According to a report in Saturday's Los Angeles Times, the big deal in the works between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox took shape "after a failed attempt to land Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau last week."
After the July 31 trading deadline, a deal can be made only in a player clears waivers.
In other words, every team in the American League, and every team in the National League with a record worse than the Dodgers, had to pass on Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett in order for a deal to be reached.
Times writer Dylan Hernandez explains the mechanics of the deal-in-progress here.
The short version: Basically, in order for the Dodgers too get Gonzalez, the Red Sox are insisting they take Crawford and Beckett as well. The Dodgers, under new ownership, are willing to make that plunge.
There was talk that the Dodgers had shown interest in Morneau before the July 31 deadline, and that the Twins weren't interested in whatever may have been on the table.
And while Upload knows this details will get left out of most of the talk about this deal, the Red Sox are also giving Nick Punto the Dodgers as part of the deal.
It says so in the Boston Herald too.
