Dodgers-Braves trade sets stage for 2018 free agent frenzy
Bob NightengaleIt may have been nothing more than a glorified money wash, but the stunning trade Saturday between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves was much more than swapping lousy, overpriced contracts.
It set the stage for what promises to be the greatest free-agent frenzy in Major League Baseball history.
The Gold Rush will be on in Las Vegas at the 2018 baseball winter meetings when Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Clayton Kershaw, Dallas Keuchel, Josh Donaldson, Charlie Blackmon, Andrew Miller, Craig Kimbrel and perhaps David Price all become free agents.
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And guess who will have pockets full of money and no luxury tax to burden them?
The financial kingpins of the game: the New York Yankees, Dodgers and Chicago Cubs.
If you’re a free agent, you just hit the lottery, with the most powerful and wealthiest teams engaged in a bidding war for your services without the burden of a luxury tax.
Go ahead and put Bryce Harper in the Dodgers’ 2019 starting lineup right now.
Manny Machado sure is going to look great in Yankee pinstripes.
Kershaw, Keuchel and Price will find life wonderful in the tranquil Midwest.
Christmas came early for the 2018 free-agent class.
You could hear the celebration from Hollywood to Fifth Avenue the moment the Dodgers dumped $47.5 million worth of contracts Saturday on the Braves, with first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, starting pitchers Scott Kazmir and Brandon McCarthy and infielder Charlie Culbertson going to Atlanta. The Dodgers get stuck with outfielder Matt Kemp and the two years, $43 million on his deal. The Dodgers even chipped in $4.5 million to make it an even money dump.
Now, after dropping $244 million on their payroll in 2017, the Dodgers not only have released outfielder Carl Crawford’s $21 million salary off the books, but another $27 million for luxury tax purposes.
This is a franchise that’s had to pay luxury tax penalties for five consecutive years, including about $35 million this year. But just like that, they can now be under the $197 million luxury tax in 2018, reducing their penalty from 50% to 20% for every dollar they spend next winter.
It’s no different than the Yankees, who are dead-set on also being under the soft salary cap, bringing back veteran starter CC Sabathia for only $10 million on Saturday instead of dropping $150 million on the free-agent market for Yu Darvish or Jake Arrieta.
It was a masterful stroke of genius for the Dodgers.
And they made it work only by convincing Gonzalez to waive his no-trade clause, telling him that if he declined to waive it, he’d be buried on the bench in 2018 with limited at-bats.
It wasn’t a threat, but a promise.
Gonzalez certainly wasn’t about to spend the final year of his contract, and perhaps his career, cheering on All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman on the bench, so he only agreed, agent John Boggs said, if the Braves agreed to designate him for assignment and make him a free agent.
Done.
“My final decision was not based on playing time,’’ Gonzalez said in a statement, “as I had agreed to a limited bench role. It is a way to test the free-agent market and see what opportunities are out there for me so I can make the best decision moving forward for me and my family. Lifting the no-trade clause is the hardest decision I have ever made in my career due to the fact that I loved every single second being a Dodger.
“I have talked through this whole process with (Dodgers president) Andrew (Friedman) and the Dodgers organization, and they are giving me this opportunity to see if there is a better fit for me somewhere else. As the roster stands right now, there might not be a spot for me on the roster.’’
Gonzalez will officially be a free agent on Wednesday where he can sign for the minimum salary, and have the Braves pay him for playing elsewhere, perhaps in his hometown of San Diego.
The Padres still badly want free agent first baseman Eric Hosmer, but if nothing else, this could give them a little leverage.
Kemp could become a free agent himself since the Dodgers don’t want him, either but since his contract didn’t include a no-trade clause, he has no leverage. The Dodgers immediately will try to dump him off for spare parts, willing to eat most of his contract.
And the Braves, well, they’ve got two veteran pitchers who can actually help them if they stay healthy, and a solid infielder in Culberson.
If McCarthy and Kazmir can do anything in the first half, the Braves have valuable trade chips at the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.
Oh, what a stroke of genius by Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos, who spent the last two years in the Dodgers’ front office, and Friedman.
The Braves get rid of a guy who they didn’t want, the Dodgers stripped themselves of three guys they’ve been trying to dump, and everyone goes home happy.
Oh, and that 2018 free-agent class?
They’re a year away from becoming the wealthiest players in baseball history, with Harper and Machado each expected to eclipse $400 million contracts.
See you in New York, Manny.
Enjoy the sunshine in LA, Bryce.
This was a trade that was all about you.
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