Report: Red Sox, Dodgers Blockbuster Agreed Upon, Awaiting Approval
Update: According to the LA Times, the names are all agreed upon and the deal is awaiting approval -- which will likely come Saturday.
Josh Beckett (a 10-5 player) and Carl Crawford (who has a no-trade clause which includes the Dodgers) still have to approve the deal, along with commissioner Bud Selig.
8:53 p.m.: According to multiple reports, the Red Sox and Dodgers are in the process of reviewing medical info on players involved in the trade, but the deal is not expected to be finalized Friday night.
BOSTON (CBS) - The Red Sox and Dodgers are reportedly closing in on a blockbuster deal that would send Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Nick Punto to Los Angeles, according to ESPNBoston's Gordon Edes.
Los Angeles would send right hand pitching prospect Rubby De La Rosa, along with first baseman James Loney and three other prospects to Boston, Edes reports.
The Dodgers were awarded waivers claims of both Gonzalez and Beckett Friday afternoon.
The deal would clear significant salary from the Boston books, with Gonzalez and Crawford each making over $20 million per season, and Beckett owed $30 million over the next two years.
Beckett is a 10-and-5 player (10 years of experience, five with his current team), and has the right to refuse any trade.
Gonzalez, batting .300 this season 15 home runs and a team-leading 85 RBI, is in the first year of a seven-year, $154 million deal he signed after being acquired from the San Diego Padres last winter. Crawford, who underwent Tommy John surgery on Thursday and is expected to miss most of next season, is in the second year of a seven-year, $142 million deal he signed shortly after Boston acquired Gonzalez.
Beckett has struggled this season, going 5-11 with a 5.23 ERA in 21 starts.
The 23-year-old De La Rosa went 4-5 for the Dodgers in 10 starts in 2011. He struck out 60 batters over 60.2 innings of work, but just made his first Major League appearance of the season on Wednesday after missing 13 months due to Tommy John surgery.
The 28-year-old Loney is batting .254 hit season and is due to become a free agent. The six-year vet is a career .284 hitter, averaging 64 RBI a season.
Prior to Friday's game against the Royals at Fenway, manager Bobby Valentine said he had not heard of the potential deal.
"I have no thoughts at all," Valentine said. "I saw it scroll on the bottom of my TV."
"I talked to (GM) Ben (Cherington) this afternoon and there was no mention at all," he said. "There wasn't a mention of 'who do you want?' There wasn't any conversation, so I believe it's nothing more than the standard operational of a guy gets claimed, it's a block, it's not a trade and life goes on."
The two teams have until 1:30 p.m. Sunday to complete the deal, when the Dodgers' claim on Gonzalez expires.
