I just saw this flash on the bottom of the screen on ESPN. The Diamondbacks and Randy Johnson have agreed on a contract extension that runs through the 2008 season. Also, the Fan, WFAN, is reporting that the trade is official. The trade is Randy Johnson to the Diamondbacks for 4 four players (P Luis Vizcaino, P Russ Ohlendorf, P Stephen Jackson, and SS Alberto Gonzalez). Vizcaino was a reliever for the D’backs last year and the other 3 are prospects in the D’backs minor league system. It will be interesting to see how the posturing goes for the Roger Clemens annual sweepstakes now that RJ has been traded.

Also in Evil Empire news, the Yankees have agreed to a deal with former Red Sox, Mets, Twins, Royals 1B Doug Mientkiewicz on a deal. The deal is for 1 yr $1.5 million dollars. Mientkiewicz is best known in the Sox Nation as the man who caught the final out in the 2004 World Series.

And one more little piece of Evil Empire news, Johnny Damon and his stripper wife, Michelle, have given birth to a baby girl. No word if the baby will be named Demon Damon. All joking aside, congratulations to you both.

Technorati: Randy Johnson, NY Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks, Doug Mientkiewicz, Johnny Damon, Evil Empire

According to Peter Abraham of the Journal News, the deal between the New York Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks could be picking up majoring steam as the Diamondbacks have reportedly asked for a 72 hour negotiating window with Johnson. The D’backs want to settle his contract status for 2008 and also work on the $40 million dollars in deferred money the D’backs already owe him from his previous stint in Arizona.

This deal could be great for Johnson because he lives about 14 miles from the ballpark. Also, he never seemed to really fit into the New York market especially with the media hounding his every move. It remains to be seen what else New York will be giving the Diamondbacks. We can only wait til this becomes official to find out.

This brings up an interesting question. What does this do to the availability of Rogers Clemens? Rumors are Randy Johnson and him never got along. So were the Yankees getting rid of Johnson as a good faith move to show Clemens they were interested in having him back? I had hated Clemens when he left the Sox to go to Toronto but I did realize that he never really wanted to leave Boston but was rather forced to leave by former Red Sox GM Dan Duquette. I didn’t like the fact that he then went to New York afterwards. I did understand his move to Houston to be closer to his family. But for the love of God Roger, finish out your career in Boston where you first started. We all here in Sox Nation would love you back and welcome you with open arms!!!!
Technorati: Randy Johnson, New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks, Roger Clemens

Good news Red Sox fans, you will get to see Barry Zito pitch next year. No, he’s not in a Red Sox uniform, nor is he in a Yankees uniform. He has signed a 7 year $126 million dollar deal with the San Francisco Giants. The deal includes an $18 million dollar option in the 8th year. The Giants come to Boston in June for a weekend series against the Red Sox.

I am sure Scott Boras is happier than a pig in shit right now. His wallet just got fatter with this deal as he represents Barry Zito.

Technorati: Barry Zito, Scott Boras, SF Giants, Boston Red Sox

After spending $207.5 million dollars on player’s salaries in 2006, the New York Yankees got their $26 million dollar luxury tax bill from the Commissioner’s office on Friday. The Boston Red Sox were a distant second and the only other team to have to pay the luxury tax this season ($497.5 thousand dollars). In the four years since the luxury tax has been introduced, the Yankees have now had to pay $96 million dollars total.

To put that in perspective for you, all of the 2006 Florida Marlins didn’t make $26 million dollars. Collectively as a team, they made around $15 million dollars. Basically, the Yankees are paying two of A-Rod’s salaries in one season and still getting nothing.
Ouch! You have to pay all that money and you don’t even win the World Series. That’s gonna leave a mark.

Technorati: Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, MLB, luxury tax, A-ROD

In an earlier post, I had written that the Red Sox may have won the rights to negotiate with Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. Well the Red Sox did win those rights as was announced today by MLB and the Seibu Lions of the Japanese League. The Lions control the rights to Matsuzaka. The winning bid was $51.1 million dollars. Yes folks $51.1 million dollars just for the rights to negotiate with him.

The Mets finished second with a bid between $39 million and $40 million, according to a baseball official who spoke on condition of anonymity because none of the losing bids were revealed. The Yankees bid between $32 million and $33 million, another baseball official said.

We wonder why the Red Sox ticket prices are always going up. This explains it all. Overall, this will be a good move for the Red Sox if they can sign him because one it keeps him from going to the Yankees and two, he can help the Red Sox out immediately. Thirdly, this will help market the Red Sox in Japan if they can sign him to a contract. This overseas exposure can also help generate tremendous revenue which could offset the cost of the bidding.

For those of you who don’t understand the process, I will explain it again. The Red Sox have 30 days to reach a contract agreement. If an agreement isn’t reached before the 30-day window expires, the “posting” money would be returned to the Red Sox and Matsuzaka would return to the Lions for the 2007 season.

According to a report by Buster Olney of espn.com, the Red Sox may have won the rights to negotiate with Daisuke Matsuzaka, of the Seibu Lions, and his agent, Scott Boras. It is reported that the Sox may have bid upwards of $40 million dollars just for the right to negotiate. The Seibu Lions have until next Tuesday to announce their intentions.

For those who don’t understand why the Red Sox are bidding for him, I will explain briefly. Most Japanese players who are under contract and want to come to the Major Leagues are usually put up to bid by their team in Japan. Teams will bid on the player. Those bids are given to the Japanese club. The Japanese club usually has a week to decide whether or not they want to accept the highest bid. Once they accept the highest bid, they are then notified of the winning team. The winner of the bid then has 30 days to get the player signed to a contract otherwise he is returned to his team for the upcoming season.

Ultimately, the Red Sox could end up spending about $80 to 90 million dollars for Matsuzaka. He should command a $10 million dollars a year contract and knowing the antics of his agent, Scott Boras, he will probably get at least that a year.

For those of you who are asking yourself right now, Who is Will Leitch?, I will tell you. Will Leitch, the editor of Deadspin, is a lifelong Cardinals fan who when in attendance, the Cardinals lose.

Will’s first Cardinals game this year took him to Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati to see his beloved Cardinals lose to Bronson Arroyo and the Reds 6-1. Will’s next game and first in the new Busch Stadium saw him witness Jeff Weaver’s first start in Cardinals uniform lose to the Braves 15-3. The next night he was back at the new Busch only to watch the Cardinals lose again 14-5. This brings his record now to 0-3 so far this past season. Thus the Curse of Will Leitch was born by the commenters on his site, Deadspin.

The next night at Busch, the heavens unleashed themselves and what seemed like a mini tornado hit Busch, the game was played anyways and yes, you guessed it, Will’s Cardinals lost again.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=
9vVN35_hXuQ[/youtube]

Will’s next trip to see his Cardinals play was over in Flushing at Shea Stadium only to watch Carlos Beltran hit a walkoff homerun to defeat the Cards. This leaves Will now at 0-5. Will, probably using his Gawker Media pull, scored himself tickets to game 2 of the NLCS, where he was greeted with another lose by the Cardinals in Game. But somehow the Cardinals managed to win the series and went onto the World Series.

Somehow again, Will managed to score tickets to game 4 of the World Series. Will drove from his childhood home in Mattoon, IL, to St. Louis, only to spend two hours sitting in a ballpark watching the rain fall and the tarp on the field. So now Will would have a chance to attend Game 5 of the World Series since the tickets for Game 5 were actually good for Game 4 due to the rainout.

Well tonight with Will in attendance, the Cardinals won the World Series behind the bat of David Eckstein and the pitching of you guess it, Jeff Weaver. The same pitcher Will saw get smoked in his first game at the new Busch Stadium. Although Will was 1-7 this year seeing the Cardinals play, Will saw the one game that essentially meant the most to him, the game in which the Cardinals clinched their first World Series in 24 years. Thus ending the Curse of Will Leitch. Congratulations to Will and the legions of St. Louis Cardinal fans around the world.

At least Will didn’t have to wait 86 years for his curse to end.

Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

Jeff Roberson/AP Photo