Diamondbacks, Two Randy Johnson Trades Later: Screwed Or Shrewd?

Almost two years to the day — January 11, 2005 — was the day the Arizona Diamondbacks thought they said farewell to Randy Johnson. They traded the aging hurler to the Yankees with the hopes of getting younger, while New York looked to add to their rotation.

This week Yanks and D'backs are thisclose to finalizing a trade that will send Johnson back to Arizona. All they have to decide is who gets to use the digital MP3 player on the weekends.

It got me thinking about who Arizona received in return for the franchise's most prolific pitcher. How do they compare against the players they will pipeline to the Bronx?

Perhaps this will turn out to be an extremely profitable deal, where Arizona returns a net profit like Navin Johnson as a weight guesser. Or maybe they bought high and sold low, much like the Duke brothers and their frozen concentrated orange juice.

So I'll play the role of Clarence Beeks. Let's examine the trades. (Here's to hoping I don't get ape-raped.)

Initially, Johnson was traded in exchange for pitcher Javier Vazquez, pitcher Brad Halsey, and catcher Dioner Navarro. Oddly enough, none of those players wear the Arizona "A." Or alternatively, the Snake "D."

First, the easy line in the flow chart.

1. Halsey spent the '05 season with Arizona before being traded to the Oakland Athletics straight up for another pitcher, Juan Cruz, before the '06 season. He was once a valued arm in the Chicago Cubs system, which meant he was a deer in the headlights of ultimate failure.

Too easy. Onto the next one.

2. Navarro was promptly dealt to the Los Angeles Dodgers along with two other prospects in exchange for outfielder Shawn Green. So he's, uh, 1/3 of Green. (And this experiment is officially complicated.) Green was then traded last August to the New York Mets for someone named Evan MacLane. That someone is a Triple-A pitcher who could break into the starting rotation next year. Could. But remember, we're only dealing with one-third of a AAA prospect. So I guess it's a Single-A pitcher who throws a 30-mph fastball.

Article Author: Matthew T. Sussman

Sussman is the sports editor of BC Magazine and the executive editor of Technorati. He also writes for Deadspin and Toledo Free Press. He and Tuffy can be heard hosting the Treehouse Fort, Sundays at 12 noon ET. Plus, he Twitters. …

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