ESPN Buster Olney Blog

A rival talent evaluator mused Thursday about how Nick Johnson -- who has been the subject of trade talks between the Red Sox and Nationals -- would be perfect for Boston. Washington is asking for pitching, but Boston is reluctant to part with any of its better young pitchers.

"He'd be perfect for the Red Sox," the evaluator said. "You put Johnson and [Kevin] Youkilis together in that lineup back-to-back, and the opposing pitcher would constantly need eight or 10 or 15 pitches to get through just those two guys every time through the lineup."

Johnson currently ranks 26th in the majors in pitches per plate appearance, at 4.12, while Youkilis ranks second, at 4.47.

The Red Sox won't part with someone like Clay Buchholz for Johnson, who is often injured and is eligible for free agency after this season. But a good second-line arm for Johnson might be the framework of some arrangement, given that Washington is going nowhere and could save about $3.7 million by dealing Johnson sooner rather than later.

There may be room for Johnson in the Boston lineup very, very soon. David Ortiz is talking about getting his eyes checked, Ron Borges writes, and he's on pace to hit three homers for the season. The Red Sox could always disable Ortiz and get someone like Johnson in his place.

Johnson has a .434 on-base percentage and a career-high .330 batting average, and two scouts talked on Thursday about how his swing would be absolutely tailor-made for Fenway Park. "He'd play pepper with the left-field wall," one NL scout said.

The top of the Boston lineup could look something like this:

Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Nick Johnson, DH
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
J.D. Drew, RF
Jason Bay, LF
Mike Lowell, 3B

Or this:

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Nick Johnson, DH
Kevin Youkilis, 1B

And so on.

It's not official and nobody is going to make an announcement, out of respect for Ortiz. But it's possible that, unless he quickly builds on the two hard-hit balls he mustered Wednesday, we're almost at the end of the Big Papi era in Boston, a time when he was one of the best hitters and most dynamic personalities in the sport.

If the Red Sox stand firm and decline to give up someone like Manny Delcarmen, they could always expand the deal and take on some money from the Washington roster, such as right fielder Austin Kearns, who is making $8 million this season and has a $1 million buyout guaranteed on a $10 million option for 2010.

The Red Sox rotation is rejuvenated, and Boston completed a sweep of the Tigers on Thursday, Daniel Barbarisi writes.

The Johnson Chronicles

Randy Johnson is the sixth left-hander in the history of Major League Baseball to win 300 games, after his win over the franchise that traded him 20 years ago. He hugged teammates afterward, writes Henry Schulman, and the Big Unit mentioned that he needs only 211 more wins to catch Cy Young. He was more nervous afterward than when he was pitching, Andrew Baggarly writes.

With that in mind, we present the Randy Awards. "Baseball Tonight" researcher Mark Simon, with help from the Elias Sports Bureau, Baseball-Reference.com, and some newspaper archives, looked into the career of Johnson to find the good, the bad and the unusual from a legendary career. Here are some of the highlights of his discoveries:

Best Game by a Hitter Against Randy Johnson
May 21, 2000: Probably the best game by a hitter who measured at least a foot shorter than Johnson. Little utility man Joe McEwing had two doubles and a home run against Johnson, making him the only batter with three extra-base hits in a game against the Unit. (All eight of the Mets' hits against Johnson went for extra bases.) The matchup included a 12-pitch battle in the fifth inning in which McEwing fouled off seven two-strike pitches before doubling. Johnson struck out 13, but the Mets rallied from deficits of 1-0, 3-2 and 5-3 before winning 7-6 on a ninth-inning hit by Derek Bell. McEwing would score the winning run.

"He's a good little ballplayer," Johnson told the media afterward, keeping his description of McEwing brief.

Worst Game by a Hitter Against Johnson
Aug. 10, 2002: In the midst of Johnson's 24-win season, Mike Lowell simply got overpowered. Lowell saw 19 pitches in four at-bats against Johnson and drew 16 strikes, including the first eight to start his day. Lowell managed a dozen swings but never put the ball in play, fouling off seven pitches and cleanly missing five. Lowell shouldn't feel that it was all his fault, though. His teammates fanned an additional 10 times as Johnson won easily, 9-2, passing Tom Seaver on the all-time strikeout list along the way.

"I felt like I went 4-for-4 because I didn't strike out," Marlins outfielder Eric Owens said to reporters after the game.

To read the rest of Buster's blog -- the best inning RJ ever pitched, the worst game he ever threw, how the Astros are going to rebuild, and whether the Nats might win fewer than 50 games --- sign up for ESPN Insider.