Is That All There Is?

Up until now, Brian Cashman has enjoyed nearly a perfect off-season. The key phrase here is "up until now." That’s because the Yankees’ general manager appears to be on the verge of making two moves that seem highly questionable.

The Yankees are close to finalizing a deal that will finally send Randy Johnson back to Arizona. For two weeks now, we’ve heard that the Yankees wanted a three-player package that would include two of Arizona’s highly touted young pitchers. Now it appears that the Yankees will only be receiving a two-player package, with one of the players being a journeyman relief pitcher. That’s Luis Vizcaino, who’s a decent middle reliever, but he’s 32 and doesn’t figure to replace Kyle Farnsworth or Scott Proctor as the Yankees’ eighth inning setup man. The other player coming to New York will be one of three Diamondbacks’ pitching prospects: Dustin Nippert, Ross Ohlendorf, or Micah Owings. And that’s it. There’s no young catcher or young first baseman in the deal, leaving two other Yankee needs unsatisfied. Given the names that have been previously thrown about, and given Arizona’s lust to have Johnson return to the desert, this seems like an awfully paltry return for Cashman and company.

The other transaction will probably have less impact, but does involve a player who figures to be a regular in New York. The Yankees are on the verge of signing free agent first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz, who has no power, has declined defensively, and is coming off a season shortened by major back surgery. After all of the names we’ve heard associated with the Yankees’ first base search, this is the best they can do? Frankly, they’d be better off signing someone like Darin Erstad, or letting Josh Phelps and Andy Phillips duke it out for the starting job this spring…

In other baseball news…

The Astros appear close to signing Mark Loretta, who at one time was mentioned as a possible Yankee first baseman. (Then again, who hasn’t been?) It’s not clear what Loretta’s role in Houston will be; the Astros already have a second baseman in the ageless Craig Biggio. Unless the Astros move Biggio back to the outfield (and that didn’t work out so well the first time), Loretta could be looking at very uneven playing time in Houston…

On Monday, former Brooklyn Dodgers outfielder Ernie "Chief" Koy died in his sleep at the age of 97. A multi-sport star at the University of Texas, Koy hit a home run in his first major league at-bat while playing for the Dodgers on April 19, 1938…

Former minor league executive George Sisler, Jr. died from Alzheimer’s disease on Sunday at the age of 89. He was the son of Hall of Famer George Sisler, a two-time .400 hitter in the major leagues. The younger Sisler was once the president of the International League. After that, he became a general manager with several minor league clubs, including the Rochester Red Wings and the Columbus Clippers…

Finally, a programming note. I’ll be a guest on MLB.com later today (Thursday), appearing at 6:20 Eastern time with host Peter McCarthy. We’ll be talking about some of the significant baseball people who passed away in 2006.