The Dodgers’ Six Biggest Trade Acquisitions of the Last Six Years

2. Adrian Gonzalez and three more expensive Red Sox bring All-Star talent to LA, August 2012

In the most memorable Dodger blockbuster of recent memory the Dodgers dealt for four time Gold Glove first basemen Adrian Gonzalez, four time All-Star Carl Crawford, three time All-Star Josh Beckett, and versatile second basemen Nick Punto.

Once again, this trade was technically completed before the Dodgers went on their 6-straight division title run, but it set the team up depth wise and with some star power in the middle of the order, pushing the team over the hump and into meaningful October baseball.

The three most memorable moments created by this trade all were huge Dodger moments, though none of these players helped the team make their World Series runs in 2017 or 2018.

For Gonzalez, his moment came in his first at-bat as a Dodger, when he blasted a home run to right field to the delight of plenty of new A-Gon fans who were lucky enough to be at the game.

For Punto, his best moments were after the Dodger’s walk-off wins. Punto was always full of passion for the game, and this quality shined brightest when he would chase down the walk-off hero and shred the jersey off his teammate’s back.

While Crawford really only hurt the team’s bottom line during his tenure, Beckett provided the most historical Dodger moment of any one player in this group. In his final season in the majors in 2014, the former-ace compiled 20 starts of a 2.88 ERA, but more notably Beckett tossed a no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies on May 25, 2014, walking three and striking out six.

This trade not only gave the Dodgers a postseason-caliber lineup, but it also put the Dodgers on the map in terms of being the MLB’s west coast financial juggernaut. In a time where the Giants were becoming a legendary dynasty, the Dodgers answered back by flexing their financial muscle under their new ownership group, fronted by Magic Johnson. And the trades that followed this one are what really shaped the team’s 2017 and 2018 future.