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Giants, Dodgers among teams interested in Johnson
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Randy Johnson may have a chance to win his 300th game in the NL West after all. The Diamondbacks' division foes San Francisco and the Los Angeles Dodgers are among the teams that have inquired about Johnson's availability for the 2009 season, according to major league sources familiar with the situation.
Milwaukee, Oakland, Texas and the Chicago Cubs also have expressed varying degrees of interest, sources said.
The D-Backs still appear to be out of the picture - Johnson had sought to return, but negotiations hit at an impasse on Nov. 13, when he rejected the D-Backs' one-year, $2.5 million offer and filed for free agency.
Johnson, 45, appears willing to sign a one-year contract as he enters the 2009 season with 295 victories, five short of the magic 300.
"We've had a lot of inquiries. Nothing formal yet, but we didn't expect anything formal at this point," said Johnson's agent, Alan Nero. "I expect that when some of the trades and free-agent signings get done, things will begin."
All six teams that have contacted Johnson hold spring training in the Phoenix area, which would be a plus for Johnson, and San Francisco and Oakland are close to his boyhood home in the Bay Area.
Johnson has told friends he has wants to play for a contender in 2009, and that he has three goals - to play in another World Series, to surpass 5,000 strikeouts and to win 300 games.
Johnson, the co-MVP for the 2001 World Series with the D-Backs, has 4,789 career strikeouts, second in major league history, after posting 173 while going 11-10 with a 3.91 ERA in 30 starts last season.
He passed Roger Clemens (4,672) in 2008 and trails only Nolan Ryan, who has 5,714.
The market could become clearer after top free agents such as CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe sign, leaving the teams who missed out free to look elsewhere.
San Francisco is said to be interested in Sabathia, although it is not believed to have made an offer.
The Dodgers will lose Lowe to free agency and did not pick up Brad Penny's option for 2009.
"I don't expect anything to happen quickly," Nero said.
"Randy is a well-known commodity. Teams that are pursuing CC ... if they can't sign CC, they could be very interested in signing Randy."
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