D-Backs notebook: Unit didn’t like last offer

azdad1978

Championship!!!!
Joined
Dec 8, 2002
Posts
14,982
Reaction score
50
Location
ordinance 2257
By Jack Magruder, Tribune

TUCSON - Randy Johnson spoke for the first time Wednesday about his final contract talks with the Diamondbacks, and it appears the sides were so far apart that a break was inevitable.

"The (extension) proposal they offered me was to give back half my salary,’’ Johnson said in his first press conference with the New York media at the Yankees’ spring training camp in Tampa, Fla.

Johnson was to make $16 million in the final year of his contract this season, a contract that was extended after he was traded to the Yankees for right-hander Javier Vazquez and catcher Dioner Navarro.

The D-Backs’ proposal, made before many of their offseason free agent moves, was believed to be a two-year extension that would pay Johnson $24 million over three years.

"I was hoping to sit down with the new ownership there when the season was over,’’ Johnson said.

"They’ve gone out and done some things there I couldn’t even imagine they would have done. I wasn’t informed of all that.’’

Johnson had a no-trade clause and could have voided any deal the D-Backs put together.

"If Randy didn’t want to be in New York, he wouldn’t be in New York today,’’ DBacks general manager Joe Garagiola Jr. said. "It’s that simple."

NO ‘ROID RAGE

Manager Bob Melvin and D-Backs players said they were pleased about Major League Baseball’s new steroid testing policy, agreed upon by the Players Association in the offseason.

"I’m glad that the policy is in place, because it is something you would have to evaluate before. Who’s doing it? Who do you think is not?’’ Melvin said.

Violators are to be identified after a positive test, and Melvin said he believes the transparency is a major deterrent.

"Guys don’t want to be embarrassed. If you get caught, people are going to know. Once you get caught doing something like that, it never goes away, even if you are clean afterward,’’ Melvin said.

"I think this policy is going to take care of that situation. Obviously not a moment too soon, with everything that is coming out right now.’’

New D-Backs first baseman Tony Clark is one of the two highest-ranking members of the players’ association, an association representative.

"As a group, everyone felt there was a need to make it more stringent,’’ Clark said.

ON THE MEND

Left-hander Shawn Estes and rookie right-hander Dustin Nippert are the only pitchers expected to be less than full-go at this morning’s first spring workout.

Nippert had arm surgery and Estes suffered a slight ankle sprain. He turned his ankle a little bit playing with one of his dogs.

Estes is expected to throw off flat ground instead of a mound today.

UNDER ADVISEMENT

Melvin invited former DBacks Matt Williams, Gregg Olson and Mark Grace and former San Francisco teammate Will Clark to camp to act as "advisors’’ to the players.

Olson will work with relief pitchers while Clark is expected to join hitting coach Mike Aldrete in working with the hitters, Melvin said. Former Gold Glover Grace, a D-Backs announcer, will get with new first baseman Chad Tracy.

"We want to recreate the swagger and some of the things that our organization has been very good about,’’ Melvin said. "We have some guys who were very successful for a long time doing what they did, and we feel like they are going to rub off on some of these guys.’’

SHORT HOP

Not only will Scott Hairston play a lot of outfield this spring, the D-Backs plan to look at top prospect Conor Jackson at first base. Jackson was a third baseman in college but has played outfield in his two minor league seasons after being a first-round pick in the 2003 draft. The thought is to increase his versatility with a possible logjam developing in the corner outfield spots. Luis Gonzalez has two years left on his contract and Shawn Green three, and top prospect Carlos Quentin also is a corner outfielder.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=36542
 

AZZenny

Registered User
Joined
Feb 18, 2003
Posts
9,235
Reaction score
2
Location
Cave Creek
Melvin invited former DBacks Matt Williams, Gregg Olson and Mark Grace and former San Francisco teammate Will Clark to camp to act as "advisors’’ to the players.

Olson will work with relief pitchers

:eek:
 

moviegeekjn

Registered
Joined
Sep 14, 2002
Posts
502
Reaction score
0
Location
Phoenix
AZZenny said:
Olson will work with relief pitchers
Scary when thinking of his '99 stint with the Dbacks, but he did have a number of decent years with the Orioles early in his career... It could be a case where Olson can teach much better than perform. There's a number of coaches/managers that have succeeded much better in those roles than they ever did on the field... Perhaps Melvin knows what he's doing here (hopefully)
 

Gee!

BirdGang
Supporting Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2003
Posts
26,222
Reaction score
25
Location
Gee From The G
AZZenny said:
Olson will work with relief pitchers

:eek:
Some of the best coaches werent the best players. Seeing the game and actual execution are two different things.
 

AZZenny

Registered User
Joined
Feb 18, 2003
Posts
9,235
Reaction score
2
Location
Cave Creek
Olson was actually getting some death threats at the end here, which is why I'm a little surprised he'd come back - though Moorad is his brother-in-law or something. But also, it is the kind of thing many fans will not see as a confidence-builder, you know?

That was pretty bad fan behavior, I thought at the time - though I would have happily broken his arm to keep him off the mound - but maybe he'll let the youngsters know what happens to flailing closers out here in the wild west.
 

green machine

I rule at posting
Joined
Sep 4, 2002
Posts
6,126
Reaction score
11
Location
Phoenix, AZ
How quickly we all forget how great Olson was in 98. Granted, he was awful in 99, but the guy, throughout his career, was a very good pitcher.
 

Lefty

ASFN Icon
Joined
Jul 4, 2002
Posts
12,569
Reaction score
962
Olson was very good in '98, especially after the All-Star break. Those last 3 months were fun, better than last year.
 

sunsfn

Registered User
Joined
Oct 3, 2002
Posts
4,522
Reaction score
0
Mark Davis the pitching coach had a great year as a reliever, signed a big contract and never pitched well after that.

Not sure what year that was?
 

AZZenny

Registered User
Joined
Feb 18, 2003
Posts
9,235
Reaction score
2
Location
Cave Creek
TAMPA, Fla. -- The Biggest Yankees Acquisition of All Time thinks he knows what he's getting into.

To which we can only say to the great Randall D. Johnson: We'll see.

Randy Johnson beams at the thought of pitching in pinstripes.

The Biggest Yankees Acquisition of All Time thinks the expectations he's dealt with all his life have been a spectacular training ground for life as a George Steinbrenner employee.

To which we can only say: Ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho.

After five Cy Youngs, 246 wins and 4,161 strikeouts, The Biggest Yankees Acquisition of All Time says he doesn't know "how much more I have to prove."

To which we can only say: Well, he's about to find out. We can sure guarantee him that.

We heard these remarks, we thought these thoughts, on Tuesday, the day the Yankees introduced the first 6-foot-10 person they've ever traded for, to his new life inside the daily Yankees soap opera.

No cameras got mauled. No questioners got stared down. No voices were raised. This was Randy Johnson at his friendliest, most congenial, most amusing best.

It is a side the Unit doesn't always show us common members of the public. But the more he displays it in this place he couldn't wait to pitch in, the better off he'll be.

And the fewer TV guys who wind up with a camera sandwich for lunch, even better yet. But then, you'd probably already figured that out.

This was a day for Johnson to get lost on the way to Legends Field, drive around the parking lot in confusion a few times and act eminently human.

That kind of thing is allowed on a guy's first day as a Yankee, of course. Which must have come as a biiiggggg relief to Mr. Unit ... knowing that he'll only have to be superhuman on all the rest of his days as a Yankee.

Yes, it's always a tricky deal showing up at a new address, knowing you've already been penciled in as The Official Savior.

The only good news for the Unit is, he's run that drill before -- in Houston and Arizona. And his report card so far shows straight A's in saviorism. Which is a terrific claim to fame.

Except there's something he ought to know: Nobody in Yankee Land cares half an iota about that.

In Yankee Land, you know, nothing counts until you do it as a Yankee.

The rest of a guy's career? They might take that into account when they figure how much to put in his paycheck. Other than that, it's the equivalent of a little pregame stretch before his real career (in pinstripes) begins.

That ain't fair. But Randy Johnson says he can handle that.

"I understand the responsibility here," he said Tuesday. "And I'm not going to shy away from that."

Good answer -- especially from a guy who has been trying to drive his train toward the Bronx since last summer. He wanted to be a Yankee. He wanted to chase 300 wins as a Yankee. He wanted to ride a parade float as a Yankee.

Well, here he is. Let the fun begin.

Johnson's already shown his disdain for intrusive New York cameramen.

But is he really ready for all that Being A Yankee entails? Johnson is pretty sure he is. So he probably doesn't want to know the one thing we've learned over the years is this:

Nobody is. Not right away.

Not A-Rod. Not Mike Mussina. Certainly not Jason Giambi. They all arrived much like the Unit did. They were honored to wear the uniform. They were thrilled to take those never-ending Steinbrenner dollars. They were looking forward to everything life as a Yankee had in store.

Until the store actually opened, that is.

Then it turned out it wasn't quite as much fun as they'd envisioned.

If you don't prove yourself as a Yankee, if you don't win as a Yankee, if you don't live up to all that's expected of a Yankee, "fun" wouldn't describe the experience. So for this to work out the way he has it planned, here is Johnson's job now:

Win. Win some more. Win even more than that. Be greater than he has ever been. (Is that possible?) Especially on crisp autumn evenings in October. Be tough. Be accountable. And then win some more. And some more.

The Unit thinks that sounds a lot like what has always been asked of him. He may think wrong. But at least he has logical reasons for believing that.

"Being a Yankee now, anything less than winning a World Series isn't acceptable," he said. "Just like, for me, no matter where I was, anything less than a win wasn't acceptable. ...

"Any time I've taken the mound," he went on. "it's always been the old Samson-and-Goliath story written about me."

OK, so he meant David and Goliath. Samson was too busy running around with Delilah to get a good swing at Goliath's slider. But we get the idea. Randy Johnson has certainly lived life as Goliath. No disputing that.

What he hasn't begun to comprehend yet, though, is that there's no Goliath alive like the Goliath who sits in the Yankees' owner's box.

The guy in that owner's box isn't going to care that Johnson is 41 years old. The guy in the box only cares that he just extended a 41-year-old pitcher's contract through 2007 at 16 million bucks a year. And that's insanity.

Unless they win.

So with all due apologies to Jason Giambi, and Alex Rodriguez's pursuit of redemption, and all these other new Yankees pitchers, the most important story in the Yankees' universe over these next eight months is whether the 6-foot-10 guy can do what he was brought to the Bronx to do.

Johnson has struck out at least 290 hitters in a season nine times. All the Yankees pitchers in history have done that no times. (Team record: 248, by Ron Guidry.) Just four Yankees left-handers (Guidry, Whitey Ford, Al Downing and Lefty Gomez) have ever climbed within 100 of that.

Johnson has won 20 games three times. Since Ford retired in the '60s, the only Yankees left-handers to win 20 are Guidry, Tommy John, Andy Pettitte and Fritz Peterson.

Johnson once won four Cy Youngs in a row. Which would equal the number won by Yankees starters in the history of the award.

So you see what we're getting at here: Randy Johnson brings this team a dimension it didn't have last year (or many other years, for that matter), a dimension that might have changed everything (by which we mean Games 4 through 7 of the ALCS).

"When Randy gets out there his one day or two days a week, he adds a whole new element," said reliever Paul Quantrill. "Any time he starts a game, you expect him to dominate."

But what Johnson will soon begin to comprehend is that there's a difference between this general expectation, which he's lived with forever, that he can (and probably will) dominate his opponent du jour, vs. the kind of expectation he faces now.

This is no general level of expectation he's about to run into in the Bronx. He won't be expected to dominate for the Yankees because he has, or because he can.

He'll be expected to dominate now because he has to. That's what he's doing here. He has been brought to this time, this place, this team because the entire season has been built around the concept that having a nonstop, relentless, left-handed dominator is merely the key to everything.

Remember, these Yankees passed on Carlos Beltran because they thought what the Unit brings them was, and is, more important. That was their most pivotal decision of the winter. So now it's up to Randy Johnson to make them look brilliant. That's all.

Is he really ready for that?

"I've never backed down from a challenge," he said Tuesday. "I know what's expected of me."

He says he does. He thinks he does. But he doesn't. Not really. Not until he's lived it. Nobody knows until they've lived it.

Well, he'll be living it for the next eight months, all right. And if we ask him all these same questions at the end of that road, we bet the answers won't sound anything like they sounded on a sun-splashed Florida afternoon in February.

Jayson Stark is a senior writer for ESPN.com

Great Daned, I hate to see him in MFY pinstripes.
 

moviegeekjn

Registered
Joined
Sep 14, 2002
Posts
502
Reaction score
0
Location
Phoenix
AZZenny said:
He says he does. He thinks he does. But he doesn't. Not really. Not until he's lived it. Nobody knows until they've lived it.
That teary eyed Steinbrenner that you see in the locker room after his Yanks win the World Series is a totally different person when they fail to win the final prize... as Buster Olney reports in his book The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty, Joe Torre pleaded with an obviously steamed Steinbrenner to NOT say anything to the team in the team locker room after the 2001 World Series... but... that did NOT stop Steinbrenner from loudly declaring, "There's gonna be some changes around here next year!!!" within earshot of the players after the official team meeting was over.

I can't bring myself to root for RJ in pinstripes either... but I would love to see him win his 20+ games and see his team set an all time pathetic record of 22 - 140.
 

BC867

Long time Phoenician!
Joined
Sep 16, 2002
Posts
17,827
Reaction score
1,709
Location
NE Phoenix
AZZenny said:
TAMPA, Fla. -- The Biggest Yankees Acquisition of All Time thinks he knows what he's getting into. in MFY pinstripes.
The biggest Yankees acquisition of all-time . . . I think George Herman Ruth would have something to say about that.
 

AZZenny

Registered User
Joined
Feb 18, 2003
Posts
9,235
Reaction score
2
Location
Cave Creek
Rumors that something is wrong with King George health-wise - so far not nearly as visible around ST as in the past.

Meanwhile, this from the current SI:


"Johnson said he was perplexed after the season when Arizona did not approach him about a contract extension or to discuss the direction of the team. He said it was not until December, and only after the Diamondbacks had signed a pair of free agents - third baseman Troy Glaus and righthander Russ Ortiz to contracts totalling $78 Million - that prospective CEO Jeff Moorad called with a proposition. If Johnson wrote a check to the Diamondbacks for $8 Million, half his 2005 salary, the team would grant an extension worth $8 Million in '06 and $8 Million in '07. Johnson quickly refused..."

If that's accurate, then shame on the current front office. That's absolutely insulting and shows no class, and they KNOW it. I wouldn't blame the baseball gods if they cursed this organization for treating one of their favorites like that. And I wouldn't be at all surprised if RJ doesn't wear Purple in the HOF. What A-holes. :mad:
 

Lefty

ASFN Icon
Joined
Jul 4, 2002
Posts
12,569
Reaction score
962
AZZenny said:
Rumors that something is wrong with King George health-wise - so far not nearly as visible around ST as in the past.


If that's accurate, then shame on the current front office. That's absolutely insulting and shows no class, and they KNOW it. I wouldn't blame the baseball gods if they cursed this organization for treating one of their favorites like that. And I wouldn't be at all surprised if RJ doesn't wear Purple in the HOF. What A-holes. :mad:


Randy has no say in what team he would like to go into the Hall of Fame as.
 

Latest posts

Staff online

Forum statistics

Threads
556,594
Posts
5,437,210
Members
6,330
Latest member
Trainwreck20
Top