over the next six years.
They're better for the next 36 games. And the lineup is better for next year, too. This isn't a small thing. But this is probably the Dodgers' move -- the big one. And it's ... underwhelming is the wrong word for obvious reasons. But I was thinking they'd get Cole Hamels and BJ Upton and Zack Greinke and ... anyone they'd want.
I wasn't thinking Carl Crawford. That's an amazingly bad contract. Josh Beckett has been pretty bad for the last two years. Gonzalez is good, but this still takes him through his mid-30s. Maybe the Dodgers will still get Greinke and whomever they want. Maybe they don't have a limit.
The Dodgers have scary money right now, but I'm still pretty sure that Ned Colletti isn't the best one to spend it. I mean, from our perspective, he sure is. Carl Crawford? Josh Beckett? Wow. This is goofy.
But Adrian Gonzalez gets a wow too. And for the last series of the year, he'll be terrorizing the Giants. Again. I really thought we were rid of that guy.
Other than that, not much happened today.