Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez Claimed Off Waivers by Dodgers
By Josh Hill
The Los Angeles Dodgers are serious about winning a World Series this year and they are not letting any pieces pass them up. The Boston Red Sox floated both Adrian Gonzalez and Josh Beckett on trade waivers and both were claimed by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
No deal is expected to be made that would send Gonzalez coast-to-coast, but there is a real possibility that Beckett gets dumped on Los Angeles.
Gonzalez was traded from San Diego to Boston in 2011 and trading him back to the west coast would mean the Red Sox are entering a serious rebuilding mode. Red Sox officials are claiming that this is just a typical August move that teams make to gauge players worth for potential offseason trades. But it makes no difference whether Gonzalez is traded now or during the Winter Meetings — his departure will likely signal on overhaul in Boston.
As for Beckett, he’s been some what of a problem child in Boston for the last year and a half or so, and the Red Sox may not even want anything in return for him other than a salary dump.
Boston owes Beckett $15.75 million through 2014, and if they are indeed rebuilding (heck even if they’re not) Beckett is not anywhere near those plans.
According to CSNNE.com’s Sean McAdam, Boston is likely going to let Beckett walk to Los Angeles free of charge and let the Dodgers deal with his loaded contract and loaded issues. Perhaps a change of scenery will be what Beckett needs, but he’s no doubt worn out his welcome in Bean Town.
The claim on Beckett very different than Gonzalez. Sox would probably allow claiming team to take him to rid $. Not the case w/ Gonzalez.
— Sean McAdam (@Sean_McAdam) August 24, 2012
The Dodgers point of view in all of this is it can’t hurt to add Beckett, who will either fit at the end of their rotation replacing Joe Blanton or start his tenure with Los Angeles in the bullpen. Los Angeles is going to try and ride into the playoffs behind the arm of ace Clayton Kershaw and the bats of Hanley Ramirez, Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp. Adding Beckett is simply a move to add an experienced playoff arm to their list of options on the mound.
Boston has until Sunday to decide if they want to trade Beckett, let him go scotch free, or pull him off of waivers. The club is fully expected to pull back Gonzalez unless they’re blown away by Los Angeles with an offer they can’t refuse. But Beckett is expected to be in Dodger blue come Monday, and frankly that’s the best news anyone in Boston has heard all year long.