Randy departs

It is now official, Randy Johnson was announced as a Diamondback this afternoon meaning his time in the Bronx is over. To be fair to RJ, he came across very well in the news conference and he thanked the Yankees for enabling this move and for his time in Pinstripes. He said he'd played with some of the greats and for the greatest sports franchise on Earth and it was an honour to spend some time playing for the Bronx Bombers.

The Yankees move $14m off the books and add four players, a ML reliever in Luis Vizcaino and three minor league prospects, rated 18, 19 and 20 according to Baseball America out of the Diamondback organisation.

Russ Ohlendorf, a 24 year-old sinkerballer seems to be the player the Yankees are most excited about. They believe that he could be the new Wang and it seems as though they passed on Micah Owings to take Ohlendorf, a gutsy decision if true by Cashman and co.

The other players are Steven Jackson, a pitcher who posted nice numbers at Double A last season and a light hitting SS in Alberto Gonzalez.

Randy Johnson just didn't work in the Bronx, it wouldn't stun me if he returned to the NL and performed extremely well next season. It leaves the Yankees rotation looking weak with Igawa and Pavano at #4 and #5 and their are question marks over Pettitte's elbow and Mussina's health, but despite this, moving Randy was a deal that had to be made for both the franchise and for Randy himself, who wanted to be closer to home, and no-one can argue with that.

The Yankees payroll is now down to, well I say down to but it's still a stunning amount of around $180m. Yes there is a probability of Roger Clemens coming in for a huge deal of dollars but that would be a one year deal, in five years the Yankees may be down to a more sustainable level of expenditure, it'd be nice.