By Geoff Walter / SNY.tv

 

 

"Hello, thanks for coming, so long, goodbye!" That about sums up the relationship Randy Johnson had with New York the past two years, from when he burst onto the scene by giving a cameraman a close-up of his hand to the Yankees slapping a "return to sender" tag on the Big Unit. In the two years Johnson has spent with New York, we've heard about his aches and pains -- both private and personal -- and his pleas with fans and teammates to just wait until it the weather gets hot so his arm can warm up as well. No wonder New York has given him the cold shoulder. Here's your chance to see my take on shipping the Big Unit back to the desert, and respond with some thoughts of your own.

At last we finally got the answer to why Randy Johnson was sporadic at best in 2005 and 2006 -- a herniated disc in his spine. Reportedly, surgery has corrected the problem, and one can only assume that Johnson would now be a better (or at least a more consistent) pitcher. Too bad that New York won't find out, and doesn't want to take a chance finding out.

Now the Yankee rotation consists of Chien-Ming Wang, Mike Mussina, Andy Pettitte, Carl Pavano, and Kei Igawa. Pavano is perpetually in absentia, and Kei Igawa is, by MLB standards, a rookie. He has only played in Japan and has never gone head-to-head against Major League hitters. Forgive me for pointing out that if the Diamondbacks are trying to reclaim their past by signing Johnson again, the Yankees look like they're following suit by bringing back Andy Pettitte. Meanwhile, Mike Mussina now generally starts to peter out at about the 100-pitch mark, and isn't as young as he used to be, leaving Wang as the de-facto ace of the staff.

The Big Unit earned his moniker in Seattle, and if he is ever elected to the Hall of Fame, he'll be wearing a Mariner cap on his plaque. The Diamondbacks got him at the end of that plateau, when he slowly started to decline and began to suffer some back problems, all of which came to a head in pinstripes. Anybody remember when he had to leave Game 3 of the 2005 ALDS after pitching just three innings against the Angels? The only reason the Yankees got him was a knee-jerk reaction after Boston acquired Curt Schilling (the co-winner of the 2001 World Series MVP with Johnson) and everything fell apart in 2004.

Anybody else think that it was mere coincidence that the Yankees acquired another left-handed pitcher with a health issue (this time the left elbow instead of the back) for the exact same amount of money that they were going to pay Johnson for 2007? The fact is that Pettitte is almost a decade younger than Johnson, and is much more acclimated to and comfortable in New York.

The Yankees have strengthened the farm this season, but they'll have a hard time harvesting any crop immediately. Arizona sent four players to New York: pitchers Luis Vizcaino, Ross Ohlendorf and Stephen Jackson, and shortstop Alex Gonzalez. Vizcaino, a veteran reliever, fits with the new Yankee policy of stocking the bullpen to capacity. Gonzalez and Jackson are both newly promoted Triple-A players, and not yet ready for primetime. Ohlendorf isn't that much better, as he's only had one Triple-A start, doesn't have great stuff (his best pitch is a sinking fastball between 87 and 93 mph), but is smart and could become a very crafty pitcher if given the chance to develop.

Let's call Johnson what he was: a hired gun meant to bring the Yankees another World Series ring. Case in point -- when he was signed, the back of one New York newspaper proudly proclaimed "Big Unit Rising" with Johnson superimposed against the Manhattan skyline, a full moon, and the proclamation that the latest acquisition made the Bombers the favorites to win the World Series. Johnson was never a real Yankee, and he didn't help get the Yankees back to the World Series -- much less win the whole thing.