Baseball: selig ok's johnsons' trade to the yankees

the commisioner of baseball used to be able to veto trades "for the good of the game" i don't know if he still has the power to do this or not, if he does i think it is high time he used it...

Selig approves Johnson trade; extension talks next

By RONALD BLUM, AP Sports Writer
January 3, 2005
NEW YORK (AP) -- The drawn-out deal to send Randy Johnson to the Yankees was approved by commissioner Bud Selig on Monday, making a contract extension the last major obstacle to the Arizona-New York swap.

New York was given until Thursday to come to terms with the five-time Cy Young Award winner. Johnson's current deal pays him $16 million in 2005 and expires after this season.

The Diamondbacks would receive pitchers Javier Vazquez and Brad Halsey, young catcher Dioner Navarro and $9 million to be paid over three years.


Arizona also agreed Monday to a proposed trade that would send Navarro and other prospects to the Dodgers for Shawn Green and $8 million. The outfielder was part of a three-team, 10-player swap involving Johnson and the Yankees that collapsed Dec. 21 when Los Angeles backed out.

Selig granted the Diamondbacks until Thursday to work out an extension for Green, who will make $16 million this year, then can become a free agent.

``There are obviously two separate transactions, and each has a variety of conditions that need to be met,'' Diamondbacks managing partner Ken Kendrick said. ``It starts a window of time wherein contractual matters need to be resolved, between the Yankees and Randy, and us and Randy, and us and Shawn Green.

``And then, finally, a whole array of physical exams need to take place, because of the number of players involved.''

Barry Meister, one of Johnson's agents, said he was awaiting official notification from the commissioner's office before commenting.

Johnson, a 41-year-old left-hander, was 16-14 last season on a Diamondbacks team that went 51-111, tied for the 10th-most losses in major league history. He led the majors with 290 strikeouts, was second with a 2.60 ERA and pitched a perfect game against Atlanta, but the Diamondbacks scored two runs or fewer in 17 of his 35 starts.

Vazquez, a 28-year-old right-hander, was 14-10 with a 4.91 ERA. While he was picked for his first All-Star team, he won just once in his last nine regular-season starts and had a 9.53 ERA in three postseason games.

New York is giving Arizona $3 million in each of the next three seasons to cover part of Vazquez's salary. He gets $10.5 million in 2005, $11.5 million in 2006 and $12.5 million in 2007.

While completing the trade for Johnson, a 10-time All-Star, New York also is turning its attention this week to Carlos Beltran. The free-agent center fielder is to meet Tuesday with Mets general manager Omar Minaya, and faces a Saturday deadline to re-sign with the Houston Astros.