Red Sox News & Notes – 8/25

David Ortiz #34 of the Boston Red Sox celebrates with Bobby Valentine #25 of the Boston Red Sox after a 4-3 win against the Kansas City Royals at Fenway Park on August 24, 2012 in Boston, Massachusetts.

On any given day, the return of David Ortiz to the Boston Red Sox and the fact they beat the Kansas City Royals 4-3 would normally be the big news of the day. But of course we all know it’s not.

Earlier on Friday, we had learned the Los Angeles Dodgers had claimed Adrian Gonzalez off of trade waivers. All this meant was the Red Sox could let him go there for nothing, work out a trade with them or just pull him back and keep him. Then we hear that a mystery team, which also turned out to be the Dodgers, had claimed Josh Beckett off of waivers.

As speculation ran rampant, everyone thought the Red Sox would pull Gonzalez back and just let Beckett go to LA. The one caveat was that Beckett had 10-5 rights meaning he could veto any deal. So the rumors continued as everyone in Red Sox Nation focused their eyes on Twitter to watch what was going on.

Next thing you know, Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston is dropping a huge bombshell.

Blockbuster: red Sox, Dodgers working on deal that would send AGon, Crawford, Beckett and Punto to LA. Hurdles remain, but closing in

— Gordon Edes (@GordonEdes) August 24, 2012

As time went on before last night’s game, names began to emerge as to what the Red Sox would get back. Those names are 1B James Loney, 1B/OF Jerry Sands, IF Ivan De Jesus Jr, Rubby De La Rosa and the Dodgers No. 2 prospect Allen Webster. And as more time went on, we learned that De La Rosa would probably be the player to be named later since he didn’t clear waivers.

Basically, the Red Sox said if you want Gonzalez, you’re taking the others (Crawford and Beckett) too.

With game time approaching in Boston, we then learned that Loney was scratched but Gonzalez was still in the Red Sox lineup. Then as NESN took to the airwaves to broadcast the game, Gonzalez was scratched making everyone think the deal was done.

As the game went on, more rumors emerged. Beckett still needed to waive his 10/5 rights. After the game, we learned that one of the three teams on Crawford’s limited no-trade list was the Dodgers. So we all went to bed knowing that when we woke up there was the possibility that the 2012 Red Sox had been in fact blown up.

When I woke up, Beckett and Crawford had waived their no trade rights and the only thing that was holding up the deal was the medicals of Beckett. Then this from Ken Rosenthal.

Source: #RedSox–#Dodgers blockbuster “pretty much done.” Beckett, Crawford have waived no-trade rights, teams have signed off on medicals.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 25, 2012

I presume that the only thing now keeping this deal is the three hour time difference between Boston and Los Angeles.

For me, I’m okay with the deal, I think.

The one part of the deal that bothers me is losing Gonzo.

It’s going to be very hard to replace his glove as well as his offense. Obviously, he wasn’t having the kind of season he did last year and over the course of his career. But to me, he just never seemed really happy here.

I don’t think it had anything to do with the ballpark. My best guess is that it had to do with all the outside distractions from the media. And you can’t blame him. For one, he’s played in small markets so this type of media coverage is unprecedented for him. But the Boston media is a different kind of animal and it takes a special player to play here.

And after spending all that money to extend him as well as the prospects they traded for him, it doesn’t look like he was.

We all know the Red Sox were probably going to unload Beckett at some point. Whether it be through waivers or after the season over, it definitely had the feel that Beckett’s tenure in Boston was coming to a close.

He hasn’t been good for a few years now and has been consistently hurt over the past few seasons. It remains to be seen if going back to the NL will help him but I’m speculating that he’ll be much more happier in LA than he ever was here.

It also appears the Red Sox threw in Crawford to shed his contract as well. There’s no doubt that Crawford’s brief tenure in Boston has been a disappointment. He did show signs of the Crawford who played for the Tampa Bay Rays before ending his season by undergoing the Tommy John surgery on his balky elbow.

But in the end it appears the Red Sox have decided to go other ways and rebuild the team.

So now we have to sit back and here wonder if 2013 will be a rebuilding year or will the Red Sox try to find the right pieces to try and contend next year. Either way, it’ll be an interesting offseason here in Red Sox Nation.

We’ll be back later with today’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day. So for now, let’s take at look at the overnight links from the media by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

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Red Sox pull out of skid [boston globe]

Blockbuster would certainly signify end of an error [boston globe]

Possible departures loom over clubhouse [boston globe]

Ortiz returns from 35-game absence [boston globe]

Jon Lester leads charge [boston herald]

Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford LA-bound? [boston herald]

No Joshing: Give Beckett to Dodgers [boston herald]

Sox players taken aback by megadeal [boston herald]

Sox poised to blow it all up, start anew [boston herald]

Blockbuster complete [clubhouse insider]

Amid rumors, Sox rally past Royals, 4-3 [csn new england]