Deal complete. Red Sox wiping the slate clean. Dodgers...well, not exactly sure what the Dodgers are doing. Though if Beckett means that Joe Blanton goes into the bullpen, that's a good thing.
Fangraphs writes:
This could all fail miserably, just like the Angels, Red Sox, Marlins, and Phillies have failed to perform up to payroll and expectation levels this season. If anything, 2012 has been the year of the upstart, with Oakland, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore all contending after maker more meager investments in their rosters, pushing past higher payroll clubs in the process. This bet by the Dodgers is far from a guarantee of success, and if Gonzalez’s struggles in the first part of 2012 are more age-related decline than flukey-bad-months, then this could turn out to be one of the worst trades in the history of sports.
That said, evaluating the Dodgers financial position right now isn’t easy. Ever since new ownership took over, they’ve acted like Yankees West, and the Yankees have been overpaying players for years with few consequences other than having to clean up after some expensive parades. If the Dodgers make a serious playoff run and start selling out Dodger Stadium on a nightly basis again, it’s possible that the revenue gains associated with that run could offset a large portion of the cost of these deals. It’s also possible, though, that the team is taking on too many bad contracts in an effort to win in the short term, and that these deals will prevent them from making necessary moves down the road.
