3:48pm: The Dodgers claimed Beckett, McAdam reports (on Twitter). This will create many possibilities for a larger trade involving Adrian Gonzalez.
3:35pm: An unidentified team has claimed right-hander Josh Beckett off of waivers, Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com reports (all Twitter links). One MLB executive believes the mystery team could be the Dodgers, but that hasn't been confirmed. Beckett can veto any trade or waiver assignment as a player with ten and five rights.
The Red Sox now have until Sunday to select one of three options. They can let Beckett (and his contract) go to the claiming team, they can complete a trade with the claiming team, or they can pull him back off of waivers. American League teams had claiming priority on Beckett.
McAdam suggests the Red Sox would probably allow the claiming team to take on Beckett and his salary — $15.75MM per season through 2014. He has posted a 5.23 ERA with 6.6 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 127 1/3 innings this year, while facing considerable scrutiny for his on-field performance and off-field actions. The Rangers showed some interest in Beckett leading up to the July 31st trade deadline.
Gonzalez was claimed by the Dodgers today, but reportedly won't be traded unless the Red Sox obtain a substantial return.
Bruce Miller
let him GO
ugotrpk3113
THERE IS A GOD!!!
If they don’t let him go outright, I’m heading to Yawkey with a pitchfork.
JacksTigers
Isn’t it funny how Yawkee and Yankee are one letter off.
Derek Carson
Except that it’s spelled Yawkey
JacksTigers
Ugotrpk had it spelled Yawkee before he edited it.
jmcbosox
can beckett exercise his 10-5 rights? i mean, technically its not a trade if they just let him go, right? oh please God…..
Guest 4268
Yeah, he can.
carpengui
[dble post removed]
elclashcombo
I agree. It seems pretty evident he wants out of Boston and barring the teams you mentioned above, he’d probably accept any destination especially Los Angeles.
carpengui
(If this is a double post, sorry – something weird is going on).
Ennyhow, yes: Ten-and-Five rights do apply regardless… but bet the farm: he’ll accept virtually any new destination….other than maybe Houston or KC (ain’t gonna be).
Crucisnh
I agree, it would seem likely that Beckett would accept going to LA. At this point, why not? They’re a pretty good team with new, wealthy owners who seem to have deep pockets and a willingness to spend. And it’s in the NL West with large, pitcher-friendly parks. What’s not to like if you’re Beckett?
Rayland#1
10 and 5 rights apply only to trades.
MeowMeow
“10 and 5 rights apply only to trades.”
^ This is incorrect.
IdontknowwhyIpostonforums
EDIT: I found my answer.
MeowMeow
There was a lengthy discussion about this when Cliff Lee was the big story and multiple people posted corroborating pieces of evidence. 10-5 rights, as well as other “no-trade” protections cover any sort of transaction, not just trades, despite the terminology.
withpower
Read the original posting provided by MLB TradeRumors more carefully.
IdontknowwhyIpostonforums
That is exactly what I did. I have always read/heard “trade” and not “transaction” paired with the 10-5.
carpengui
No. Even if they ‘let him go’ (and Boston might very well do so), it’s still a transaction and 10 and 5 applies.
User 4245925809
We could buck, gag him and then stick him in a closet over the next 48 hours…
Ben_Cherington
Hopefully I dont Eff this up!
MeowMeow
We all hope that
anthony e.
Why does the report always come in as “X player was claimed on waivers” and not “X team claimed X player?” Why does it take longer to find out the claiming team?
Crucisnh
Because a number of teams may put in a claim, and then MLB has to determine which team has precedence to be awarded the claim.
philpbarnes
Wow…. feels like christmas!
Crucisnh
Only if it goes through! 😉
elclashcombo
Woo hoo!! Let him go!!!
Jay Essman
What happens if he pitches in the next two days and gets hurt. Does the claiming team still have to take him?
carpengui
If there’s any chance of him leaving, you won’t see him in a BoSox uni (ever) again. In general, DL’d players can be traded with league approval, but neither side would want such a risk, so it won’t come up.
Redsoxn8tion
I agree, let him go. He already said that he doesn’t want to play for a team that wants to trade him, so I assume he’ll waive his NTC.
mu_Zak
It is the new Yankees – that SoCal dream team – buying everything that glitters- even when the gold gilt has worn off… Bowden saying Beckett WILL go to whatever team claims him.
wickedkevin
Hope the Rangers claimed him since Beckett is more likely to want to go there. It’s not like Dempster has looked good.
carpengui
That’s my bet: Texas
carpengui
…and I’m wrong. Wow.
chicothekid
Nobody, and I mean NOBODY is D*MB enough to let this one pass. When someone takes Vernon Wells off your hands, do you stop and think, “could have I gotten more?” or do you pull the trigger before they change their mind? When the Mets offer Kazmir for Zambrano, you don’t stop to think about it, and…
when someone offers to take Beckett off your hands and you don’t have to pay ANY of his remaining contract, you DON’T THINK TWICE about it. Pull the trigger already.
Guest 4267
If they take him off of waivers he is FREE TO GO, at least I hope so. I’m not sure he was put on trade waivers.
SierraM363
Please jebus. Please let this be true. I’ll drive him to the ariport.
HerbertAnchovy
Don’t forget to bring chicken and beer for the ride.
LayerCake
I can’t wait for that punchline to die
HerbertAnchovy
It never will, so you’d better get used to it or perhaps bury your head in the sand somewhere. That story was gold.
carpengui
Jim Bowden tweet (this is nutty): “I think the only way the LAD would claim Beckett is if it were part of a deal for A-Gon and they forced them to claim Beckett as part of deal?”
carpengui
okay… give Bowden credit on this one!
Sky14
Never give credit to Bowden!
User 4245925809
LOL. THAT is funny.. somebody else was out of it enough to claim Beckett? boston just makes the LAD take Lackey instead and the Sox manage to get rid of every LT commitment..
I knew there was a reason nobody pays any attention to Bowden and he was a dolt as a GM…
2nd thought? Maybe he should take over the commissioners job.. he could be an improvement from Selig at least….
User 4245925809
HaHa. Now HERE is someone the LAD can gladly have.. No deposit and NO return..
Edit:
I have to add this:
What is going through the LAD brass minds claiming him and his salary? Granted, he should improve drastically in both the NL and at Chavez Ravine, but over the off season, Boston would have moved him and probably paid a portion of his salary to a taker and now? With a claim? LA is OTH for the entire sha-bang? A colossal mistake.
Could it be this is a part #2 scenario in a deal for Gonzalez we don’t know about, where Beckett was to be claimed by the LAD?.. Who knows.
As the stomach turns in LA…
UnknownPoster
Cause I guarrantee that cheerington asked Ned to claim him in regards to agone. IMO, no way these aren’t linked
APNDaveR
Except the waiving team doesn’t learn whose claim is awarded until the waiver period expires. Therefore the Dodgers would have had to claim both players prior to knowing they were awarded each of the claims. Sorry to bust your conspiracy theory….
UnknownPoster
Of course they don’t know the winning team. But if you notice, agon was put on waivers an claimed before Beckett was announced. Easily could have been something at the deadline where Ben made it clear Beckett and Gonzalez would have to be together in a deal to La. Like I said, it couldn’t have been a formal agreement, but a handshake agreement of “claim him and if it works out we’ll talk” is very possible
APNDaveR
I’m not sure you’re clear on how the waiver system works. Once you place a player on trade waivers, a 47-hour period begins in which other teams can put in a claim on the player. At the end of the 47 hours, the lowest-ranked team who placed a claim is awarded the claim, and the team has 48 hours to revoke waivers, send the player to the claimant outright, or negotiate a deal.
So if Beckett and Gonzales are being awarded today, it means they BOTH were placed on waivers TWO DAYS AGO. There can’t possibly be any “we’ll now put Beckett on waivers and you’ll have to claim him” handshake agreement after the Gonzales claim. And Beckett is a 10-5 guy, which means he can’t be moved without his consent. Your theory just doesn’t make any rational sense.
UnknownPoster
I think either I’m saying what I’m am trying to say poorly or you are misunderstanding what Im saying. I’m looking back at the deadline. Ben and Ned discussed Gonzalez. It didn’t work out. I’m saying that it is possible Ben told Ned that If he’d be willing to put a claim on bth they can continue to discuss and it is possible the handshake agreement I was talking about was if Ben said if you claim both I will not just dump Beckett. Is is far fetched? Probably, but does it happen a lot. I’m sure. It’s a business
Sky14
The Sox have no obligation to send AGon with Beckett. They can just pull Agon back and “reward” the Dodgers with Beckett.
MeowMeow
I wondered this. Were they afraid that the Nationals were going to claim him or something? Doesn’t seem too likely that he’d get all the way to LA and then get claimed in the handful of teams above them, all of which have much less payroll flexibility.
User 4245925809
Could be, but man that is dangerous.. Padres pulled that stunt in ’98 with Randy Myers and got stuck with him and his remaining 17m left on the contract for a finished pitcher trying to block Myers from going to Atlanta.. myers gave them **nothing**. Taking on a risky player and though we think Beckett will return to some kind of form in the NL, it’s no given and 35m is a huge risk if it’s just a blocking maneuver.
MeowMeow
I mean, I don’t think it was just a blocking maneuver. LA has interest in getting Beckett, I’m sure. But now it’s not necessarily going to happen on their terms, which is the big problem. I have a strong feeling that the Sox may very well just part with him if he approves and they can’t work out some kind of deal, and so the Dodgers put themselves in a much weaker position by doing that. Unless he pitches like it’s 2007, it’s just not worth the risk when only, what, three-four teams had a chance to claim him after the Dodgers?
APNDaveR
If it was a block, it had to be to block the Nats. Nothing else makes any sense.
User 4245925809
I am with you on giving him to the LAD, regardless. Forget even being serious with regards to a deal.. Boston sheds 16m AAV in moving Beckett.. THAT is salary relief of a serious note. 10m with Matsuzaka, Youks is now gone. They will be losing nearly 50m counting all the smaller ones..Jenks, etc…
IdontknowwhyIpostonforums
It really is only two more years of that contract. Hardly back-breaking for a team flush with cash as the Dodgers seem to be. I mean, we still have Uribe on the roster so…
My prime concern is what are they going to do with all this pitching next year? I know one can never have too much but this rotation does not exactly wow especially considering the money invested next year.
Beckett: 15.7mil
Lilly: 12mil
Kershaw: 11mil
Billingsly: 11mil
Harang: 7mil
Capuano: 6mil
That is a lot of money for a rotation that has one true #1 and what amounts to a bunch of 3,4,5s. Plus Beckett is signed one more year, Kershaw NEEDS to be signed long term. This doesn’t even touch the needs on offense.
So I guess I argued myself into agreeing with you about the claim.
APNDaveR
Maybe trade Billingsley for offense? You’re not going to get much in return for Capuano or Harang at this point in their careers.
IdontknowwhyIpostonforums
But who would really want to give up a piece the Dodgers need for Bills. He is good (at times, great) but not enough to warrant any real significant return on a bat. Even pairing him with some prospects would be needed. I really could see a deal with Cleveland involving Choo. That would really be a boon for both teams.
thegrayrace
I wouldn’t put much faith in Lilly at this point.
Armando Chairez
Beckett would be a welcome upgrade in Dodgertown… Every pitcher has his downs. Nowhere to go but up. Dodger Stadium is pitcher friendly, he will do good in L.A.
chicothekid
IF they let Beckett go for nothing, THEN included Crawford in a deal for AGON, THAT would really shake up the payroll and roster for next season. The Sox would have a ton of new money to spend and be rid of two of their biggest problems.
Ben_Cherington
On what free agents?? Who takes over first? There arent any good pitchers available.
jhawk90
“awarded” lol – kinda like the time that Taco Bell chalupa awarded me 45 minutes on the can
MeowMeow
If a claim on josh Beckett was the “award” I’m afraid to consider the nature of the contest.
John LeClair
Red Sox should be jerks and pull back Adrian and send Josh to LA for NOTHING!
Steve Carr
They could, but I would hope Colletti put in a call to Cherington to say, “we’ll make the claim on Beckett to give us more latitude for a Gonzo deal, but I’ll only do it if you guarantee not to screw me.” Guessing. Hoping … obvioulsy, I’m a Dodger fan.
carpengui
Dodgers??!!
diesel2410
What aren’t the Dodgers doing??? Other than win with all their spending
dc21892
Let him walk! Even if he was having a good year id say the same thing his attitude is terrible.
Brian 31
Dodgers are playing pokemon this season. Gotta catch ’em all.
withpower
Would Beckett waive his no trade for nothing?
APNDaveR
There’s a good chance he would. Los Angeles is a good place to play, he’s got a great shot at getting some decent playoff money with the Dodgers, he’d be out from under a press corps and fan base that has grown to hate him with a passion, and he still gets paid.
withpower
That assumes Josh Beckett cares about what anyone else thinks.
APNDaveR
I would never assume that Josh Beckett cares about anything, sir!
MeowMeow
Depends on if he wants to go to LA/get out of Boston. it’s not like it affects his salary, just where he’ll be playing for the next couple of seasons.
Steven Lourie
I’m a Red Sox fan and it’s sad that I haven’t been this excited all season.
APNDaveR
The Dodgers also made a waiver claim on Johnny Pesky.
jack 25
only reason the claimed him was to see if we could take on both gonzalez’s and becketts contracts for low level prospects
Chuy Gutierrez
You Dont say??
Sky14
In one year the Dodgers went from tightwads to blindly throwing money around. It still doesn’t seem right to me.
Jose Villasano
yea this look wack for dodgers but i really think this is really good because Josh Beckett could possibly be an ace again he just need a new home
mrjjbond
How does this claim create more possibilities for an AGon trade? If anything it reduces options, since it gives the Sox leverage as they can simply assign him to LAD and be rid of the bad contract (assuming JB waives his 10-5 rights).
There would have been more possibilities if he had cleared waivers
TweetYouz
So can Beckett block the claim with his 10-5 rights if the Sox decide to just let the Dodgers or is it only if it is an actual trade? I assume it is the former not the latter.
mu_Zak
Beckett + Crawford + Punto + AGon = a 250mil disaster in the making!
Jim McGrath
Will the league allow a trade without at least a PTBNL or multiple players to be named if both AGon and Beckett are included. I’m wondering if the Sox would get any major players or prospects in lieu of the debt relief?
If Aviles has cleared waivers perhaps they would make it a trio and get Hanley in return?
BlueSkyLA
Next headline: Los Angeles Dodgers claim Boston Red Sox off waivers.
BoSoxCurseBreaker
When Frank McCourt left Dodger-town did he play a sweet practical joke? Did he switch the “yes” and “no” buttons on the waiver-wire remote control? Pretty epic practical joke, man!