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Dodgers pull out of Big Unit deal
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Ronald Blum / Associated Press
Posted: 3 minutes ago
NEW YORK (AP) - The Los Angeles Dodgers withdrew on Tuesday from the proposed three-team, 10-player trade that would have sent Randy Johnson from the Arizona Diamondbacks to the New York Yankees.
"As we sit here right now, the deal is no more," Dodgers general manager Paul DePodesta said during a conference call. "I've been saying all along that we weren't going to do the deal unless it made sense for this club in 2005, and that was not the case."
Los Angeles would have received Puerto Rican right-hander Javier Vazquez from the Yankees along with two top prospects, catcher Dioner Navarro and third baseman Eric Duncan. The Dodgers also would have gotten pitcher Mike Koplove from Arizona.
Arizona would have got outfielder Shawn Green and pitchers Brad Penny, Yhency Brazoban and Brandon Weeden from the Dodgers. Along with Johnson, the Yankees would have got Japanese pitcher Kazuhisa Ishii from Los Angeles.
"We were probably the most deliberate in approaching it, and at the end of the day, it just wasn't going to come together and make sense for us," DePodesta said.
Earlier in the day, an official of one of the teams and a person close to one of the players involved in the trade said the deal had been submitted early Tuesday to Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig for approval. The two spoke on condition of anonymity.
But Pat Courtney, a spokesman in the commissioner's office, said in the afternoon that more do entation had to be submitted before Selig could consider the complex transaction.
DePodesta said he did not speak directly to the Yankees, but Dodgers owner Frank McCourt did.
"There were specific things in this deal that didn't work out," DePodesta said. There were a lot of things to work out, a lot of things that were tentatively agreed on, but still details that we needed to work through."
Johnson, a five-time Cy Young Award winner, has asked the Diamondbacks to trade him, but it's not clear whether the 41-year-old left-hander would accept a deal to any team other than the Yankees. He has a no-trade clause.
DePodesta said it was possible the Dodgers might get back involved in the trade, but he likely wouldn't be the one to initiate additional talks.
Yankees officials met in Tampa, Florida on Tuesday with free-agent Puerto Rican center fielder Carlos Beltran and weren't available following DePodesta's announcement.
Two sources close to the situation still expect Johnson to end up with the Yankees, most likely in a direct deal with the Diamondbacks, the Sporting News' Ken Rosenthal reports.
"The Yankees and Diamondbacks have to retrench," one source told Rosenthal. "There's a confidence among the parties that they will."
Talks between the clubs broke off last month, however, when the two sides could not agree on the players who would be traded or the amount of money that New York would send Arizona.
The Diamondbacks, however, might find it difficult to carry Johnson's $16 million salary next season after signing free-agent third baseman Troy Glaus, righthander Russ Ortiz, shortstop Royce Clayton and second baseman Craig Counsell.
If Johnson remains with the club, the Diamondbacks would have $43.915 million committed to seven players. Their payroll is expected to be in the range of $60 million to $65 million.
