What are you Yankee fans hearing? I heard him say the other day that he may have pitched for the last time in Seattle.
Not to hijack immediately, but there’s very little actual “retirement” in baseball anymore, in the sense of a voluntary stepping-down. At the tail ends of careers, players try to build in extra years, so in effect they’re cut with some time remaining on their contracts, after which they try to hook on with some other team (that will have to pay them little or nothing, since they still have a contract from the team that cut them), sometimes successfully, sometimes not.
I suspect that, after Johnson’s contract runs out, if the Yankees haven’t cut him loose already, he’ll try to get some other team to offer him an incentive-laden contract. For him the goal would be to collect the non-incentive part of the deal, a half-mil or so, which the team would be gambling on the off-chance that Johnson has a comeback in him.
I think these teams gambling on aged players are usually making a huge mistake, since that’s money that could be diverted into player development, and rarely results in quality play.
Moved from GQ to MPSIMS.
samclem
Actually I was looking for factual information on the status of his contract and what he is saying about pitching next year.
RJ is signed through 2007. As far as retiring after this season, I know for sure he hasn’t announced anything publicly. Personally, I’d be shocked if he didn’t return next year, considering he’s still a solid MLB pitcher, he’s healthy, and he’s due like $16 mil. next year.
Which was kinda my point (sorry I didn’t see the request for contract details)–no one walks away from 16 mil, or anything like it. I thought you were asking about 2008, when my scenario(s) will kick in. If there’s a chance that any MLB team would sign Johnson as a #5 starter, he’ll sign an incentive-laden contract and go to spring training to try out, I think.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaand he’s a lefty. Lefties always have a job in the NFL.
Baseball, too. Somebody will pay Unit the big bucks to pitch next year, and a team desperate enough to take Sidney Ponson would be happy to keep him. He can’t get anywhere near that much outside the game - and besides, what would he do with himself? He’s a lifer, to all appearances.
As quarterback? 
As someone who, when typing, can do more than one thing at the same time.
Apparently, I am NOT that guy.
Bad Trevor. Bad.
No problem at all; you made a good point… I just took offense to anything baseball related being considered mundane or pointless.