Johnson Trade Falls Through
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The Dodgers withdrew yesterday from the proposed three-team, 10-player trade that would have sent Randy Johnson from the Arizona Diamondbacks to the Yankees, who then criticized Los Angeles for “reneging” on the deal.
“As we sit here right now, the deal is no more,” Dodgers General Manager Paul DePodesta said.
Los Angeles would’ve received right-hander Javier Vazquez from the Yankees along with two top prospects, catcher Dioner Navarro and third baseman Eric Duncan. The Dodgers also would’ve gotten pitcher Mike Koplove from Arizona.
Arizona would’ve obtained outfielder Shawn Green and pitchers Brad Penny, Yhency Brazoban, and Brandon Weeden from the Dodgers. Along with Johnson, the Yankees would have gotten pitcher Kaz Ishii from Los Angeles.
“The Dodgers reneged on the deal that was agreed to last Friday,” Yankees president Randy Levine said. “For some reason, the Dodgers over the weekend started to backpedal. It sure is disappointing, and we’ll have to think long and hard before ever doing business with the Dodgers again.”
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 to baseball commissioner Bud Selig for approval.
The Yankees even told Vazquez’s agent that the deal had been submitted for approval, causing the agent to tell the pitcher he had been traded.
But Pat Courtney, a spokesman in the commissioner’s office, said in the afternoon that more documentation had to be submitted before Selig could consider the complex transaction, and the Dodgers then held a conference call to announce their withdrawal.
“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. 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.”
Newsday reported on its Web site yesterday night that Vazquez did not want to play for the Dodgers and refused to travel to Los Angeles for a physical. The paper, citing a source involved in the discussions, cited that as the “primary reason” for the deal’s collapse.
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. Johnson, who is owed $16 million next year, has a no trade clause and likely would want an extension as part of a trade.
DePodesta said it was possible the Dodgers might get involved again in a piece of the trade, but he likely wouldn’t be the one to initiate additional talks.
“Probably only if they call us,” he said. “I don’t think we’ll actively pursue, but if they come after us, I’m sure we’ll listen, as we would in any other case.”
DePodesta said the Dodgers hadn’t been looking to trade Green, and that he will speak with the outfielder.
Also yesterday, the Yankees finalized Tony Womack’s $4 million, two-year contract and scheduled a news conference for today to announce they had finalized their $39.95 million, four-year agreement with right-hander Carl Pavano. The Yankees also reached a preliminary agreement on a one-year contract with Tanyon Sturtze worth about $850,000.