In which Boston falls, LA rises, and Topps facepalms

Twenty Four hours ago, the Boston Red Sox were feeling beaten. In more ways than one.

They had lost several games in a row to division rivals, and were feeling sore from it. Also, their star outfielder Carl Crawford was going on the DL to fix his lack of power since 2010. And everything that had made the team great five years ago was either traded, injured, or slowly decaying.

This was a team in a major bind. 24 hours later, they are in even deeper doo-doo.

It took an entire day, but Los Angeles has extracted the core of the Red Sox power. A star first baseman, a veteran pitcher, an injured outfielder, and Nick Punto. Nobody cares about Nick Punto. All four of those men will be donning Dodger blue tonight. And it couldn't come at a better time for LA. The Giants had been shoving the 1st place lead in everyone's face, and the Dodgers needed to reclaim the mojo they had in June.

The Dodgers, in exchange for the last bit of life from a dying crater, managed to sacrifice something Boston lacked- youth.

James Loney, Jerry Sands, Rubby De La Rosa, Ivan DeJesus Jr., and Allen Webster have been chosen to fill in the holes left by the Boston stars. Good luck to them all, for it will not be an easy task.

Sure, Loney is a star, and Sands will be great in a number of years, but Boston needs to be great NOW. They need to snap into a streak and catch Baltimore for the Wild Card. They don't need a future. They need a present. And while these players are very good, they won't be enough to airlift them out of last.

Meanwhile, Beckett and Gonzalez alone will do a lot to help the Dodgers. They needed pitching, and they needed a new first baseman. This will not only make the team stronger, it will give the Giants a huge force to contend with come September, when the playoff spot is crucial.

Still, this trade is probably the biggest of the year. It's too bad Topps won't be able to document it, because it's too &^&^%ing late to get it in the Update set.