Theo Epstein’s trade deal for Adrian Gonzalez: A stroke of genius or a lucky pact for extension
When December dawned on, Major League clubs from both the National League and the American League, looked to sign on some of the best players in the free agency. Cliff Lee was on every club’s wish list, while hitters were also in the mix. Bobby Jenks and
Carl Crawford were the other two top ball stars in the mix. At the same time, the San Diego Padres were putting Adrian Gonzalez up for trade.
As the Meeting started, the Boston Red Sox stunned the audience at Florida with a trade deal for Gonzalez. When many thought that would be the only move from the club, it went on to secure the services of Bobby Jenks and Crawford. They easily stole the show
and general manager, Theo Epstein won the unofficial tag line of ‘stealer’ for the offseason.
Moving onto April, 2011, Gonzalez has signed on with the club with a seven year extension deal worth a whooping $154 million package.
"We're very pleased to have it done," general manager Theo Epstein said. "We hope and we believe this will go down as a great day for the organization.
"We're thrilled to have him here and know he'll be a core member of the organization for a long time. We couldn't ask for more from him as a player and as a person. ... I couldn't be happier about it."
When the team lost four top prospects for Gonzalez in the trade deal, Epstein was heavily criticized. The infielder had a year left on his contract with the Padres and there was a possibility that the player would move on to free agency in 2011. However
now looking back, one can say that the general manager was either too lucky or too smart. Regardless of what one may say, the figure was working at a deal from the time of the trade.
"Back at the time of the trade, during that window, we had a lot of discussion about the contract, but we never came to an agreement," Epstein said. "There was a general feeling like we weren't too far apart."
With Gonzalez locked onto to 2018, Boston can rest easy as their risky bid paid off.
Tags: