December 29, 2006
BRIANIAC:
Yanks, D-Backs close to Unit deal (BILL MADDEN and ANTHONY McCARRON, 12/29/06, NY DAILY NEWS)
The Diamondbacks have been the most aggressive suitors for Randy Johnson and sources close to the negotiations said yesterday that the Yankees and Arizona could complete a trade to send Johnson back to the desert before next week. [...]The Diamondbacks are loaded with young talent and if the Yankees send Johnson home to Arizona - Johnson's home is in the Phoenix suburb of Paradise Valley - they'd like to get at least two of the following three pitchers: Dustin Nippert, Micah Owings and Ross Ohlendorf.
Nippert, 25, is a 6-8 righthander who was 13-8 with a 4.87 ERA in Triple-A last season and lost both his major league starts. Owings, a 6-5 righty, was 6-2 at Double-A and 10-0 at Triple-A. Ohlendorf, a 6-4 righty, spent most of last season in Double-A, going 10-8 with a 3.29 ERA. Ohlendorf had 125 strikeouts and only 29 walks in 177-2/3 innings.
If Cashman can trade another 40 year old whose juice supply has been cut off for real pitching prospects he'll have had a great off-season, even if their major league pitching staff still needs heaps of help. Posted by Orrin Judd at December 29, 2006 12:03 AM
Just getting rid of the Big Eunuch would be good -- and the word is the Yanks won't pick up any of his 14 mil salary -- getting something back in return would be gravy.
Not sure about the pitchers we'd get tho. They all seem to have decent milg numbers -- and good control especially -- but their strikeout numbers are a little worrying. None of them seems a hard thrower.
Now if only they could move Giambi for a decent young firstbaseman with a glove . . .
Posted by: Jim in Chicago at December 29, 2006 3:49 PMRJ would fill seats in Arizona, which the D-backs have had trouble with the last couple of years. With Luis Gonzales' contract not being picked up, there isn't a public face to the franchise. Johnson wouldn't help them win very much, but then they weren't going to do much of that anyway.
Posted by: Brandon at December 29, 2006 7:03 PM