Baseball: deal for big unit appears dead

Dodgers pull out of Johnson trade

By RONALD BLUM, AP Sports Writer
December 21, 2004
NEW YORK (AP) -- The Los Angeles Dodgers withdrew 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 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 gotten 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.

``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 baseball commissioner Bud Selig for approval. The two spoke on condition of anonymity.

And the Yankees told Vazquez's agent that the deal had been submitted, 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.

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.''

Newsday reported on its Web site Tuesday 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 season, 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 back involved 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.''

Yankees officials met in Florida on Tuesday with free-agent center fielder Carlos Beltran and weren't available following DePodesta's announcement.

Diamondbacks managing general partner Ken Kendrick wouldn't comment on the Dodgers' decision. He intends to resolve Johnson's situation by the end of the month.

``We don't think it's a healthy thing for us or for him for the uncertainty of his situation to continue into next year,'' Kendrick said.

DePodesta said the Dodgers had not been looking to trade Green, and that he will speak with the outfielder.

``I'm looking forward to making a call to some of the guys and telling them to settle down and not be concerned with being traded,'' he said.

Anyone else feel bad for the Yanks?

my sincerest condolences to the Yanks, yeah right.