The Randy Johnson Trade Chatter
by edwzipper on Wednesday, December 27th, 2006 at 11:40am
Slowly seeping into my consciousness over the Christmas weekend (thanks in part to Zip’s post below) is that it appears Randy Johnson may no longer take his formerly great self to the mound in the Bronx. He may instead haul is aching 43-year-old back to the mound in Arizona once again, or perhaps San Diego. New York’s reasons for moving him? At $16 million, he is ridiculously overpaid at this point in his career (well, maybe not, if Gil Meche can get $11 million per, then perhaps the decaying Unit is worth $16 million), and not consistently effective. Bill Maddon and Anthony McCarron in the Daily News speculate on a renewed pursuit of Barry Zito, or perhaps getting the Yankees back into the Roger Clemens business if Johnson can be moved. The particulars:
“In an effort to have as many options open as possible, the Yankees are hoping to resolve talks about Johnson by the end of the weekend. In return for the 6-10 lefty, who has 34 victories in two seasons in New York but never has appeared fully comfortable, the Yankees want a player who can help them next season – at the very least. According to the official, the Bombers might be willing to kick in part of Johnson’s $16 million salary for 2007 if it meant they would get better players in the deal.
Johnson has a full no-trade clause in his contract and, according to two baseball officials, the Yankees have not approached his representatives with a trade to approve. Johnson has not requested a trade, the executives said, but the Yankees began discussions with other clubs when GM Brian Cashman made a condolence call to Johnson after the recent death of the pitcher’s brother and Johnson told the GM it was important to him to be near his family. Johnson’s offseason home is in Paradise Valley, Ariz., a suburb of Phoenix, and he has family in California.”
I am guessing Scott Boras doesn’t do anything with Zito until he determines the level of Yankee interest. A bidding war between the Mets and Yankees? That would absolutely be icing on Beelzebub’s already very successful off-season.