After some twiddling of thumbs and such, it looks like the Dodgers are now comfortable with their part in the megadeal with the Yankees and Diamondbacks. This report indicates that each team will end up with the following:

Yankees
Randy Johnson
Kazuhisa Ishii

Dodgers
Javier Vazquez (who might be re-dealt)
Dioner Navarro
Eric Duncan
Mike Koplove

Diamondbacks
Shawn Green
Brad Penny
Yhency Brazoban
Brandon Weeden

Who knows who will win this trade in the end. Would it be shocking if Vazquez, for example, had a better 2005 than Johnson? Will Eric Duncan turn into Mike Lowell, v2.0? Is Yhency Brazoban really Francisco Rodriguez in disguise?

There may have been a Cubs slant to this deal as well. A little birdie told me (a birdie like, maybe... a partridge! or a swimming swan!) that if the Dodgers had bailed, the Cubs may have been a fallback option, with the deal looking like:

Yankees
Randy Johnson
Glendon Rusch

Cubs
Eric Duncan
Dioner Navarro

Diamondbacks
Sammy Sosa
Angel Guzman
Javier Vazquez

Who knows how the money would have worked out, but it sure looks like a chunk would've needed to go from Chicago to Arizona. This would seem like a pretty dramatic way to go about dumping Sosa's salary, no? I'm not as high on Guzman as many seem to be, but why include him? Why include Rusch, who in this market was clearly signed to a good deal?

I can only guess that the Cubs' participation would've been a sign that they really think they get a Beltran or a Drew. Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda. It appears to be a moot point now, as the paperwork for the Dodger-Yankee-D'Back threesome is with Mr. Commissioner now.