The New York Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks have reached a tentative trade deal that would ship Randy Johnson back to Arizona.
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The D-backs will send veteran reliever Luis Vizcaino and a pitching prospect in exchange for Johnson. It's believed that the Yankees will include some money in the deal to help Arizona defray the cost of Johnson's $16 million salary for 2007.
The pitching prospect will likely come from a group of Ross Ohlendorf, Micah Owings or Dustin Nippert. It's unknown whether the D-backs will include another lower-level Minor Leaguer in the deal.
The D-backs would rather part with Vizcaino than young reliever Brandon Medders because the 32-year-old Vizcaino is set for a raise from the $1.7 million he made last year and he is one year away from becoming a free agent.Originally posted by pags11Originally posted by BuddyBearOriginally posted by curiousComment -
Taco, I couldn't find an updated story on this one at all. I was just wondering if you or anyone else might know how much the Yankees will be paying on Johnson's salary?Comment -
wouldn't it be some shit if arizona meets up with the yankees for WS
and johnson helps beat them againComment -
The real question is, does this pending trade mean Clemens is coming to New York?Comment -
We should know by 5pm eastern because that's the deadline for the pending trade.Originally posted by bigboydanComment -
$2 million is your answer.
The denizens of the NL West have been busy adding big-name starters to the fold this winter.
First, the Padres inked Greg Maddux. Then the Dodgers made perhaps the best signing of the off-season by locking up Jason Schmidt to a three-year pact. Then the Giants grossly overpaid for Barry Zito, and now the Diamondbacks have re-acquired Randy Johnson, the lefty who won four straight Cy Youngs while wearing Arizona's miserable, fashion-forward uniform.
The Snakes nabbed Johnson from the Yankees in exchange for reliever Luis Vizcaino, semi-promising minor league hurler Russ Ohlendorf, pitching prospect Stephen Jackson and mid-grade shortstop prospect Alberto Gonzalez. The Yankees will also pick up $2 million of the Unit's $16 million salary for 2006. The deal is contingent upon Arizona's signing Johnson to a contract extension for 2008, which would probably pay him around $10 million. The only way Johnson will waive his no-trade clause is if the Snakes add a year to his current contract.
Anyhow, as previously detailed in this space, the Yankees were right to ship off Johnson. In this deal, they part with a 43-year-old pitcher who's coming off his second major back surgery, who's got knee issues, who posted an ERA of 5.00 last season and who was often visibly uncomfortable while toiling in the Bronx. That they were able to off-load $14 million of his salary and nab a useful reliever and three prospects of varying promise is gravy.
To gain a better purchase on what Johnson means for the Snakes, let's revisit some grim indicators from 2006:
# Johnson posted the worst full-season ERA of his career;
# He posted his worst strikeouts-per-nine mark since 1989;
# He posted his worst strikeout-to-walk ratio since 1994;
# He posted his worst walk rate since 1998;
# His innings total declined for the second straight season;
# For only the third time in his career, opponents slugged better than .400 against him;
# He posted his lowest groundball-fly ball ratio since 1992;
Among Johnson's many problems last season was that against right-handed hitters he spotted his fastball far too often in the middle third of the plate, that he couldn't locate his slider, that his slider was too often flat as it approached the plate and that his mechanics from the stretch were inconsistent. Those are all serious concerns going forward.
Johnson will certainly benefit from jumping to the non-DH league, and he'll most assuredly enjoy no longer having to face the Boston and Toronto lineups. He's moving to a division with demonstrably worse offenses, but he'll also be pitching in a park that's exceedingly home run-friendly. Still, Johnson should see some modest improvement in 2007 by virtue of pitching in a less-pressurized environment, facing opposing pitchers in the nine hole and working against inferior competition.
There's also the fact that the D-backs no longer need him to be an ace (that job falls to reigning NL Cy Young winner Brandon Webb); in fact, with Livan Hernandez and Doug Davis on board, they really need to Johnson to be nothing more than a quality fourth man. That he might be able to do. Might.
Arizona has cobbled together perhaps the most impressive collection of young, pre-arbitration talent in all of baseball, so the prospects they forfeited don't amount to much in relative terms. As well, since they already have Jorge Julio and Brandons Lyon and Medders slated for the active roster, the loss of Vizcaino won't hurt the right-handed relief corps all that much.
From the Snakes' perspective, this deal absolutely won't return value on the dollar, and it's entirely possible Johnson will go over the performance cliff in short order. It's risky and expensive (potentially being on the hook for $10 million in 2008 is particularly unpalatable), but if Johnson can give them innings and an ERA in the mid-4.00s from the fourth spot, then they'll be happy. Then again, $14 million is a lot for a fourth starter.
The Yankees, by a wide margin, got the better end of this trade. Arizona must now pin their hopes on Johnson's ability to defy expectations. If he does that, they might just win the NL West; however, age, injury history and recent performance trends are all working against him.Originally posted by pags11Originally posted by BuddyBearOriginally posted by curiousComment -
Thanks Taco
I think the Yankees got off rather cheap considering the contract was ridiculous in the first place. Lets face fact...He's not what he once was, and it clearly showed it last year.Comment -
I think that the Yankees got the better deal but it might all be down to the "bums on seats" factor which puts the likes of Barry Bonds on big salaries.Originally posted by pags11Originally posted by BuddyBearOriginally posted by curiousComment -
I'am actually rooting for Woody Williams or Jason Jennings to beat Andy Pettitte and the Yanks in Game 7 of the next World Series. But Johnson beating them would also have some poetic justiceOriginally posted by AC1318
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