Yankees Send Johnson Back to Arizona  —  With every move they make, the Yankees are looking back to go forward.  They traded Randy Johnson to the Arizona Diamondbacks yesterday, effectively returning the pitcher they could not live without just two years ago.

Sox take scout's word  —  Pineiro signing may help in end  —  This, ladies and gentlemen, is about pure scouting.  —  It's not about numbers or spreadsheets or anything you can download from a computer.  This is old-fashioned scouting.  The type that projects a player into a role he's not used to.

OF Garcia gets offer; team going after Lopez  —  The Rockies, attempting to improve their bench, offered a minor-league contract to outfielder Karim Garcia on Thursday while intensifying their pursuit of catcher Javy Lopez.  —  Garcia would compete for a bench role as the team attempts …

METS MAY MAKE PITCH FOR WEAVER  —  If Jeff Weaver wants to take a second chance at New York, it would have to be on a short-term deal.  And the Mets haven't even decided who they like best in a paltry free-agent market.  —  The Mets are still trying to fill out their starting rotation …

Peavy gets arrested on disorderly charge  —  Padres pitcher Jake Peavy was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct early yesterday in Mobile, Ala., after not heeding instructions from an airport official to move his truck from where it was parked at Mobile Regional Airport.

Yanks envision a hoss in Ross  —  One scout at the Princeton-Old Dominion game clocked the ball that struck Ross Ohlendorf above the right elbow as traveling 106 mph coming off the bat.  Ohlendorf, pitching a few years ago in a marquee game against ODU star Justin Verlander that attracted …

O's don't rock house, but make progress  —  I believe it was the ancient philosopher, Mick Jagger, who eloquently preached the value of pragmatism in all things, a lesson that seems quite relevant as the Orioles complete their latest offseason rebuilding effort.

Juiced balls?  Say it ain't so  —  Was Major League Baseball busting at the seams and rotten to the core in 1998?  —  Were 600 Costa Rican factory workers conspiring to make baseballs fly farther?  —  Was the ball juiced, or were the players juiced?  Or both?

Who's on deck?  —  Unless Jeff Weaver is your idea of a big-time free agent, we're sliding into the New Year plum out of them.  Unless, that is, you want to wait around for Roger Clemens to make up his mind about playing.  Again.  —  But it's never too early for next winter.

Conversions to designated hitter and their applicability to Jose Vidro's suckiness  —  I've been trying to find comps for Vidro's conversion.  Ideally there'd be a guy named Joe Victor, a good-hitting 32-year old shortstop who got banged up for a few years and converted to DH in 2004.  Yeah.

Uncovering DIPS  —  One of the most important concepts in sabermetrics is DIPS theory, which states, essentially, that pitchers have a lot less control over the outcome of balls-in-play than is often assumed, and that in fact, differences in the ability to prevent hits on balls-in-play are not that great.

This Annotated Week in Baseball History: January 1-7, 1992  —  I suppose the typical way to introduce a new column is for the columnist to reveal a bit about himself, give the CV that persuaded the staff here to give the new guy a chance.  My basic qualification is my having spent …