Boston Goes Hollywood

With the completion of the colossal trade four great players on the Red Sox will head to Los Angeles to play for the Dodgers. The Dodgers will receive right handed starting pitcher Josh Beckett, left handed hitting first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, switch hitting utility player Nick Punto and the currently injured left handed speed demon Carl Crawford. The Dodgers will absorb $258M out of the total $270M.

Carl Crawford had Tommy John Surgery just this week and will not be able to play until next season. Crawford is clearly a long term replacement for the Dodgers' trade deadline acquisition Shane Victorino. Adrian Gonzalez is also a long term stay at first base. Gonzalez has multiple gold gloves and multiple All Star Game appearances. Beckett is having a down year with a 5.23 ERA, but his ERA over his career is 3.93 and in Dodger Stadium that will be much lower.

The Red Sox will get first baseman James Loney and a bundle of prospects. Those prospects are right handed pitcher Allen Webster, infielder Ivan De Jesus, OF/1B Jerry Sands and right handed pitcher Rubby De La Rosa. All are top prospects in the Dodgers organization.

Earlier in the season the Dodgers traded for Hanley Ramirez, Randy Choate, Brandon League, Shane Victorino, and Joe Blanton. They have a great combination of power and speed in their lineup and a powerful pitching rotation.

Dee Gordon is expected back soon, so lets check out the lineup followed by the players slash line (AVG/OBP/SLG)

SS - Dee Gordon - .229/.280/.282
LF - Shane Victorino - .256/.318/.389
CF - Matt Kemp - .333/.398/ .588
1B - Adrian Gonzalez - .300/.343/.469
3B - Hanley Ramirez - .261/.331/.457
RF - Andre Ethier - .284/ .352/.453
C   -  AJ Ellis - .281/.387/.426
2B - Adam Kennedy - .261/.339/.344
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The pitching rotation followed by the pitchers' ERA

L. Clayton Kershaw 2.87 ERA
R. Chad Billingsley 3.55 ERA
L. Chris Capuano 3.38 ERA
R. Joe Blanton 5.02 ERA
R. Josh Beckett 5.23 ERA

Don't forget about the bullpen anchored by closer Kenley Jansen (1.93 ERA), Elbert (2.23 ERA), and lefty specialist Randy Choate (3.86 ERA).

The Dodgers a force to be reckoned with this season and seasons to come. While the Red Sox have offically entered rebuilding.




Thanks to Mark Sulymanov for contributing the title of this article.