HAVE THE YANKEES PAID TOO BIG A PRICE?
Yankees on verge of trading top prospects, and Javier Vazquez in 3-team deal for 41-year-old and hefty salary




By: Russ Rose
Special to Yankees Talk Shop
December 17, 2004

When is it going to stop? When is George Steinbrenner going to stop trading away the Yankees future for a shot at today? The Boss apparently knows no bounds when it comes to obtaining the players he wants. Randy Johnson is no exception. But, as a famous movie title asks “What Price Glory?”

Randy Johnson is a workhorse. He has been the most dominant left-hander in baseball for the past dozen seasons. In the last 12 CY Young Award ballots Johnson has fared no worse than third in the voting on nine of those ballots. Everyone agrees RJ is one of the nastiest pitchers ever to step on a major league mound. Take a look at last year. Randy was 16-14 with an impressive ERA of 2.60 on a Diamondbacks team who mailed the 2004 season in. Johnson’s teammates quit on him more times than I’m sure Randy would like to recount.

Johnson is a five-time CY Young Award winner, trailing only Roger Clemens in that category. He has a lifetime win-loss record of 246-128. If he lasts three more seasons, averaging 18 victories a season, he has an outside shot at the coveted 300 wins mark. Johnson also has 4,161 career strikeouts, which is more than any left-hander who ever played the game. His career ERA is 3.07 and he has logged more than 240 innings in six of the past seven seasons. Career wise and stats wise what’s not to like about acquiring Randy Johnson? Well, I’ll give you a few of my concerns.

First, as stated Randy Johnson is 41-years-old. In pitching years that pretty much makes him a Methuselah. Although Randy has been dominant he is still pitching with an arm older than most people reading this article. He has thrown 3,368 innings with that arm. He could be one pitch away from blowing out that arm and the Yankees would be stuck with it.

Secondly, Johnson has a history of back and knee problems. He has endured back surgery, which is never a good thing. Remember David Wells and his queasy back? The motion a pitcher has to go through to deliver a ball to the plate can have a lot to do with the torque you place on your low back. Randy Johnson has a quirky delivery, which over time has probably had a lot to do with his problem. Although, I think RJ goes through a regimen of stretching and workouts to keep the back loose an injury can jump up at any time.

In 2003 Randy had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, which wasn’t the first surgery he has had performed on his aging knee. He had a procedure done on his right knee in 1991 to remove some rough edges around the patella at the back of the knee. Again, these are things to be concerned about when you’re acquiring a pitcher of Johnson’s age.

Third, the huge salary that comes along with Johnson. He is scheduled to make in the neighborhood of $16,000,000.00 this year. The Yankees traded for another fireballer last year who had to have his own private jet and received a check for $15,000,000.00. That trade turned out to be a monumental bust as Kevin Brown was out significant time with intestinal parasites, a bad back of his own and a self-inflicted broken left hand. The Yankees are desperately trying to dump Brown, but no one is going to trade for damaged goods and a huge salary. Could the Yankees be burned twice? Only time will tell.

Lastly, the Yankees have, once again, raided their thinning minor league system to offer up top prospects catcher Dioner Navarro and third baseman Eric Duncan, along with starter Javier Vazquez in order to obtain Johnson’s services. Navarro who was thought to be a possible heir apparent to Jorge Posada will no longer be there to take the reigns when Posada finally hangs up his chest protector.
Duncan, a quality third baseman, is more expendable since the Yankees traded for Alex Rodriguez last year. Javier Vazquez was highly touted by the Yankees prior to the start of the 2004 season. Acquired from the Montreal Expos Vazquez was supposed to be one of the mainstays in the rotation. Vazquez had a decent first-half, making the all-star team before imploding in the second half. Even Vazquez admitted he had no idea what he was doing out on the mound. Well, if he doesn’t have a clue shouldn’t the pitching coach queue in on that and get the pitcher on the right track? It appears Mel Stottlemyre was never able to solve Vazquez’s head problems. The same could be said for Jeff Weaver the year before. Both pitchers have the physical abilities, but maybe not the head nor the heart for New York City. Personally, I think the Yankees have given up far too soon on Javier Vazquez. Mel Stottlemyre has to share in some of the blame for his pitchers not thriving.

Once again, the Yankees are hoping for lightening to strike twice. The first time was when the Bombers finally landed Roger Clemens who in five seasons amassed a 77-40 record, an ERA of 4.01, two world championships and a CY Young.

If Johnson can maintain his impressive numbers over, say, the next three seasons all of my points will be moot. If or I should say when RJ lands in the Bronx it will be at a very high cost. I just hope in the end it is worth the price of admission.


PLAY BALL!


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