» Baseball News

When Randy Johnson pitches, everything stops and every eye is on him, waiting for yet another strike out. Last Saturday, he provide a glance of what is yet to come and what came to help him win 295 games, strike out 4,789 batters and of course five CY Young awards.

Below are some of the questions the left handed pitcher answered with a smile, and, despite all of his achievements, with immense humility.

Advise to young pitchers:

“There’s nothing in this game I haven’t done. You’re wondering whether you’re ever going to win a ballgame. And then I’ve won 10 games in a row. I’ve had surgeries. I’ve had to battle back from those kind of things.

“I’ve had bad games. I know how you can mentally be dragging a little bit towards the end of the year. I know the demands that Tim [Lincecum] will have this year after winning the Cy Young. The door is opening for Brandon Webb. The door is opening for a player like Tim Lincecum. “I won a Cy Young in Seattle and then I came to Arizona and won four in a row. Ironically enough, my best year statistically wasn’t until I won my fifth Cy Young.

Randy Johnson: The type of pitcher:

“At this point in my career, my ability and my skills may have diminished, but not my edge or my desire to still be good. As long as I have that, that’s what motivates me. That’s what motivated me and that’s why I was so dangerous, I suppose, because I could throw 100 mph and I wanted to win. Now I still want to win, but I can win throwing 92 and it’s made me a better pitcher, as well.”

The possibility of his 300^th victory with the Giants and not with Arizona or Seattle.

I’ve done a lot in Arizona; it would have been fitting to do it there. It’s not like I’m not familiar with the San Francisco Giants. I’ve pitched against them quite a bit. I’m familiar with the ballpark. I’m familiar with the Bay Area. It’s where I grew up. It’s as good of a last chapter, if you will, of my career that there could be.”

There’s not a blank page yet. We’re still filling the page up. The author’s still at work. I haven’t had a 5.00 ERA since, because my back has been surgically fixed. If I do, I’ll retire.”

2006 NL MVP Ryan Howard signed a three-year contract worth $54 million, on an extension deal with the Phillies, and laid out his final three years of salary negotiation.

What made the deal so intriguing is the fact that Howard and the Phillies franchise seem to be far apart during previous contract extensions, and it seems both parties will continue doing this process until Howard becomes a free agent after 2011.

“We’re pleased to have gotten this behind us,” Ruben Amaro, General Manager of the Phillies said during a conference at Citizens Bank Park. “I think it’s important for the players to worry about playing baseball; to get them ready to defend our title.”

In an estimate, Howard will be earning $15 million this season, $19 million the following year and $20 million in 2011. Only five players earned more than Howard last year: Alex Rodriguez ($28 million), Jason Giambi ($23.4 million), Derek Jeter ($21.6 million), Manny Ramirez ($18.9 million) and Carlos Beltran ($18.6 million).

Considering that Howard will be declared NL MVP over the next season, his current salary will be added $1 million over the next two years. A Gold Glove Award and All-Star appearances will also spell bonuses for Howard and as well as $1 million if he is traded before Nov. 1, 2010.

“I’m happy to have this done and to know that I’ll be in Philadelphia for at least another three years. Both sides are happy, and now I’m just focused on getting the season started and having fun.” Howard said in a statement

The cost for Howard’s signing certainty was significant since the Phillies tried to evaluate free-agent players or which of their players to extend, like they did this offseason for Howard, Hamels, Madson and Werth.

“We know where we’re at with the dollars on him. My job is to try to put a championship-caliber club on the field every single year, and knowing exactly where the dollars are going to be over the next several years on some of our higher-priced players, it helps me a lot.” Amaro said when asked about the $4 million gap on Howard’s request of $18 million as to the Phillies’ offer of $14 million.

Jimmy Rollins also singed with the Phillies until 2010 and a 2011 club option, Brad Lidge through 2011, 2012 club option, Hamels through 2011 and Chase Utley through 2013.

Amaro said that they made contact with Casey Close, Howard’s agent and also with Howard’s family. Now specific agenda was brought out, but he said they talked about several conditions that would convince Howard to signing a long-term deal.

Amaro was asked if he was disappointed that the Phillies couldn’t sign Howard to a longer deal, he said, “I don’t know if “disappointment” is the way to depict it. … It’s three years, and it’s a significantly long time. Ultimately, we came to the conclusion it was the right thing to do.”

There was also some rumors that the parties had reached an standoff on a multiyear contract with Howard believing to be asking a contract similar to New York Yankees’ Mark Teixeira’s eight-year, $180 million contract. Also, there were some speculations stating that the parties weren’t getting along, even though no real evidence of such came out of the public.

Putting those into perspectives, it is safe to say that Howard didn’t agree to a single contract the Phillies had offered him for the last three years.

“No negotiation is simple, but the goal is always the same,” Amaro said. “Get a deal done, and get a deal that is equitable. We’ve been trying to build a relationship with Casey and Ryan and the family, and I think that at the end of the day, we got done what was necessary, and frankly, it was the right thing to do for our organization. … Things that happened prior with Ryan, I don’t know why, but they were being depicted in a different way. They weren’t adversarial. It was just a matter of us agreeing to disagree, and that happens a lot in any kind of business. I don’t think it made us love Ryan any less, and I don’t think Ryan loved us any less.”