Two Lefties: Zito and Randy Johnson

Well, besides Aubrey Huff and maybe Mulder, the last big free agent has been signed to a whopping 7 year deal with a $18 million a year with a 1 year team option for another $18 million. Obviously this is overpaid, but what people are overreacting about is the 7 year part. After 7 years, he'll be in his mid 30's and last time I checked, pitchers don't deteriorate that quickly, look at all the good pitchers who do well into their late 30's and even mid 40's nowadays. Heck even decades ago pitchers did well into their 40's. The part I don't like is that San Francisco outbid themselves and gave Boras his exact demands. Zito is no longer a top pitcher, he's a very good, very consistent lefty pitcher. I'm glad the M's didn't overpay, but he was our chance of having a great shot of making the playoffs. As usual, Boras proably used the M's to get the team Zito really wanted, San Francisco or the NY Mets, to bid higher. Oh well, luckily we didn't trade Beltre to clear payroll.
Also of news is that with the Kei Igawa and Andy Pettite signing, Randy Johnson is on the trade block. A big power lefty with not many years left on his contract, closing in on 300 wins, and finishing off where his career (essentially started) sounds like a great idea. Him and Felix would be a good one two punch, and I'm a big advocator of needing two solid pitchers to do well in the playoffs. Many question if Randy is a good mentor, but just being a workhorse for the last 20 years I think is good enough to show some of the younger guys on the staff what its all about, especially Felix because Felix is so young and probably aspires to have the career Randy has had. Batista also seems like he would be a pretty good mentor.
Who would we trade for Randy? Sexson is a big obvious choice, as well as Sherrill. People have said Sexson straight up, or both of those guys AND pay part of Randy's contract. Last time I checked, Randy wasn't THAT good, and Sexson wasn't THAT bad. Sexson does give 35 hr a season while playing pretty good defense. Not great GG defense like he was once hyped to have, but pretty good (especially compared to Broussard). I don't know why people give Beltre a free pass for Safeco affecting his power while not giving Sexson one. I also think Sherrill is a really good LOOGY and can be more than just a LOOGY. He's amazing against lefties, and pretty good against righties. I guess I'd pay some of Randy's contract while offering Sexson, but not if Sherrill was in there too. Randy does have good K's, and his HR's ratio has to drop at some point and his LOB% has to go back toward normal. I also think his back will be better after the surgery and he still has a few more years in him.
Why would Randy come back to the M's? I'd like to think that he actually did have fun being on the M's and that like most great players they would want to come back to where they were first great. The fan base would LOVE him, and Seattle is close to his family in Arizona. He could go to Arizona, the Dodgers, or the Padres, but the Diamondbacks are a horrible team with some young talent (Yeah I know, the M's aren't hot shit either).
Chances aren't great that we get Randy, but with the best trade pieces that the Yankees want (Lefty relief for Ortiz and 1B for the only missing piece in their lineup) I can say that if we honestly wanted to make the trade, we could. As long as Cashman isn't unreasonable and demands some good prospects, the Mariners could get this deal done if they wanted to as long as Randy waived his no trade clause.