The Randy Johnson deal is dead. At least for the moment. The fact that it was because of Javy Vazquez (at least according to Newsday) makes me smile:
According to a source involved in the discussions, Vazquez, the Yankees’ righthander, was so opposed to joining the Dodgers that he refused to travel to Los Angeles to undergo a physical examination. (Link)
Hmm. Refused to play in a pitchers’ park? He either really dislikes the West Coast, or, if you want a conspiracy theory, really didn’t want to take the physical - which might make sense given that there’s been speculation about his arm slot changing sometimes midseason because he was hiding an injury. (ERA pre-All-Star break: 3.57. Post-All-Star break: 6.92.) Of course, unnamed sources are so iffy it’s hard to even know if this whole thing is true.