Randy Johnson in 2009?

The Giants just signed Randy Johnson to a 1-year, $8 million contract. That's a big risk! How many back surgeries has he had? I guess last year's performance was convincing enough that he's doing alright, though. And I guess $8 mil sounds like a lot more to me than it does to the Giants, heh heh.

He has 295 wins and 4789 strikeouts. 5 wins at age 45 is not too much of a stretch, since he had 11 wins last year. He would become the 24th (and probably the LAST) pitcher to reach the 300 win milestone. Who would have thought a few years ago that he would still be around to do this? My goodness, he has 65 wins after turning 40! I bet that's his primary milestone goal.

But is 211 strikeouts possible in 2009? He hasn't reached that mark since 2005, at the tender young age of 41. But to be only the SECOND pitcher to reach 5000, that would be pretty keen. Let's think about it. Last year he had 173 K's in 184 IP. And since turning 40, he's stuck pretty close to an average of 1K per IP. Can a 45-year-old (he turns 46 in September) pitch enough innings to get 211 strikeouts? He's already safe in second place with 4789, so even if he doesn't, there's no one on his tail. Some other guys are hovering around 3000, but that's not really competition at all, is it?

After all that thinking, I'm sure it's not just about the personal milestones. The Giants say they want to be contenders, and they think he's a part of that equation. Is he?