Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Could The Big Unit land in LA?

The likely exits of Derek Lowe, Greg Maddux, and Brad Penny may have opened up the door for Randy Johnson.

The Big Unit is suddenly available, all 45-years-old of him, after the Arizona Diamondbacks said they couldn't afford him anymore. What's a bit strange is that he offered to take a 50% pay cut from his $26 million contract (by my math... that makes $13 million) a year, but it still didn't work out. Seems to me that the DBacks just didn't want him anymore.

So, one team's loss is another team's gain. He's also been linked to the St. Louis Cardinals, and was to the Chicago Cubs, but that probably won't happen since they resigned Ryan Dempster today. It's possible it can come down to which team he likes more - the Dodgers or Cardinals. He probably can't go wrong either way.

Even though he's old and has a bad back, he still put up 30 starts last year, and posted good numbers: 11-10, 3.91 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 184 IP, 173 K, 44 BB. I'd take that. I think most fans would love to see what he could do with young Clayton Kershaw. Now that would be fun to watch.

If a deal can be reached for a 1-2 years, I'd go for it. He's obviously a hall of famer, and still looks like he's got some game left in him. Chad Billingsley, Hiroki Kuroda, Kershaw, and Johnson could be a nice rotation. We shall see.

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