The Dodgers are the Yankees of the West. Built a team on high priced free agents and emptied their farm system to do it.
Red Sox were lucky the Dodgers were big enough suckers to take on the Beckett, Gonzalez and Crawford contracts in the 2012 trade. We even threw in a Nick Punto for good measure Great move for Boston as they dumped over-priced, disgruntled players for a bevy of prospects that will be used to re-build and re-tool. Only thing I didn't like about that trade was losing Gonzalez. Mike Napoli has made up for it though.
Wow. I disagree with everything you said...
The Dodgers did not empty their farm system in all these trades. I think the only relevant prospect they gave up was De La Rosa for Hanley Ramirez. They have some of the top prospects in AAA including Joc Pederson who has been tearing it up in the minors. The Dodgers have other players in AAA who are on the verge of making it on the roster. Ryu, Greinke and Puig were free agent signings and they worked out great.
As for the Boston trade, I think both sides benefited. Gonzalez was a nice pickup, but Crawford has been pretty good when he's been healthy including the playoffs. Also, Beckett had a great year and even had a no-hitter. Unfortunately, he got injured. The Dodgers would not have made the playoffs these last two years had it not been for that trade.
The Dodger future is pretty good. They've been able to get major talent and preserve their farm system. Once the current set of players fade in talent, there is going to be a group of youngsters there to pick up the slack.