Trade Still Considered Very Likely

While Randy Johnson has said he prefers to be traded before the season, the Seattle Mariners now say they plan to start the year with him and trade him only if the team falls out of contention in the American League West race.

But Angel President Tony Tavares is convinced the Mariners will eventually trade one of baseball’s best pitchers.

“Basically, the team announced--which I thought was pretty silly--that it was going to move him,” Tavares said. “The fastest way to run down an asset’s value is to announce you’re going to trade him. I think they’re trying to rebuild the asset’s value.”