A tale of two trades: Randy Johnson's tenure in the Bronx

Does everyone remember when Randy Johnson was traded to the Yankees? It was a critical time period for them, right after the sheer disappointment and failure of the 2004 postseason. So what did they do? They traded for Johnson. Who did they trade? Javier Vazquez, Dioner Navarro, and Brad Halsey. We all know why they traded Vazquez... does game 7 ring a bell? Navarro was a catching prospect who had already made a cameo in the majors at that time, but he hit just .263 in the minors in '04, and the Yankees already had Posada. Halsey, the one you probably haven't heard of, was a lefty starter coming off an outstanding season at Triple-A in which he went 11-4 with 2.62 ERA in 23 starts, 1 relief appearance, and 144 IP. He struck out just 108 (6.8 per 9), but walked just 37 (2.3 per 9). He also made 8 appearances in the majors, including 7 starts, but he posted a 6.47 ERA (3 good starts, 4 bad starts). The trade to get Johnson was certainly a reasonable one for the Yanks. Although he was already 41 years old, he was also coming off a great year himself, having gone 16-14 with a 2.60 ERA and 290 K's in 35 starts and 245.1 IP for a terrible D-backs team.


As you probably remember, Johnson's tenure in the Bronx had mix reviews. In '05, he had a good season anchoring the Yankee staff, but not a great season, going 17-8 with a 3.79 ERA and 'just' 211 K's in 34 starts and 225.2 IP. No only Yankee starter that threw 200 innings, won 15 games, and or 150 batters. He was the one stabilizing force in a season riddled by injuries to starting pitchers (this was the Aaron Small/Shawn Chacon year). In 2005 though, Johnson was not anywhere near as effective. He won 17 games again, going 17-11, but with a 5.00 ERA and just 172 K's in 33 starts and 205 IP. After the year, the Yankees traded Johnson back to Arizona in exchange for Luis Vizcaino, Ross Ohlendorf, Steven Jackson, and Alberto Gonzalez. Vizcaino had a nice year as a reliever in '05, posting a 4.30 ERA, but in 77 appearances. He left as a free agent following the year. (He recently re-signed with the Yankees.) Ohlendorf pitched very badly for the Yankees for parts of two seasons for the Yanks (6.02 ERA), but has been a good pitcher since being traded to Pittsburgh, posting a 12-24 record despite a 4.15 ERA. Jackson never pitched for the Yankees, but has posted a 4.31 ERA for the Pirates as a reliever. The Yankees traded Gonzalez to Washington after he hit just .152 for them. None of the acquired players made a difference for the Yankees long-term.

Johnson posted a 3.89 ERA for Arizona from '07 to '08. After getting his 300th win while playing for the Giants in 2010, he retired. He will certainly be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. That being said, his 2-year tenure with the Yankees showed that he was really taking advantage of pitching in the NL West. His ERA was much better in the NL (2.92) than in the NL (3.60) for his career. But, he was still a good enough pitcher to survive even in the tough AL East and win 34 games in two seasons.

Randy Johnson's two year tenure in the Bronx was not successful, but had the Yankees not acquired him, they would not have made the playoffs in '05. Even though he struggled in the AL East, he still found ways to win ballgames and help the team win. He should be credited for lasting his age 41 and age 42 seasons in the AL East, rather than have his 4.37 ERA during that time period held against him. Even in the twilight of his career, he was still able to get the job done with all the pressure in the world on him under the bright lights of New York.

The glory years of Jose Lima

Jose Lima, who passed away at age 37 yesterday from a heart attack, mostly wasn't anything special during his career. But, for two years he was one of the best pitchers in baseball.

During his career, Lima appeared to be a bad pitcher. In his career, he was 89-102 with a 5.26 ERA. But, from 1998 to 1999, he had 2 very good years. In 1998, he burst on to the scene after 2 sub-par years as a reliever, in 1996 for the Tigers and 1997 for the Astros. But, in 1998 with the Astros, he was converted into a starter and had a great year, going 16-8 with a 3.70 ERA and 169 K's in 33 starts and 233.1 IP. He averaged over 7 innings per start, striking out 6.5 batters per 9 innings and walking just 1.2. His 5.28 K/BB ratio was the best in the NL. He didn't get any Cy Young votes that year, but no one on the list posted an ERA over 2.90. (Tom Glavine won the 1998 NL Cy Young award, and Trevor Hoffman finished 2nd.)

In 1999, Lima had a great first half, going 13-4 with a 3.23 ERA and 96 K's in 19 starts and 139.1 IP and was named to the NL all-star team. He pitched 1 inning in the all-star game, giving up no runs on just 1 hit. His 2nd half wasn't as good as he went 8-6 with a 4.04 ERA and 91 K's in 16 starts and 107 IP. Still, overall on the year, Lima went 21-10 with a 3.58 ERA and 187 K's in 35 starts and 246.1 IP. He finished 4th in the NL Cy Young voting to Randy Johnson, Mike Hampton, and Kevin Millwood. It was an incredible year for him. He was so good that his salary was doubled in 2000 to over 5 million dollars. But, he never lived up to that contract.

In 2000 he went just 7-16 with a 6.65 ERA. He continued to struggle in '01 and '02, going 10-18 between the 2 years with a 6.18 ERA. He showed some flashes of his former glory in '03, going 8-3 with a 4.91 ERA. In '04, Lima finally put it back together. He went 13-5 with a 4.07 ERA and 93 K's in 24 starts, 12 relief appearances, and 170.1 IP. It wasn't all-star quality, but it appeared he could at least be a decent pitcher. But, he finished up his MLB career with 5-16 with a 6.99 ERA with the Royals in '05, and an 0-4 record and a 9.87 ERA with the Mets in '06. After toiling in the minors in '07 and '08, he was done.

Jose Lima was a great pitcher, but just for a brief time. Every other season of his career besides 1, he was a bad pitcher. But, for those 2 years, he was a great pitcher, one of the best in the NL.

(Lima reportedly was on the list of the 103 names who tested positive for steroids in '03. Did he juice and that was the reason he was so good for just 2 years? I can't say for sure, but that definitely was a possibility.)