With the passing of the 2pm deadline to sign Adrian Gonzalez to an extension came bad news. It appears the Red Sox and A-Gon could not reach an agreement on an extension and without at least the parameters of a deal in place, the Sox are not willing to trade for the slugger. The trade that rocked Red Sox nation appears to have resulted in a complete bust and with A-Gon getting on a plane to leave Boston at 4:30pm today, the conversation may be over…for good. To add insult to injury, the Padres said they would stop shopping A-Gon around if the deal with the Sox fell through, so this may have been the Sox only chance to bring in the 1st baseman. If this deal does indeed officially die, they will be a ton of pissed off Sox fans knocking on Theo Epstein’s door.
It is unclear what the divide in negotiations was about, whether it was years, money or both. If Theo is to officially walk away from the deal however, the 2 sides must have been far apart. The unwillingness of Theo to invest big money and big years into one of the most elite players in baseball is disturbing and sickening. I understand the concept of not overpaying, but realistically, almost anything you need to pay A-Gon is reasonable because of his ability in the batter’s box and on the field. At age 28, even a 7 year deal is reasonable because A-Gon will only be 35 when the deal ends and likely still a potent player.
This deal falling through is absolutely devastating and if the Sox can’t rekindle this negotiation, it will be considered one of the biggest mistakes Theo and his team has ever committed. Stay tuned for more details…