BOSTON -- The Boston Red Sox finally managed to unload erratic outfielder Carl Everett, trading him to the Texas Rangers for left-hander Darren Oliver early Thursday morning.

Addition by subtraction?

How badly did the Red Sox want to ship Carl Everett as far out of town as possible? Everett Badly enough to take back Darren Oliver, a $7-million-a-year pitcher whose ERAs the last two years were 7.42 and 6.02, respectively. Badly enough to agree to take all of Oliver's salary and still send money to the Rangers to pay a substantial chunk of the $17.15 million Everett has left over the next two seasons. Badly enough to back off on their attempt to at least get a prospect in return for a guy who was a 34-homer, 108-RBI man just two years ago. In other words, it isn't often you find one team take part in both ends of a salary dump. But the Red Sox did just that to get Carl Everett off their hands. Any more questions? What's more, Dan Duquette was able to describe Oliver as "a winning starter" with a straight face, even though Oliver has had one full season in his career as a starter in which he was more than one game over .500. Oliver But Duquette's face got even straighter when he admitted, "This trade was necessary for our team to move forward, and necessary for Carl to play in another market." The Red Sox simply maneuvered themselves into a position in which they devalued Everett so much that their only alternative was to trade him for somebody else's problem -- in this case, somebody else's contract problem. But for all the baggage Everett brings with him -- and we're not referring to American Tourister -- don't bet against him having a big year in Texas. He's heading for a great hitter's park, and an environment where Indians GM John Hart will pull perks out of his old Manny Ramirez playbook to make sure Everett is a happy guy -- or as happy as he ever gets, anyway. -- Jayson Stark, ESPN.com

"I'm just disappointed it didn't work out. Disappointed for Carl and disappointed for the team," Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette said at the winter meetings after the deal was announced at about 1:15 a.m. ET. "Now he gets a fresh start and we get a fresh start for our ballclub."

Everett was an All-Star his first season in Boston, hitting .300 with 34 homers and 108 RBI in 2000. But he clashed with two Boston managers this year and struggled on the field, batting .257 with 14 homers and 58 RBI before his season ended Sept. 8 because of a knee injury.

Boston -- Everett's fifth organization -- has been trying to move him all offseason, a task that was more difficult because he is still owed $17.15 million over the next two seasons.

"We're certainly not blind," Rangers general manager John Hart said. "It's well-documented the problems Carl has had in Boston. At the same time, we recognize the opportunity a new fresh start in Texas will provide to Carl."

Everett adds another bat to a team that was third in the league in hitting with a .275 average but last in pitching with a 5.71 ERA. Last year, the Rangers paid $252 million for shortstop Alex Rodriguez and finished last in the AL West.

"We talked to some of our senior players, some of our leaders. To a man, they were extremely supportive," Hart said. "Our players want to win. It's not often that you're able to add potentially 30 homers and 30 doubles and good defense."

The 31-year-old Oliver went 11-11 last season with a 6.02 ERA in 28 starts and was extremely hittable, allowing 260 baserunners in 189 innings.

Oliver has one year and $5 million remaining on a $19 million, three-year contract and $4.5 million owed him by Texas for his signing bonus. Boston general manager Dan Duquette said the Red Sox would pay a portion of the signing bonus, but he would not be more specific.

"It wasn't a huge economic cost for us," Hart said.

But the Red Sox are glad to have him instead of Everett, who has shown a volcanic temper and an ability to alienate fans and his teammates alike.

Last year, he exploded in anger at umpire Ron Kulpa, who asked Everett to move his foot in the batter's box. Everett head-butted Kulpa and had to be restrained by teammates and coaches; when he reached the dugout, he knocked over a water cooler and threw a bat.

When Everett returned from his 10-game suspension, he yelled at manager Jimy Williams and said, in earshot of his surprised teammates, "I never liked him, anyway." Later that year, he argued with teammate Darren Lewis and the two had to be separated by coaches.

The discord was contagious; when Duquette failed to back Williams in the dispute it helped widen the rift between the two. During this past season, after Williams was replaced by Joe Kerrigan and Everett lashed out at him, too, Duquette said the behavior was unacceptable.

But by that time, the only solution was to ship Everett out of town.

"We expressed our interest and concerns to Carl, and when he didn't respond to those interests we thought it was best for Carl to trade him to another market," Duquette said. "It just didn't work out."