The Yankees and Arizona reached a tentative agreement Thursday on a trade that would send Randy Johnson back to Arizona, a move that allows the Big Unit’s agents to get him a contract extension. The teams informed the commissioner’s office of the trade specifics, a baseball official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because no announcement had been made.
Arizona would send relief pitcher Luis Vizcaino to the Yankees along with minor league right-handers Ross Ohlendorf and Steven Jackson, and shortstop Alberto Gonzalez, another baseball official said, also on condition of anonymity. The Yankees also would pay between $1.5 million and $2 million of Johnson’s $16 million salary this year.
The Yankees also had discussed trading Johnson to the San Diego Padres.
In another move, first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz and the Yankees reached a preliminary agreement on a one-year contract worth about $1.5 million. Mientkiewicz, who spent 2005 with the crosstown Mets, must take a physical for the deal to be finalized.
Vizcaino, a 32-year-old right-hander, was 4-6 last season with 3.58 ERA in 70 games. He has a 25-23 career record with a 4.24 ERA in eight seasons, playing for Oakland, Milwaukee, the Chicago White Sox and Arizona.
Ohlendorf, a 25-year-old who went to Princeton, was 10-8 with a 3.29 ERA at Double-A Tennessee last season and 0-0 with a 1.28 ERA at Tucson.
Gonzalez, a 24-year-old right-handed hitter, batted .290 in 129 games with Tennessee with six homers, 50 RBIs and 20 doubles. He also hit .200 (3-for-15) in four games with Tucson.
Jackson, 24, was 8-11 with a 2.65 ERA in 24 starts at Tennessee.
Johnson was 17-11 with a 5.00 ERA last season, and the 43-year-old left-hander is coming off back surgery on Oct. 26. Although he has gone 34-19 during the regular season in two years with the Yankees, he is 0-1 with a 6.92 ERA in three postseason appearances.