Grade the Trade: Adrian Gonzalez trade history retrospective
By Tim Boyle
Padres trade Gonzalez to Boston Red Sox
After the 2010 season, the Padres were ready to give Gonzalez a better shot to compete. Gonzalez packed up his things and joined the Boston Red Sox for what became a very productive season and a half.
Gonzalez led the league with 213 hits in 2011. He did so with 27 home runs and 117 RBI. The move to Fenway Park improved his batting average significantly from an already solid .298 in 2010 to an outstanding .338 in 2011. I’ll get to how it all ended shortly. For now, let’s examine who the Padres got in return.
This trade ended up including four moving from the Padres’ organization to Red Sox. They included Rey Fuentes, Casey Kelly, Eric Patterson, and the only guy who might have saved this trade from becoming lopsided: Anthony Rizzo.
Rizzo would have been an amazing replacement for Gonzalez. The current Chicago Cubs’ first baseman is capable of doing everything A-Gon was in his early career. Unfortunately, the Padres refused to let this happen. They ended up trading him to the Cubs in what was essentially a deal for pitcher Andrew Cashner. Others were involved in the trade, too, but the main purpose was for the Padres to land a young pitcher they liked and for the Cubs to find a first baseman of the future.
If we factor this in, this trade looks even worse for the Padres. They didn’t get anything of great value in return for one of the league’s best first basemen. Without Rizzo putting up incredible numbers in San Diego or turning him into a better or equal piece through another trade, the Padres get a big fat F in this trade’s grade.
The Red Sox, meanwhile, earn themselves a passing grade; though, imagine if they had kept Rizzo and skipped adding Gonzalez. He was essentially a productive regular season player that never had his chance to see Red Sox postseason baseball. In retrospect, the deal was a draw more than anything else.