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Hall of Fame pitcher Randy Johnson left his mark in various locales. He pitched for the Montreal Expos, Houston Astros, Seattle Mariners, Arizona Diamondbacks, New York Yankees, and San Francisco Giants.
In Seattle, he helped put the team on the map. With Arizona, he won a memorable World Series in 2001.
But could he have done the same with the Toronto Blue Jays? Apparently, according to former Blue Jays GM Pat Gillick.
Gillick came forward to say that the Blue Jays failed to acquire Johnson after the Mariners traded him in 1998, per Jon Morosi of the MLB Network.
Randy Johnson, Toronto Blue Jay?
It almost happened, as Pat Gillick told me in this conversation. @MLBNetworkRadio @baseballhall https://t.co/AnJdD0iR1Z
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 11, 2025
Ultimately, the Mariners sent Johnson to the Astros where he pitched for one season. After that, Johnson went to the Diamondbacks where he lasted from 1999-2004.
During his career, the “Big Unit” was one of the most dominant pitchers of his era. He amassed 10 All-Star appearances, 5 Cy Young Awards, and the 2002 MLB Triple Crown winner.
In addition, Johnson was a nine-time strikeout leader and four-time ERA leader. Johnson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015.
Furthermore, he's enshrined in the Mariners Hall of Fame as well as the Diamondbacks Hall of Fame as one its first inductees.
Altogether, Johnson has 4,875 career strikeouts and a lifetime ERA of 3.29.
The plan to Randy Johnson on Blue Jays fell through
By the time the Blue Jays passed up on Johnson, they were removed from their World Series years of 1992 and 1993.
There's some speculation that if Johnson went to Toronto they would have still been viable contenders. It turns out, the Blue Jays had two deals in place. One to trade Ricky Henderson to the Oakland A's and the other to acquire Johnson from the Mariners.
Ultimately, Henderson was sent to Oakland, but the chance to get Johnson fell through under bizarre circumstances.
Gillick was unable to reach then Mariners GM Woody Woodward because Woodward was out golfing. As a result, the deal could not be finalized.
What could have been?
