Red Sox 2012 trade with Dodgers changed history of the franchise

By Earl Nash | Dec 28, 2017

BOSTON, MA - MAY 1: Ben Cherington, general manager of the Boston Red Sox, watches the pregame action before a game with New York Yankees at Fenway Park May 1, 2015 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images) /

What happened on Aug. 25, 2012 that changed the course of the Red Sox franchise? The famous Dodger Dump Deal pulled off by GM Ben Cherington.

As New Year’s Eve approaches and you are reflecting on the 2017 Red Sox season, try answering this question from further in the past:

What happened on Aug. 25, 2012 that changed the course of the Red Sox franchise?

Unlike the infamous Babe Ruth trade, it was the amazing heist that then-GM Ben Cherington pulled off that continues to pay positive dividends to date.

How did Cherington dump so much salary, dead weight and bad attitude on the Los Angeles Dodgers? He knew how badly L.A. wanted Adrian Gonzalez.

Once he put Gonzalez on the table, he was able to stick the Dodgers with the oft-injured, always promising, Carl Crawford and his multi-year salary [$85 million]. Then, he added the ailing Josh Beckett to the list with his $31.5 million, 2-year contract.

To the confusion of many, in addition to handing off the quarter-billion dollars that Gonzalez, Crawford, and Beckett were due, he insisted on including Nick Punto, a journeyman infielder on the downside of his career with just $327,000 left to pay.

There was a purpose to Cherington’s demand: his goal was to get the Red Sox under the luxury tax limit; but, it was more complicated than that. The Red Sox had gone over the tax more than once and were designated as a repeat-offender, which would require them to pay a 40 percent tax on the dollars over the limit.

By adding in Punto’s relatively low salary to the Dodger Dump Deal, Cherington was able to turn the 2012 disaster into a win, since he got the under the threshold and reset the penalty to a much more manageable 17.5 percent.

So, why did the Dodgers agree to take on Punto and his salary?

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They wanted Gonzalez, whom they believed would not only be a solid player on the field but could also be a major asset for community relations and had a comparatively team-friendly contract.

To get him, the Dodgers agreed to Cherington’s demand to take on the contracts of Beckett, Crawford, and Punto.

Once the deal was finalized and the former Red Sox headed to L.A. on the same flight, Cherington could heave a sigh of relief. He had jettisoned a ton of wasted salaries that were left with him by then GM, Theo Epstein and finished the year $47,177 under the $178 million luxury tax threshold.

Incredibly, Cherington had swapped Gonzalez in a wet bag of garbage. In return, the Sox got Rubby “Dubby” De La Rosa and Allen Webster, who were both eventually traded for Wade Miley, as well as Matt Barnes, who continues to contribute today.

The seemingly insignificant margin under the Luxury tax that he created came in handy for Cherington, as it allowed him to acquire Mike Napoli, Koji Uehara, Stephen Drew, Ryan Dempster, David Ross, Shane Victorino, and Jake Peavy at the 2013 trade deadline.

These moves resulted in the Red Sox playing in the 2013 World Series.

But the Dodger Dump Deal also kept on giving, as it allowed the Sox to retain their prospects: Jackie Bradley Jr., Mookie Betts, Christian Vazquez, and Xander Bogaerts.

Currently, the budget margin created by Ben Cherington allowed President of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski, the financial flexibility he needed to acquire Craig Kimbrel and Chris Sale. By not being forced to trade away the entire list of high prospects, the Sox were able to promote Andrew Benintendi and Rafael Devers.

Next: Red Sox 2017 Review: Top 10 moments of the year

So, when looking at Red Sox franchise history and evaluating GM Ben Cherington’s performance, recall that he helped the team by pulling off the great Dodger Dump Deal and the benefits were paid forward all the way up to today.

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