Friday, January 07, 2005

Arizona Diamondbacks News

Update: The deal is on again... or so I've heard. Arizona talks with Green end without extension agreement PHOENIX (AP) -- The Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Shawn Green failed to reach an agreement on a contract extension by the deadline, and the tentative trade appeared to have fallen through. A 48-hour window for the Diamondbacks to negotiate with Green expired Thursday, and Dodgers general manager Paul DePodesta declared the trade in its present form "dead." "The only way to go about it at this point is to continue to revise any agreement we had with them," DePodesta said during a conference call, as quoted in Los Angeles-area publications. "As it stands right now, it's over." Neither Diamondbacks general partner Ken Kendrick nor Green's agent Greg Genske returned telephone calls. The New York Yankees, meanwhile, reached an agreement on a $32 million, two-year contract extension for Randy Johnson, a prerequisite to the Big Unit waiving his no-trade clause for a deal to New York. Arizona is to receive pitchers Javier Vazquez and Brad Halsey, along with catching prospect Dioner Navarro and $9 million in exchange for Johnson. The Diamondbacks intended to send Navarro and minor league pitcher William Juarez to Los Angeles for Green and $8 million. Green has one year and $16 million remaining on his contract, which includes a no-trade clause. The prospect of his waiving the no-trade clause without a contract extension seemed unlikely. If Green refuses the trade, it could create an awkward situation for his return to a Los Angeles team that had tried in at least two deals to get rid of him. Green would have been part of the three-team, 10-player trade among the Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Yankees that fell apart last month. But DePodesta said Green, now fully recovered from a shoulder injury, would give the Dodgers "a formidable middle of the lineup. ... I have absolutely no problem having him being here." He added that he has "yet to place one outgoing phone call this offseason regarding trading Shawn," and has turned down several inquiries from other teams.

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