it’s cold here in the midwest today. Scout out a new place to eat this spring too for us!

Johnson is a NO in my opinion. Not reliable, too old, too late. I would have been glad to see him in cubbie blue 10 years ago. I think it’s just more posturing to sign Dempster. Al, you were the one who said the Cubs made decades of bad moves signing players after their career was on the decline. Let’s not start now with the Dye’s and Johnson’s. Hendry has been pretty good getting the guys on an upswing beginning their prime. I hold out hope for that, not revisiting the past history of players past their prime.

But HELL NO…
I agree… 10 years ago I’d have jumped at the chance…
but with his history of back problems and his advanced age for a pitcher…
This would be a huge mistake…

Cut ties with a good 30 year old pitcher
Try to sign a 45 year old declining pitcher

If the Cubs are thinking that a tall lefty is what the rotation needs, save the money and just go with Marshall. Will he be better than Johnson? Honestly, I’d say it’s 50-50. But I don’t think the Big Unit is worth the risk.

I know someone said in another thread the other day that Johnson has openly stated that he’d never play for the Cubs, as his height makes it a true challenge to maneuver around in the dugout. Was that just that person’s speculation then? I thought I remember reading it as pretty absolute. Perhaps not.

Johnson has had a better career and has never really went away, he missed time due to back surgery, but he has never sat out and waited for someone to sign him after the fact like Wells has.

And David Wells has been on nine different teams, so RJ isnt quite the Nomad.

I would be in favor of this, on a one year basis, why wouldnt you? If he gets hurt, theres no long term loss and if he performs like last year, or even close, he has a huge impact. If you could trade Marquis and resign Dempster and trot out Z, Harden, Lilly, Dempster and RJ, thats pretty intimidating and it would allow for one more year of Samardzija in the pen.

It’s one thing to take a chance on a fielder such as Edmonds but an aging pitcher like Johnson, I have to say no to. I was against the Edmonds signing and was proven wrong and could be proven wrong on Randy too but I think it’s a much bigger risk and I’m not willing to take it.

By the way Al, that spring training clock on the sidebar is only ticking at one second at a time, can’t you make it go faster? It’s been a long offseason already so anything to make spring training get here faster would be a good thing.

Upside… check.
One year contract… check.
Lower salary… check.

Beyond the haircut, the attitude, and the fact that I’ve rooted harder against him than against Jim Edmonds, what’s not to like?

….just wondering who that would be.

Incentive-laden, 1 yr contract, for insurance (I mean, can we get a whole year out of Harden?). I’d do it on the cheap.

than Marquis and all of his 10 million dollar salary going to the Marlins or Padres . He wants to play for a West Coast team and depleted Dodgers are pretty likely to take him if not I imagine the Giants & Angels will sniff. It does however give me a chance to recount one of Mark Grace’s great pranks when he and Johnson were teammates on the D’Backs.
Johnson who of course spent most of his career in the AL is not exactly a good hitting pitcher and he is not fond of it either. When he was with the D’Backs in 2001 he hit a single , ran up the first base line, tripped over the base and all 6"10 went SPLAT as he fell in a twisted wreck just past first, he was fine and of course safe but the next day when the D’backs went out on the field there was a “dead body” chalk outline of Randy in the spot where he fell. Even he laughed which one rarely sees.

I normally wouldn’t go this route, trying to sign a 45-year old HOF’er, but I have a feeling Hendry is going to totally screw up this winter and lose both Wood and Dempster. Demp and Wood are supposed to be buds and Demp may not like the way they let Wood go. If Hendry CAN’T get anybody decent to replace either of those two guys, then I’d say give Johnson a try. However, I would be targeting somebody younger and better than Johnson. But like I said, if Hendry can’t get anybody better, sure… give him a try.

One thing though… I wonder how much difference the pay for Johnson’s services with the Cubs would be from what Wood would have accepted?? I have a feeling it wouldn’t be too much of a difference…

…is with the news about Wood this week, this is starting to smell like Hendry has been told by Zell/Crane that they arent going to allow him to sign Dempster either.

Hendry might be trying to scratch together the best cheap roster together he can. That is the only reason you trade Ceda for a aging journeyman reliever, decline Wood’s desire for a one year deal and now pursue an old cranky washed up pitcher.

For those of you like Al who think the Cubs can actually trade Marquis and his 10 million because the market is just DESPERATE for pitchers who would only require a one year commitment a question. RJ is likely to sign for 10 or probably much less if he goes to the Dodgers as is likely and yet you think there are teams out there willing to pay MORE or the same for Marquis ?

PS Al now that I know you are in AZ I will assume it is too much sun rather than liquid or other substances that make you believe this.

Most leaks of this type are done by the players’ agents. It is in his/her best interest to let all GMs in baseball know (via the media) how many other GMs are “interested” in his/her clients. For all we know, Johnson’s agent contacted the Cubs, got a “we’ll be interested in Randy if the Loch Ness Monster is spotted in Lake Michigan this winter” from Jim Hendry, then leaked a story to Paul Sullivan (and others) that the Cubs contacted him/her about Johnson.

This is a pretty common negotiating ploy designed to make the Dodgers and Angels think that there is some urgency in signing Johnson.

who has chronic back issues, and let go a Cub who would sign for less, and has spent 14 years with the club.
Welcome to Chicago “Big Unit”, and Kerry screw you. Great start to the off season.

If he would agree to pitch in his least favorite ballpark in the majors (that being Wrigley and it’s inability to accomodate his 6’10" frame)?? Then I’d sign him in a heartbeat.

or some other random team be all that different than Tom Seaver getting his with the White Sox? I know Seaver a couple of years with them, but his time with the Sox is an afterthought to his HOF career.

How can a guy who will go down as one of the absolute greatest and most dominant pitchers of all time en route to chalking up 294 wins, nearly 5,000 strikeouts, 1 World Series, 5 Cy Youngs and 2 no-hitters be termed “injury prone” throughout his career ??

(behind a subscriber wall) wrote:

Despite their seemingly ugly breakup this past week, some close to the situation believe that free agent Randy Johnson will still be in a Diamondbacks’ uniform on Opening Day, though the Dodgers and Cubs have interest in the veteran left-hander. … Also breaking up to make up could be Kerry Wood, who may return to the Cubs on a low-budget contract with the market for relief pitching this winter flooded, and in light of the limited interest being shown in the big right-hander by other teams. … Dempster re-signing with the Cubs is no longer a certainty after he turned down a four-year, $50 million offer, especially since they want to have money available to sign a left-handed hitting outfielder, either Bobby Abreu or Raul Ibanez.

So, I’m assuming Johnson pitches for AZ. More interesting is the idea that Kerry could come back to the Cubs. That would give us another explanation for the Kerry-Hendry disconnect in interviews – there may well have been a communication breakdown, or Kerry could have reonconsidered after seeing a longer deal just wasn’t out there.

What do we have to lose. Didn’t read all the chatter, but could he come out of the pen at all? Start here and there maybe? He’d be great for this team, a guy whose been to the mountain top. DLEE has, but he’s not really a vocal leader. Towards the end of the season and in the playoffs it’d be nice to have Johnson coming on in the 7th or 8th to get us out of a jam.

     Why not take the chance?