'Incentive' key word in Arizona's interest in Big Unit

Wells is 43 and has numerous issues, ranging from chronic back problems to gout.

In each case, it makes sense to sign the pitcher to a contract that calls for a reasonable base salary with an incentive clause based on innings pitched.

Wells, for example, pitched for a base salary of $2.5 million in 2006 with the potential of earning another $5 million based on how many starts he made. He was to earn $200,000 for each start from start Nos. 11 through 20, and then $300,000 per start from Nos. 21 to 30. (He wound up making 13 starts in '06.)

That's the cost uncertainty that the Diamondbacks, still paying for their free-spending ways of the past, are attempting to escape from as they work toward escaping the red.

Last season, they paid out $30 million in deferred salaries to players, and in 2007, that number shrinks slightly to $25 million.

As for Mulder and Wells, the Diamondbacks do not appear overly interested for reasons other than the fact that they wouldn't soften their risk by including incentive clauses in the deal. One Arizona official said the club is not too enthused with Mulder because of "red flags" over his health issues, and added that the Wells-to-Arizona talk mostly has been fueled by media speculating on the hefty lefty's close friendship with new Diamondbacks bench coach Kirk Gibson.

"You can get around the no-incentives policy," one veteran player agent said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "There are creative ways to do that. Like I always say, 10 dimes is a dollar, and so is four quarters."

While it is difficult to be creative with a one-year deal, the agent said, one way to do it is to add a second year with a team option and a buyout. If the club opts not to keep the player for the second season, the buyout figure could equate to the same dollars that might have been attached to an incentive clause for something like 150 innings pitched.

Moorad acknowledged that the club sometimes agrees to deals similar to that one, citing as an example the contract of outfielder Jeff DaVanon. The Diamondbacks last year signed the outfielder for a base salary of $525,000 with a player option for 2007 based not upon games played, but upon days DaVanon spent on the active roster.

Though he fractured an ankle in early August, DaVanon's '07 option was picked up at $900,000 because he spent 120 days on the active roster.

Otherwise, Moorad said, "if the proper full season payment for a player was $3 million, and teams were offering a $3 million base plus another $3 million in incentives, we'd prefer to consider something in the $4- to $4.5-million range."

One strange thing in the no-incentive policy, of course, is that Moorad now is in a management position after spending years as one of the most powerful agents in baseball. He once spent a good chunk of his life negotiating not only multimillion dollar contracts for players but, yes, incentive clauses as well.

"Probably a couple thousand," said Moorad, among them those in Manny Ramirez's current eight-year, $160 million deal that calls for the slugger to receive, among other things, $150,000 for being a World Series or ALCS MVP to a range of between $200,000 to $50,000 for finishing anywhere from first to fifth in MVP voting. "From a player representative's standpoint, I think an agent's primary concern is that a policy really is a policy.

"In our situation, the player reps we deal with are most focused on making sure we don't have any exceptions. We haven't, and we won't -- and if we do, we will change it retroactively."

The Diamondbacks' policy against incentive clauses -- and the possibility of acquiring Johnson for a fixed salary that would be defrayed by the Yankees -- certainly isn't the main reason why the Big Unit again is piquing their interest.

But in the wild spending spree that has defined this winter, because of his age and the Yankees' desire to move in a new direction, it helps explain why and how he is falling into their price range.

And, San Francisco just unwrapped Barry Zito, San Diego got Greg Maddux from its wish list and the Dodgers have added Jason Schmidt. The NL West is at once competitive, mediocre and winnable -- as long as you have pitching.

During his first tour with the Diamondbacks, Johnson's 2003 salary increased by $3 million thanks to his '02 Cy Young award. His current deal, negotiated by the Yankees (as noted, another no-incentives team), calls for a straight $16 million base salary (it is believed that Johnson will want his deal extended through 2008, which is another issue for the Diamondbacks).

One incentive for the Yankees to deal Johnson is that, with GM Brian Cashman working with more autonomy as aging owner George Steinbrenner slowly fades away, the Yankees this winter are attempting to stockpile young pitchers. They obtained three from Detroit in the Gary Sheffield deal -- including highly touted Humberto Sanchez.

Arizona also has several highly touted young pitchers of its own, such as Ross Ohlendorf, Dustin Nippert, Brandon Medders and Micah Owings.

In general parameters -- pitching and cost certainty -- Johnson fits with what the Diamondbacks are attempting to do.

The sanity of acquiring a 43-year-old pitcher returning from back surgery, even if it is Randy Johnson? That's a whole other question.

But remember, he has won 17 games in each of the past two seasons while pitching in a more difficult league that employs the designated hitter.