Could The Big Unit Be Headed To Big Apple?

The first roster crisis passed for the Seattle Mariners on Friday, but a potentially season-altering decision may await the team intent on cutting costs.

On the day the Mariners resigned Tino Martinez and Dave Fleming - each of whom could have rejected offers and become free agents - the general manager of another small-market franchise warned that Seattle might have to trade Randy Johnson.

The New York Yankees, who traded for Jack McDowell in the off-season and picked up John Wetteland this week, are rumored to be interested in the Mariners’ ace.

Mariners ownership has insisted that the player payroll of more than $33 million be cut to $30 million this spring, and on Thursday general manager Woody Woodward said that would mean trading one player with a significant salary.

Five Mariners make more than $3 million apiece: Ken Griffey Jr., Jay Buhner, Johnson, Chris Bosio and Edgar Martinez. Forced to make a choice, Seattle will try to move Martinez or Bosio. But is that possible?

“If you look at what Edgar Martinez and Chris Bosio make and the seasons they’ve had the last two years - then consider what’s available in the marketplace right now - I don’t see those guys being moved,” said an American League general manager, who requested anonymity.

“If the Mariners really have to move salary, the only guy they can move for sure is Johnson. They couldn’t move Buhner four months after signing him, they couldn’t trade Griffey or they wouldn’t be able to show up in Seattle.”

When that scenario was run by the Seattle front office Friday, the reaction was mixed.

“We know making the kind of trade we want to make is going to be difficult,” Woodward said. “There are only a limited number of teams willing to take on the dollars.”