Randy Johnson to New York?
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by Harold Friend
The general manager disgustedly put his cell phone back into its carrying case. Renowned for his decisiveness, he was not used to the current situation. The highest-rated free agent pitcher would not be among his trophies because he was hamstrung by a maximum monetary offer that was $45 million less than what Barry Zito received from the San Francisco Giants. He was now forced to do something that was anathema. He would have to speak to his cross-town rival in an attempt to acquire the left-handed pitcher his team needed.
Forty-three-year-old Randy Johnson is available. So is his huge salary. The general manager realized that when the 2007 season started, Tom Glavine would be 41, Pedro Martinez would be 35, and Orlando Hernandez would be at least 37, which might be taking a few years away from El Duque.
Still, he has to do something. Jason Schmidt, Jeff Suppan, Andy Pettitte, Ted Lilly, Greg Maddux, and even Jeff Weaver are all off the board. Mark Mulder might be a better choice, but Johnson would put more fans in the seats, and isn't that what it's about?
Johnson wants to leave New York and is willing to waive his no-trade clause to return to the West Coast or Arizona. Very few individuals ever confused Flushing or Corona with Phoenix or San Diego, but the general manager is almost as desperate to acquire Johnson as his Bronx counterpart is to unload him, which makes the deal logical. If he could convince his rivals to pay some of Johnson's salary, it would free up some money he could use to convince the surly left-hander to remain in New York, and isn't that what it's all about?
New York would demand only prospects for Johnson, which should not be a difficult requirement for New York’s other team to meet. A problem that could appear recently surfaced when New York exercised its option on Gary Sheffield in order to trade him for prospects, but more importantly, to prevent Sheffield from becoming a free agent and signing with a team that would be objectionable to New York---such as a team from Boston or New York.
Johnson is questionable at best, despite winning 17 games and pitching more than 200 innings in each of his two seasons, but he struck out 383 hitters in those two seasons, a total that, interestingly, was achieved by former Met Nolan Ryan in one season, 1973. Johnson is coming off back surgery, but he is a great competitor and would be joining a rotation the includes Pedro Martinez, Tom Glavine, El Duque, and --- Randy Johnson. The New York tabloids would go wild, the fans would go crazy, talk radio would never let go of the story, the fans would argue, and New York's other team would get priceless publicity.
It is a fascinating situation. Barry Zito went from the Oakland Athletics to their Bay area rivals, the Giants. Now, there is the possibility that Zito's move will cause a future Hall of Famer and one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history, despite not even being the pitcher in baseball history named Johnson, to be sent from one New York team to the other. What a an exciting off-season.
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