For Dodgers players and fans, the trade ushers in a new era after more than two years of turmoil and inaction under previous owner Frank McCourt. Since taking over, the new owners have signed Cuban defector Yasiel Puig for $42 million over seven years, re-signed right fielder Andre Ethier to a five-year, $85 million extension and now acquired nine new players, most of whom are well-paid. The four players the Dodgers acquired Saturday are owed $262.5 million beyond this season.

"You just chuckle inside and laugh," Ethier said. "To see what we were faced with last year at this time and to see where we started the season, it's kind of funny. They told me this is a place you want to be. I knew that already, but they reassured me. They said they'd do whatever it takes to win and they're definitely proving that now."

Said team president Stan Kasten: "When we came in, we made it clear that we want to build the Dodgers back to what they once were."

Gonzalez was in the Dodgers' lineup for Saturday night's game with the Miami Marlins, batting fourth behind last year's MVP runner-up Matt Kemp. He hit a three-run home run in his first at-bat as a Dodger. Hours after arriving at Dodger Stadium on a flight from Boston, Gonzalez drove an 0-1 pitch from Miami right-hander Josh Johnson deep into the lower seats in the right-field corner.

"I was telling the guys it was just all adrenaline," Gonzalez said after the Dodgers' 8-2 win. "I saw the ball halfway on a trajectory and it was a great feeling."

The centerpiece of the trade, Gonzalez, a four-time All-Star and Gold Glove winner, hit .300 with 15 home runs and 86 RBIs in 123 games for the Red Sox this season. He is hitting .398 with runners in scoring position, second in the majors.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said Beckett will make his debut for the team Monday night in Colorado. Beckett's arrival is well-timed since the Dodgers put starter Chad Billingsley on the disabled list later Saturday with right elbow discomfort.

"I had an awesome time in Boston. I had some tough times. There are some great people there," Beckett said. "For me, I think it was time to move on and start this new chapter."

Asked why it was time, Beckett said: "I don't know. I think it was time for both sides. I don't really have a reason."

The Dodgers have traded the NL West lead with the Giants all season, but they're hoping these moves help them make a quick move in the standings.

"Right now, to have one of the best first basemen that plays the game, somebody that can drive in runs is definitely going to help us win a lot more ballgames. We all have one common goal and that's to win games," Kemp said. "Everybody knows what their job is to do, drive in runs, move runners over, play defense, whatever it is.

"Everyone takes care of their business and we'll be a tough team to beat."

Beckett had become a lightning rod in Boston since the Red Sox's September collapse and had won just one of his past 13 starts. Crawford, out for the rest of the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, put up career-low numbers in 2011.

"We recognized that we are not who we want to be right now and it's been a large enough sample of performance going back to last year," Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington said. "We felt like in order to be the team that we wanted to be on the field we needed to make more than cosmetic changes."

The Dodgers part with two of their top pitching prospects in De La Rosa and Webster. One scout said De La Rosa could be a "top-of-the-rotation" starter if he fully recovers from the Tommy John surgery he had in August of 2011.

The Red Sox returned to their clubhouse Saturday

to find empty lockers where Beckett, Gonzalez

and Crawford stored their gear before they packed for Los

Angeles.

Pitcher John Lackey already had

claimed Beckett's locker and the others' were left with generic

nameplates after the players cleared out Friday night and Saturday

morning.

"As we look forward to this offseason," Cherington said, "we felt like the opportunity to build the team that we need, that the fans deserve, required a more bold move to give us the opportunity to really reshape the roster, reshape the team."