When we talk about the off-season, free agency is the hottest topic in the off-season. Every off-season, I look forward to seeing which team stupidly overpays for a player, who doesn’t deserve half the money they get. For instance, last year, the Nationals signed Patrick Corbin to a six-year, $140 million contract. Corbin has been nothing better than a #2 starter throughout his career, and I believe the calculated market value for him was five years $90 million. Now don’t get me wrong Corbin pitched pretty good in 2019, and the Nationals won the World Series, but what’s stupid about this contract is that the team will be paying Corbin $23 something million dollars a year until he turns 35. By then, Corbin will be well into his decline. Now I can write a book talking about every bad contract that a team gave to a player who either didn’t deserve it or didn’t live up to it, but I’m not.
There was a big multi-year contract signed over 20 years ago, which based on the player’s performance, and the team’s performance is considered “The Best Free Agent Signing Ever.” On December 1st, 1998, the Arizona Diamondbacks signed Randy Johnson to a four-year $52.4 million contract with a team option for a fifth year worth $12.350 million.
Randy Johnson had just turned 35, and nobody expected him to be the pitch like he did with the Mariners. So giving a guy who has already seen his better days $52.4 million over four years was a big head-scratcher for the baseball world at that time. However, Randy Johnson didn’t just live up to the contract he OVER PERFORMED the contract.
Randy Johnson’s STATS: (Bold means led league)
1999: 17-9 W-L, 2.48 ERA, 271.2 IP, 364 K, 1.020 WHIP, 2 SHO, 12 CG (Age 35)
2000: 19-7 W-L, 2.64 ERA, 248.2 IP, 347 K, 1.118 WHIP, 3 SHO, 8 CG (Age 36)
2001: 21-6 W-L, 2.49 ERA, 249.2 IP, 372 K, 1.009 WHIP, 2 SHO, 3 CG (Age 37)
2002: 24-5 W-L, 2.32 ERA, 260.0 IP, 334 K, 1.031 WHIP, 4 SHO, 8 CG (Age 38)
2003: 6-8 W-L, 4.26 ERA, 114.0 IP, 125 K, 1.333 WHIP , 1 SHO, 1 CG (Age 39)
Four Cy Young Awards in a row, that’s right Randy Johnson in won four straight Cy Young’s during the ages of 35-38. Also including three ERA titles, four consecutive seasons striking out the most batters in all of baseball, and an excellent 2001 postseason performance, which resulted in the Diamondbacks winning the 2001 World Series.
2001 Playoff Stats: 2001 World Series Co-MVP
5-2 W-L, 1.57 ERA, 40.1 IP, 2 SHO, 47 K’s 6 Games
The Arizona Diamondbacks made an excellent investment; that’s for sure. I’d put those four years of Randy Johnson up against any starter in MLB history. Yes, in 2003, it was a down year for Randy Johnson, but the man was 39 years of age and was on the DL for a big chunk of the season. But then the Diamondbacks re-signed him to a two-year deal, and at the age of 40, he finished 2nd in the Cy Young voting while leading the league in strikeouts with 290 and with a 0.900 WHIP in 2004.
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