No, not really. The speculation is that he would play for the Yankees, and the rumor is that he will agree to opt out of his no-trade clause.
Let's remember that this is the guy who said he wanted to be closer to his family and then signed with Toronto. He's also the guy who said he wanted to retire to spend time with his family and then signed with the Astros. I wouldn't be surprised if this was true.
Exactly, it's only for three months, and if it happens to be true, Arlington is certainly a viable place for Roger to land.
When I was at a game against the Pirates... In the seventh inning, we walked a batter to fill the bases and then pitched to a player who had a better batting average. Does that sound smart to you? Me either. The guy cranked it out of the park for a grand slam. We lost. That, right there, was a strategic failure. A coaching failure. I've seen Jimy do this too many times. He's the core of our problems. -- droxford
He doesn't have to go on roadtrips if he's not pitching. He's gotta a lot of leeway with us. I don't see it happening. Also you've gotta factor in the business side of it. Why would Drayton trade the one guy who sells out the park each start, especially to a team like New York who has no farm system. I guess this was the article where it orignated http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/story/210384p-181323c.html Unit contends he'd prefer trade to Yanks By BILL MADDEN DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER Randy Johnson tells D-Backs he's open to trade to contender. Very quietly, Randy Johnson has told the Arizona Diamondbacks that he would waive his no-trade clause in order to pitch out his final years for a contender, most preferably the Yankees, the Daily News has learned. And apparently, it is becoming a similar case with another 40-year-old future Hall of Famer - Roger Clemens - in Houston. "When Randy got his 4,000th strikeout the other night and still came up a 3-2 loser, it was a very frustrating experience for him, and that's what convinced him that maybe he should look toward going to a contender," a source familiar with Johnson's thinking told the Daily News last night. "It's the same thing with Clemens, who's pitching for a team that's going nowhere. Why do you think these two guys are pitching? Neither of them has anything to prove. They're going to the Hall of Fame. They don't need the money. At this point in their careers, all they want to do is to win, and in the case of both of them, the Yankees are their team of preference because they represent the best chance of going to the World Series for them." This is the good news for the Yankees. The bad news is neither Arizona general partner Jerry Colangelo nor Astros owner Drayton McLane has revealed a willingness to trade his marquee pitcher, and neither of them has any great affection for George Steinbrenner. Perhaps further thwarting the Yankees' efforts to land either Johnson or Clemens is the fact that other potential big-market suitors - the Angels, Cubs and Dodgers - have considerably more quality prospects for trade purposes than the Yankees do. Johnson, who is 10-6 with a 2.90 ERA, is owed another $24million for the remainder of this year and next, which is one advantage for the Yankees, who have unlimited financial resources when it comes to these sorts of trading-deadline deals. According to a report in the Providence Journal quoting unnamed sources, Johnson has said that he would be willing to go to an East Coast team, but that the Yankees would be far more preferable to him than the Red Sox. The quiet, introverted Johnson and outspoken Red Sox righthander Curt Schilling were never especially close during their time together as the twin aces of the Diamondbacks rotation that was largely responsible for beating the Yankees in the 2001 World Series. "There's been a lot of speculation that Randy wouldn't want to leave his home and pitch for an East Coast team that trains in Florida (in the spring)," another source told The News last night. "That's not true. At this point, his sole purpose for pitching is to be with a team with a chance to win. And even though the Diamondbacks are his home, they can't provide that." The Yankees, who are already under scrutiny from commissioner Bud Selig over potential tampering charges regarding Johnson after Steinbrenner talked openly about him last week, were seemingly caught off-guard by this latest development. "This is the first we've heard of anything like this," a high-ranking Yankee official said. "We don't know anything about it." Both Johnson and Clemens thought they were going to happily end their careers pitching at home. But both the Diamondbacks and Astros have become non-contenders, even before the All-Star break. Johnson's Diamondbacks are in last place in the NL West, while Clemens' Astros are fifth in the Central, even after their much-ballyhooed acquisition of superstar center fielder Carlos Beltran last month. The Yankees have made no secret of their interest in Johnson. Their recent rotation woes would indicate their need to acquire a quality frontline starter, and Clemens - who is likely to start the All-Star Game - would certainly fit that bill as well. Furthermore, his decision to unretire and pitch for his hometown Astros, along with fellow ex-Yankee Andy Pettitte, did not cause any ill will with Steinbrenner. One potential factor in the Yankees' favor is the fact that the Diamondbacks, who are strapped with considerable financial problems from long-term contracts, need to trade Johnson despite Colangelo's statements to the contrary. Originally published on July 9, 2004
It was a joke. Instead of prima donna, I went with pre-maddona as in before Madonna came into the music scene we had a bunch of wankers who didn't know what to do with themselves cause there was noone like Madonna then they could lust after. I was classifying the Astros into that category. LOL. However, if you want to put prima donna in my comments instead, then that will work just as well.
Think about it. Drayton is not going to pay for a big name especially when they have to pay Jimy next year. Scrap Iron still lives in Houston....
semantics rock After all the fanfare surrounding his arrival back in Houston, I really don't see him leaving. If the Stros are 6 back in the WC right before the trading deadline...who knows. I'm hoping (cause I'm a fan, that's all I got) that that isn't the case.
Personally, I like Don Baylor as the next manager. Can't hire him until after the season, most likely.
It's my fault guys, I just haven't been watching the games. With them losing, it makes me want to watch them less. I'm going to the movies, but I'll try and catch tonights game and then I'll get right on watching every game. If they start winning because of me, somebody owes me allstar ducets.
To be fair fair it's not all on Bagwell. While he is the easiest to target because of his contract we should also point fingers at Ausmus (.230 hitter), Berkman (What has he done since June 1?), Beltran (hasn't done much since the 1st series with Texas), Ensberg (where did the power go?), Everett ( 12 walks and a .265 average)... Also management expected more innings out of their starters and Redding has been AWFUL. Oswalt (until recently), Miller and Pettitte have been either inconsistent or injured or both. Only bright spots have been Clemens, Lidge and Viz...
Nothing too different this year. The Astro's have been breaking my heart on a yearly basis since 1968 when I first started keeping track. They fooled me this year, though. Even I was thinking this was the year. Oh well, we still got another half-season of ball...GO 'STROS!
I don't want to b**** and whine, but damn, this is very frustrating...we should be in 1st not 9.5 games back...
Do you see ANYTHING in the way they're playing to REMOTELY suggest that this group will ACTUALLY get up off their collective a$$es and actually make a real run for the wild card? And don't forget that to do so will require that they beat the Cubbies head to head at some point in time and I just don't see this happening. If you do please explain how and why you believe that can happen. I see a manager going through the motions (Williams is a goner) and a team that's quit on him, themselves and their fans. And to think that Dierker was fired because he could not win in the playoffs. HELL! At least he GOT them there which is way more than can be said about what Williams has been able to do. But what REALLY chaps my hide is that the Astros have somehow exchanged places with the Rangers who are now winning with real PLAYERS while the Astros limp along with the likes of Bagwell and his friends. At the merciful end of this season NOBODY'S job should be safe ESPECIALLY the GM's.
That seems like the main issue. It's almost like they're APATHETIC. In the past, at least they played with FIRE, even if they didn't always play smart OR do the little things to win. Today, we can add "no passion" to that list. What the frick is going on? They have all the talent in the world. Just not using it.
