Randy Johson from SFgiants.com (Ross D. Franklin/AP)

So the Giants went out and got Randy Johnson.  I honestly thought he might end up a Dodger, but it doesn’t surprise me that the Giant’s went after him.  The real question up here is whether he was really brought in to help the team, or just to help sell tickets as he goes for 300 wins.  I think it’s a little of both, but it leans towards the latter.

Recently I heard on the local talk show station KNBR, The Razor, Ralph Barbieri talk about how he thought Johnson would be a great fit for the Giants.  A caller called in and said he didn’t want Johnson and that he would rather see the young guys get a chance.  Ralph asked him if he would rather “watch a young team up and coming, or watch Randy Johnson go for 300?”  It was a good question and the answer is obvious – see Randy for 300.

The Giants are coming around, but it’s obvious that part of this is to get the fans back to the ballpark for history.  At 8 mil a year, it seems a little high for Johnson given his last season, but given the ticket sales, I think it is a bargain.  He will be worth watching just like Greg Maddux was worth watching for the Dodgers.

I did talk with one Giant’s fan this week who thought the main reason for Johnson was to help develop Jonathan Sanchez with the Giants.  Basically Sanchez is the same type of pitcher as Johnson just a little smaller.  I think it’s a good perspective.  If Johson can get 5 wins and help the pups, he will be well worth the 8mil.

For the Dodgers – they can beat him…now they just get to beat the Giants at the same time.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 30th, 2008 at 11:19 pm and is filed under Spy Game. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.