A. Gonzalez to the Sawx ... probably

[Frayed Knot]

The Boston Red Sox have agreed to a deal in principle to acquire slugging first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, sources told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney on Saturday morning [and] have received permission from Major League Baseball to negotiate with Gonzalez on a new contract.
The Padres would not receive any established major league players in the trade, but it's likely the Red Sox would include their top pitching prospect, Casey Kelly, sources have said. Red Sox prospects Anthony Rizzo and Ryan Kalish have also been brought up as possible pieces ...

Currently, Gonzalez is signed only through 2011


http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/mlb/news/story?id=5882356

[metirish]

So , if they do this and retain Beltre as some suggest they might , who plays where?, Youkilis is still there right?

[Guest Edgy DC]

David Ortiz, New York Met.

[metirish]

Edgy DC wrote: David Ortiz, New York Met.

And I had forgot about him.....

[Frayed Knot]

metirish wrote: So , if they do this and retain Beltre as some suggest they might , who plays where?, Youkilis is still there right?

The article suggests that this could signal the end of Beltre's stint in Boston with Youkilis moving back to 3B.
If Beltre were to re-up, Youkilis would need to go to LF with Beltre & Gonzalez at the corners.

[Gwreck]

If I'm a Padres fan, this is a tough one to swallow. I guess the Red Sox's top pitching prospect is a nice get but it's not exactly Clay Buchholz.

[metirish]

Heath Bell is apparently very available according to Rosenthal.

[Frayed Knot]

MLB.com -- Starting pitcher Casey Kelly, the 2008 first-round pick that Boston had long been reluctant to deal, headlines the package that would go to San Diego. First baseman Anthony Rizzo, who overcame cancer a couple of years ago, is the second prospect. And Reymond Fuentes, the outfielder who was taken with the 28th overall pick in the 2009 Draft, [and Carlos Beltran's cousin] is also in the trade.
FOXsports.com's Ken Rosenthal added that a player to be named will also be provided by Boston, making it a four-for-one deal. MLB.com columnist and MLB Network analyst Peter Gammons reported on Twitter that the player to be named will not be a prime prospect.

[smg58]

If this is the best the Padres could do, I'd have kept Gonzalez for a year. You can make a playoff run right now with an elite player, or you can bank on an underachieving pitching prospect and two other OK minor leaguers helping you get there eventually. It's like they've forgotten they're a good team right now. Or at least were one before yesterday.

[Frayed Knot]

In other 1B news, Lance Berkman signs on with the Cardinals who, of course, have no need for a 1Bman.
It appears Lance is ticketed for RF instead. Lance has played a lot of OF over the years but he's REALLY slow these days (even for him) and hasn't played even semi-regularly since 2004 or at all in over two years so this could be a very iffy move for StL.

[metirish]

This deal might be going pear shaped tweets are saying.

[Frayed Knot]

metirish wrote: This deal might be going pear shaped tweets are saying.

Berkman is already pear-shaped.

[Frayed Knot]

I guess this is what the "pear-shpaed" comment was about (sometimes I wish M.I. came with sub-titles):

The Red Sox and slugger Adrian Gonzalez could not agree on a contract extension by the Sunday afternoon deadline instituted by Major League Baseball, putting on hold for now a blockbuster deal that would have sent highly rated prospects Casey Kelly, Anthony Rizzo and Reymond Fuentes to the Padres.

So it's off for now but can be revisited in another form later on ... but if it's the contract that's the problem I don't see how the Sox & the Pads changing the deck chairs is going to matter any.

[metirish]

This is a done deal, press conference tomorrow.

No details right now.

[Frayed Knot]

metirish wrote: This is a done deal, press conference tomorrow. No details right now.

I'm confused. Which deal is a done deal?

[metirish]

Gonzo to the Red Sox, same principles involved, no extension but parameters laid out.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I just read the following on NBCSports.com:

It�s possible that the two sides do in fact have an agreement, but the Red Sox will wait until April to announce it in order to stay out of the luxury tax for 2011.

I can't imagine that's true. That would mean that Gonzalez spends spring training with the Padres while all along he's been secretly traded to Boston?

[seawolf17]

No, I'd think that they'd make the trade, but don't sign the extension until then. He's still under contract for 2011.

[Frayed Knot]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I just read the following on NBCSports.com: It�s possible that the two sides do in fact have an agreement, but the Red Sox will wait until April to announce it in order to stay out of the luxury tax for 2011. I can't imagine that's true. That would mean that Gonzalez spends spring training with the Padres while all along he's been secretly traded to Boston?

I assume by "agreement" that means the Sox and a contract agreement with Gonzalez beyond 2011.
But I can't see where keeping it secret has any effect on the luxury tax. The lux tax is based on avg per/yr money for the whole deal and all contracts need to be filed with the league. And I can't believe an agent would let the player play with only a secret handshake agreement for mega-money down the road but no signed contract.

[metirish]

Sherman for one thinks it's about the luxury tax, saying, remember the Sox didn't do extension with Beckett until after Opening Day last season and that contract did not impact 2010 payroll for luxury tax purposes.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Perhaps the bonus would have otheriwse been applied to this season.

[Frayed Knot]

Deal back on again only without an extension.

"According to multiple reports, the Red Sox offered Gonzalez a six-year contract, but he was looking for eight years. The two sides have, according to reports, tabled discussion for a contract extension for now."

So essentially the Sox are trading the same players for Gonzalez -- only without the guarantee of having him beyond next year.
Of course once he's Boston property he/they can reach an agreement at any time.

The only thing I can think of as far as affecting the lux tax would be if they don't do anything until after the season starts maybe that then gets treated as a new & separate deal that doesn't start until 2012 rather than a continuation of his current one where the 2011 salary would get lumped in and averaged with the future years (thus bringing up the 2011 total).
Seems odd that MLB would allow things to be structured that way but maybe they do. The whole purpose of using the per/yr averages for long term deals was so that teams wouldn't be able to use creative accounting to stay under the limits.

[Guest The Second Spitter]

Well, there goes one potential suitor for the second-half of Carlos B's 2011 baseball services.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Fatalism'll kill you, Spit.

[Guest The Second Spitter]

Just don't want to see him in MFY pinstripes. Oops.

[metirish]

trade him now with his bad knee, look what the Padres got for Gozo with a bum shoulder....heck , he even has the the shoulder in a strap....make sure Carlos shows them the knee brace.

[Frayed Knot]

Profiles of the guys the Padres are getting
None are likely to help much, if at all, this season.

[seawolf17]

Good. One less team we'll have to worry about for 2011.