For those of you who don't know, Baseball Prospectus is website that is probably at the forefront of statistical baseball analysis. Joe Sheehan is an excellent writer for BP, as well as an avid Yankee fan. He is quite good at analyzing baseball data, although not as good as his fellow BP staffmates Clay Davenport or Nate Silver, and he knows the Yankees organization backwards and forwards. So when he doesn't like a move made by the Yankees, it's usually for good reason.

It's not easy to make a deal with the Diamondbacks and not come out of it with some upside, but that's what the Yankees have done. They've added to their stash of college-draftee pitchers--remember, they took Ian Kennedy and Joba Chamberlain in last year's draft--who don't project as stars, and added a utility-infield prospect and some relief help.

This wasn't even the best package of guys you've never heard of; the Yankees, staring at a hole at first base, would have been better off working Scott Hairston, Chris Carter or Brian Barden into this deal than taking Vizcaino or Gonzalez. The Diamondbacks have no room for any of them, they can all hit and all are better short-term fixes than Rule 5 pick Josh Phelps.

This deal is a good win for the Diamondbacks, who are closer to contention in the NL West than most people realize. By adding a good starting pitcher--remember, PECOTA projects Johnson to have a 3.52 ERA this season--in exchange for four guys they'll never miss and some cash, they've improved the 2007 team for, essentially, nothing. They didn't trade any of their top ten prospects, not even guys down the list like Micah Owings or Dustin Nippert. This deal closes the gap between them and the Padres and Dodgers, and pretty much ensures at least a three-team race in the West.

This is what Pfisty meant by trading Johnson "for pennies on the dollar." As much as we may not like Johnson, we'll likely miss his production.