ST. PETERSBURG – Yankees fans frightened by what the team’s starting rotation looks like shouldn’t expect Randy Johnson in time for the Red Sox series this weekend at Fenway Park. Nor should they fret that The Big Unit will end up with Boston.
That’s because the Diamondbacks want to see if they can trade center fielder Steve Finley before intensifying their efforts to deal Johnson. According to a person familiar with the Diamondbacks’ game plan, they will reconnect with the teams interested in the Big Unit early next week. By then Finley could be in San Diego and Diamondbacks owner Jerry Colangelo will be back from Italy.
When the Diamondbacks get serious, the Yankees will be the favorite to land Johnson, who has to approve any deal. As of yesterday, the Diamondbacks hadn’t asked Johnson to give them permission to deal him. They aren’t likely to do that until they have a firm offer from another team.
What makes the Yankees the favorite?
They won’t flinch at picking up the $24 million left on the 38-year-old Johnson’s contract. While they may not have the best prospects to offer, the longer the process goes the ability to pay becomes bigger because the Diamondbacks don’t want to pay any part of Johnson’s contract in order to move him.
The Diamondbacks are one of three teams with scouts watching Columbus, the Yankees’ Triple-A club. Milwaukee, which has Ben Sheets but isn’t trading him, and Pittsburgh, which would love to deal Kris Benson, also have scouts following the Clippers. Coincidentally, Mark Newman, the Yankees’ minor league head, has been with the Clippers.
It’s no secret whom the scouts are watching since catcher Dioner Navarro and second baseman Robinson Cano are the Yankees’ best prospects. What the Diamondbacks think of them isn’t known since Arizona GM Joe Garagiola, Jr. hasn’t talked to Yankees GM Brian Cashman since last Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Yankees started last night’s game against the Devil Rays at Tropicana Field with a seven-game lead over the Red Sox in the AL East despite have Kevin Brown and Mike Mussina on the DL and Alex Graman on the mound.
If the playoffs started tomorrow, Joe Torre would probably go with Javier Vazquez, Jon Lieber, Jose Contreras and Orlando Hernandez. Of course, the postseason is 10 weeks away and Brown (back/intestinal parasite) and Mussina (elbow) are expected back. But the lack of rotation depth is alarming and makes Johnson a must-get when the Diamondbacks shop him.
Despite the cushion, Torre is looking forward to getting Brown and Mussina back.
“I’m not feeling good until both are active,” Torre said. “The center of our pitching staff is on the DL right now.
They are two veterans who need to lead the staff. They make everybody around them better.”
Had Mussina not gone on the DL, the Yankees would have been better last night because he would have started instead of Graman, a 26-year-old lefty who was battered by the White Sox on April 20 in his first big league start.
The Yankees were hoping Graman would be less nervous last night than he was in Chicago, but at best he is projected to be a long reliever in the big leagues and that will likely be with a team other than the Yankees.
As for the other starters, there are issues.
Contreras, who pitches today, is coming off his best game in the big leagues. But is he capable of putting 10 solid starts together? Vazquez admitted to not knowing what was wrong with him Friday night when the Tigers punished him. Lieber has been very inconsistent.
And as wonderful a story El Duque has been winning twice in two starts after missing 1 ½ years due to shoulder surgery, questions remain about him.