Report: Red Sox, Dodgers agree on parameters of nine-player blockbuster

A source tells Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com that the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers have reached an agreement on the pieces of their rumored blockbuster:

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The deal is not expected to be announced on Friday as the two sides review medical records, but it appears as if that is just a formality.

ESPNBoston.com's Gordon Edes was the first to report the Dodgers' end of the deal: first baseman James Loney, righthander Rubby De La Rosa, infielder Ivan De Jesus Jr., outfielder/first baseman Jerry Sands and an unnamed top prospect. (Edes later tweeted that De La Rosa, who was optioned to Triple-A on Friday, will be listed as a player to be named later because he was on the major-league roster and did not clear waivers.)

Morosi was the first to report that righthander Allen Webster, Baseball America's No. 95 prospect entering the 2012 season, is the other prospect in the deal. Getting the Dodgers' second-best prospect, after righthander Zach Lee, could be seen as a coup for Boston.

The deal is a pure salary dump for the underachieving Red Sox (the three principals are due more than $250 million after this season), who were hamstrung for the foreseeable future. Now they can get under the luxury tax threshold and perhaps make some significant moves to improve the club. As Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe tweeted: "As good a player as Gonzalez is, worth the price to get free of Beckett and Crawford deals. Roster needs a re-set."

The Dodgers get three All-Star caliber players who have underperformed to a certain degree, but who could ultimately thrive in the National League. (Crawford is out until the spring after having Tommy John surgery on Thursday.)

De La Rosa was ranked by Baseball America as the No. 90 prospect in the game entering the 2011 season, but he had Tommy John surgery that August and only recently returned to action. De Jesus hit .188 in 35 plate appearances in 2011 but improved to .273 in 37 appearances in '12; he is the son of the long-time major league infielder of the same name. Sands played 61 games with L.A. in 2011, hitting .253 with four home runs and 26 RBIs, but played just nine big league games this season.