Giants sign Unit to one-year deal
by Scott Christ on Dec 27, 2008 5:38 PM EST
in News & Rumors
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PrintFrom the AP:
Johnson and the Giants agreed to an $8 million, one-year contract Friday, meaning the 45-year-old pitcher will go for his 300th win with a new team — and back home in the Bay Area to boot.Johnson, a 21-year big league veteran who spent the past two seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks, was born in Walnut Creek, Calif., about 30 minutes from the Giants' waterfront ballpark. He grew up in nearby Livermore.
Johnson is five wins away from No. 300 and assured immortality in Cooperstown, though realistically it should've been clinched years ago.
I would've been OK with the O's taking a stab at Johnson. He made 30 starts last year, we could've gotten An Historic Moment in 2009 (though the last time we got one, it turned sour pretty fast), and we're talking about Mark Hendrickson and Danys Baez starting next season. You do need bodies, and RJ is a lot better than everyone we've got lined up except for Guthrie.
Still, you can't argue with where he's going. He knows the NL West, he's close to home, he got a decent one-year deal (I'd have been willing to go up to $9.5 mil or so), and he's old. But the Giants are no more going to contend than we are, so certainly winning wasn't a huge deal to him.
I figure chances are this'll be Johnson's final go-round unless something miraculous happens. It keeps freaking me out that all these great players from my youth are dropping like flies. My two favorite pitchers (Maddux and Mussina) both called it quits this offseason. I'm much too young to feel this damn old.
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I'll be routing for the Giants to win the NL West this year
Thats a helluva rotation, and even if they don’t have that much hitting the Dodgers will be vulnerable after likely losing Manny and Derek Lowe. Everybody knows this year is a wash for the Padres, The D-Backs have too many hitters that can’t get their act together and the Rockies are in rebuilding mode. This division is a toss-up.
Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself: "Mankind". Basically, it's made up of two separate words—"mank" and "ind". What do these words mean? It's a mystery, and that's why so is mankind.
-Jack Handey
looks like a bunch of 82-80 teams
…and the Rockies and Padres. Still the G-Men can’t hit for balls.
"I decided to become a basketball fan this year and it’s not working out so well because the Wizards SUUUCK. So then I shifted to hockey. That’s pretty fun except there are a lot of flashing lights and horns and shit at the game."
by Scott Christ on Dec 27, 2008 7:17 PM EST up reply actions
The Dodgers haven't lost Manny yet
He may yet resign there.
Duck Around - a progressive blog about the Eastern Shore of Maryland. And getting off my lawn.
they did lose Lowe
and Billingsley broke a leg, Penny will be gone (didnt do much in 2008). They will be counting on their young unproven pitching quite heavily unless they sign someone else.
Thanks goodness they signed Andruw Jones though….(which come to think of it is what scares me about Adam Dunn for some reason although they were different type of hitters and Adam was fairly solid last year, but still….)
"fairly solid"
He was as good as anyone on the Orioles.
I heard Andruw Jones is working hard this offseason in winter ball. I just think he’s fat.
"I decided to become a basketball fan this year and it’s not working out so well because the Wizards SUUUCK. So then I shifted to hockey. That’s pretty fun except there are a lot of flashing lights and horns and shit at the game."
by Scott Christ on Dec 28, 2008 6:24 AM EST up reply actions
what I meant
Well if he costs 13 million a year he better be as good as anyone on the O’s.
Adam being solid was his traditional walks, OBP, homers, rbis, avg were consistent with his career numbers. Andruw Jones has been in a “serious” decline the last two seasons compared to his career stats. One year is a blip (blimp?) and two years is a trend. Some might say Adam getting a long term deal might just be the thing to fatten him up a little.
Subjective observation
I look at guys like Richie Sexson, Paul Konerko who just seem to lose it pretty quickly at about the same age. Andruw Jones is another example and maybe even Miggy Tejada.
I take into consideration that neither Jocketty or Krivsky got Dunn signed to an extension, I factor in the ballpark, I look at Dunn’s bodytype and think with just a little less preparation or another year under his belt do you suddenly have an aging player who does nothing but hit and suddenly cant. I think about JP Richiardi who vociferously denounced Dunn as a player when JP’s background screams he should love Dunn. When a player thinks he is getting a monster contract and then has to settle is he motivated or less motivated? When his buddy (Kearns) was traded to the Nats, Dunn whined and cried publicly about the trade. Would Brian Roberts do that? So what is Dunn like in the clubhouse?
Yet, I might spend fifteen minutes with Adam Dunn and think its all hogwash. All my thoughts are observation and heresay seen and heard through my eyes and ears.
"I decided to become a basketball fan this year and it’s not working out so well because the Wizards SUUUCK. So then I shifted to hockey. That’s pretty fun except there are a lot of flashing lights and horns and shit at the game."
by Scott Christ on Dec 27, 2008 11:31 PM EST up reply actions
Now that Johnson is signed
The Giants are willing to listen to offers on Jonathan Sanchez. I don’t know anything about the Giants but would they have any need for one of our vets?
that's what i was thinking.
"When people ask me what my motivation is, I have a simple answer: Money."
--Jerry Reed, on acting
by j.q. higgins on Dec 28, 2008 5:57 PM EST up reply actions
I would give them
Aubrey and Luke but I dont think the Giants would do it, even if we ate some salary.
Unnecessary.
We simply need a plug-in who is willing to take a back seat a few months or so into the season. Pudge doesn’t seem like that guy, although I do think Wieters could learn alot from a catcher with such defensive skills.
WHAT ain't no country I ever heard of. Do they speak english in WHAT?
by sickuvitall on Dec 27, 2008 10:40 PM EST up reply actions
Maybe this was pre-ordained....
Unit puts on the wrong hat after a fight with Giants..
…or maybe he’d just come back from the future..
Great stuff.
The Unit had the nastiest slider ever. I can’t imagine standing in the box as a lefty and seeing that 90+ mile an hour pitch from THAT angle with THAT break. No thanks…
WHAT ain't no country I ever heard of. Do they speak english in WHAT?
I know who to ask
The poor bird who got exploded by a Randy Johnson pitch a few years ago in the spring. He could probably tell us how nasty The Unit’s slider really is.
Y’know, if we could have a seance and ask him.
Cry havoc and unleash the Esskay hot dogs of war! - The Wayward Oriole, Opening Day 2008
by Eat More Esskay on Dec 28, 2008 7:53 PM EST up reply actions
That deserves a link.
http://shizzville.com/randy-johnson-kills-bird
The one I was looking for but haven’t found online, was from an M’s vs Indians game in ‘98
Think it was Lofton Leading off and Unit throws some Chin music, so they’re holding Kenny back and you can kinda lip read him saying he threw at his head. Unit says it was an accident.. If I was aiming at your head I wouldn’t miss. Sure enough, same at bat, he throws at him, and the benches clear.
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