FILE - In this Aug. 3, 2012, file photo, Boston Red Sox's Carl Crawford watches his three-run home run against the Minnesota Twins during a baseball game in Boston. The Red Sox have traded first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, pitcher Josh Beckett and Crawford to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a nine-player deal. The trade was officially announced on Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012. The nine-player swap is the largest for the Dodgers since they moved to Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson, File)
FILE - In this Aug. 3, 2012, file photo, Boston Red Sox's Carl Crawford watches his three-run home run against the Minnesota Twins during a baseball game in Boston. The Red Sox have traded first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, pitcher Josh Beckett and Crawford to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a nine-player deal. The trade was officially announced on Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012. The nine-player swap is the largest for the Dodgers since they moved to Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson, File)
FILE - In this July 29, 2012 file photo, Boston Red Sox's Adrian Gonzalez gestures after scoring during a baseball game against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in New York. The Red Sox have traded Gonzalez, pitcher Josh Beckett and outfielder Carl Crawford to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a nine-player deal. The trade was officially announced on Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012. The nine-player swap is the largest for the Dodgers since they moved to Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
FILE - In this April 18, 2012, file photo, Boston Red Sox starting pitcher fires one in against the Texas Rangers during the first inning of a baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston. The Red Sox sent first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, starter Beckett and outfielder Carl Crawford to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012, parting with the high-priced stars in a nine-player trade that is the biggest swap in Los Angeles' history. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)
In this May 22, 2012, photo, Los Angeles Dodgers' James Loney bats against the Arizona Diamondbacks in a baseball game in Phoenix. Loney is one of nine players involved in a trade between the Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox announced Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Paul Connors)
In this May 22, 2012, photo, Los Angeles Dodgers' Ivan De Jesus plays in a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix. The Boston Red Sox acquired De Jesus, James Loney, Allen Webster and two players to be named in a trade with the Dodgers, in a trade announced Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Paul Connors)
BOSTON (AP) ? The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, pitcher Josh Beckett and outfielder Carl Crawford from Boston on Saturday, hoping to boost their playoff hopes by taking on the underperforming and high-priced stars who failed to thrive in a fractious Red Sox clubhouse.
Boston also sent infielder Nick Punto and about $11 million in cash to the Dodgers in the nine-player trade that was the biggest in Los Angeles' history. The Red Sox acquired first baseman James Loney, pitcher Allen Webster, infielder Ivan DeJesus Jr. and two players to be named.
"They're in a pennant race and have an opportunity to add talent and were focused on that," Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington said. "It'll be our job to take advantage of this opportunity and build the next big Red Sox team."
Under a rich new ownership group that includes NBA star Magic Johnson, the Dodgers entered the day three games behind San Francisco for the NL West lead and in the midst of the wild-card race. They have dramatically revamped their roster in the last month with trades, acquiring shortstop Hanley Ramirez, outfielder Shane Victorino, starter Joe Blanton and reliever Brandon League and now the three Red Sox players ? Crawford is recovering from surgery ? less than a week before the Aug. 31 deadline for players to be eligible for the postseason.
"We continue to do everything in our power to strengthen our team for the stretch drive in an effort to reach the postseason," Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said in a statement. "This trade today exemplifies ownership's commitment to making the team as good as possible not only for 2012 but for many seasons to come."
For the Red Sox, who entered the night 13? games back in the AL East, the trade signaled a concession for 2012 and a chance to rebuild without hefty contracts given during an undisciplined foray into free agency that, Cherington conceded, has not worked out. Even with $11 million going to the Dodgers, according to a baseball official with knowledge of the deal, Boston will save more than $250 million in salary from now through 2018.
"To build the team we need and the fans deserve and we want required more of a bold move," Cherington said. "It was a difficult thing to do to trade away four players like this. Beckett, in particular has been here a long time and been here for some of our best times in some of our biggest games."
But Beckett, who was a key part of the team that won the 2007 World Series, was also the ringleader in last year's collapse, when the ballclub went 7-20 in September and missed a playoff spot on the final day of the season. Reports of players drinking beer and eating fried chicken in the clubhouse during games surfaced afterward, and Beckett's haughty demeanor ? and rising ERA ? continued to alienate fans.
The 2003 World Series MVP with the Florida Marlins, Beckett now moves from the home of Dunkin' Donuts to the land of In-N-Out Burger, bringing with him a pair of other players who were not productive enough to justify their contracts. Beckett was due $31.5 million over the next two years; Gonzalez has $127 million coming through 2018; Crawford is due $102.5 million over the next five seasons.
Both Cherington, who replaced Theo Epstein after the September collapse, and manager Bobby Valentine, who was brought in to replace Terry Francona, defended their departing players.
"The bottom line is we haven't won enough games. That goes back to last September," Cherington said. "We just haven't performed on the field. As a team we haven't performed. We've had individuals perform. This is not about the four players we gave up ? anything particularly they did wrong. We just didn't perform as a team."
Players traded in August have to first pass through waivers. Other teams had a chance to claim Gonzalez, Beckett and Crawford before the Dodgers, but their high price tags were likely a deterrent.
Red Sox players said before Saturday night's game against Kansas City that they were surprised to see their longtime teammates gone in a deal that came together quickly. Valentine said the speed of the deal left him little time to think about how it affected the rest of the season and beyond, though he was not as willing as Cherington to talk about 2013 as if the 2012 season was over.
Gonzalez, Beckett and Crawford in the Fenway Park clubhouse had already been cleared out Saturday afternoon. Boston pitcher John Lackey had already claimed Beckett's locker and the others' were left with generic nameplates.
Gonzalez, a former San Diego Padres star, said on Twitter in English and Spanish that he was excited to get back to California. Beckett joined the social media site to thank Red Sox fans, and Punto posted a picture of the three of them on what appears to be a private jet with the caption, "dodgers doing it first class!"
The 32-year-old Beckett is 5-11 with a 5.23 ERA in 21 starts this season. A three-time All-Star, he is 130-92 lifetime with a 3.93 ERA.
Gonzalez, 30, is a four-time All-Star and a three-time Gold Glove winner. He hit .300 with 15 home runs and 86 RBIs this season, his second since being traded by San Diego to Boston.
Crawford, at 31, hit .282 with three homers and 19 RBIs in 31 games this season. He had Tommy John surgery on his left elbow this week and is expected to take six to nine months to recover. Crawford was a four-time All-Star with Tampa Bay before signing with Boston.
The 34-year-old Punto hit .200 with one homer and 10 RBIs as a backup.
Loney hit .254 with four homers and 33 RBIs for the Dodgers this season. At 28, he'd spent his whole career in Los Angeles.
The 25-year-old DeJesus was optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket. He hit .273 in 23 games for the Dodgers this year. Webster, a 22-year-old right-hander, was 6-8 with a 3.55 ERA at Double-A Chattanooga.
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