I do think they would have hung onto Gonzalez if it were possible.

As a Sox fan I like this, and wish the house cleaning was farther reaching.

Worst collection of ego’s in Major League history, HANDS DOWN!!!!

I can’t believe the Red Sox found a chump to take these three under-achievers and their bloated salaries. It doesn’t matter WHAT the Sox are getting in return, as long as those contracts are also “deal-able”. If they don’t like the pieces they’re getting from the Dodgers, much easier to trade those then the mega-contracts of the big three, or simply eat the much smaller contracts and release those new guys who don’t fit.

This is the first sign that the Sox brass is actually SERIOUS about saving this team that has badly alienated the fan base!

Crawford should have never signed in Boston, period. He excelled in a small market rife with low expectations and a disconnected fan base (unless they are winning). To do a complete 180 and come to the hot bed of controversy, omnipresent press core and a rabid fan base that will celebrate a player on Monday and call for him to be traded or demoted by Friday. Crawford should have given the Rays a hometown discount and stayed there…both teams would have been better for it. Crawford was pressing the day he put ink to paper on Yawkey Way….once again, an adequate foreshadow of what was to follow.

As for Gonzo, the Sox were chasing this dude for at least 3 years before they got the deal done for him. A professional hitter and a perceived good guy that related well with teammates and management. When things went down the drain late last season and during the early stages of this season, he was nowhere to be found. If a guy is traded for top prospects and awarded a hefty long term deal, any team would expect more than just the numbers. They are expecting a cornerstone and leader that will carry the team when times were rough…he was supposed to be what Ortiz was which would have made it easier to move on from Papi. Now, the Sox will probably turn back to Papi again in the offseason and as his body breaks down, they will lament what could have been with Gonzo.

*The Dodgers will be a good team as a result of the trade, but the Red Sox needed a drastic change going into the off-season. They will be toilet bowl next season, but overall they will be better off long term.

If he does go, the one regret I’ll really have is that he or the Sox or both may have become convinced that the Monster would be a dream come true for him. How many guys have been acquired because they would pepper doubles off of and hit homeruns over the Monster? Yet the most consistent Red Sox hitter over the last 10 years, David Ortiz, is a pull hitting machine. I’ve wondered often if A-Gon fell into the Monster trap.

I just think it’s a shame to ship off because the team needs a change. If anything I would say Beckett, Lackey and perhaps Buchholz (who seems like the biggest asshole of the bunch) should go. From a position player standpoint I think the guys in place are solid guys, good teammates and good players (mostly). I hate to see Gonzalez and Crawford go under the pretense that either of them are to blame for the Sox troubles.

Too bad you can’t trade owners: Lucchino and Henry for just about anybody would suit me.

That said its still a lot about luck. Crawford and Gonzalez were both hard working, well respected guys who put up good numbers prior to coming to Boston. No one could have predicted that neither signing would work. (Well, maybe Crawford, but only because he and Ells are redundant.)

Henry and co. have had a string of rotten luck, but that’s no reason to stop trying. They just have to be a bit more judicious.

I am viewing this as a major rebuke of Lucchino’s meddling in baseball ops.

ok, I don’t have a Christmas card list, but I just started one.