Can Moreno Walk the Walk for Johnson?

It is no longer just a walk in the park for Arte Moreno.

Oh, the Angel owner still takes a nightly stroll around Angel Stadium, but the fans are now talking a different kind of talk.

“They’ve always stopped me to say hello and kind of grade me on different things,” Moreno said last week. “Some like this, others don’t like that.

“Now they’re unanimous. They all want us to get Randy Johnson, and I’m getting blistered.”

As the baseball clock ticks toward the July 31 deadline for non-waiver trades, the Big Unit’s shadow continues to stretch coast to coast.

In the East, the Boston Red Sox continue to weigh the possibility of sending Nomar Garciaparra to the Chicago Cubs as a precursor to landing Johnson, and the voracious New York Yankees are more determined than ever to deal for him to negate Boston’s possible acquisition and to augment a rotation crippled by injuries to Kevin Brown and Mike Mussina.

In the West, the Angels remain tantalized by Johnson but cautious of the price, which means little to those constituents blistering Moreno for his initially stated reluctance to sacrifice the future in pursuit of the Arizona Diamondback left-hander by trading any combination of his top four prospects -- third baseman Dallas McPherson, first baseman Casey Kotchman, catcher Jeff Mathis and pitcher Ervin Santana.

Hard to believe.

From lowering beer prices to raising expectations with his $150-million talent investment of the off-season, Moreno has enhanced the identity, stability and profitability of an organization that has often lacked those attributes.

Now he’s catching grief for merely trying to protect the club’s long-term assets, as Bill Bavasi did while assembling the core of a team that won the 2002 World Series.

Of course, Moreno has also amended his initial position slightly, revealing that his baseball department has the latitude to deal for Johnson if it doesn’t totally derail the club’s ability to restock the roster and, ultimately, reduce the payroll from within.

The owner can’t be blamed if he’s paying attention to his customers. Who likes to have their ears boxed?

As Moreno noted with his signing of Vladimir Guerrero, how could he face fans cognizant that he had rejected the opportunity to pursue one of baseball’s best players?

More likely, however, the Angels’ ongoing fascination with one of baseball’s best pitchers doesn’t stem from any public lobbying.

Privately, the Angels simply believe that the rebuilding Diamondbacks can’t dismiss the opportunity to unload the $24 million Johnson is owed through next season and that their trade demands will fall as the calendar moves closer to the 31st. Then again, all of this could be academic.

Johnson has a no-trade clause and may choose to remain in Paradise Valley, retiring after a final season with the Diamondbacks in 2005, or he may refuse to waive it unless traded to the Yankees -- convinced they are the only team substantively more than what he calls a “theoretical contender” at this time.

The Diamondbacks have scouts everywhere. The problem, however, in consummating a deal with the Yankees is that George Steinbrenner’s cupboard is finally bare, and the problem for the Red Sox -- even if the prospects they would acquire from the Cubs in exchange for Garciaparra would satisfy Arizona -- is in convincing Johnson to spend another season or two joined at the hip with Curt Schilling.

It’s no longer clear how neighborly the former Arizona teammates are.

Nor is it certain that the Red Sox, possibly reduced to a wild-card pursuit already, could convince Johnson they are more than a “theoretical contender.”

The reality is that no team has more to offer than the Angels, but where do they draw the line and how much more does Moreno have to spend?

Make no mistake: Turning 41 in September, Johnson is still at the top of his Hall of Fame-caliber game, a pitcher capable of carrying a team in October and relieving Bartolo Colon of the weight, at least, of his inconsistency.

With Aaron Sele and Ramon Ortiz expected to be gone next year, there will be vacancies in the rotation and a measure of financial flexibility to compensate for the $16.5 million Johnson will be owed. With McPherson tearing up the top levels of the system, the Angels are also expected to pocket a considerable saving via the departure of free agent-eligible Troy Glaus, although the current absence of power at the infield corners has contributed to the club’s curious inconsistency and showcased the importance of the absent Glaus.

The bottom line is that the Angels have to see this out. If the opportunity is there to pull the trigger on the acquisition of Randy Johnson without stripping the future -- “I want to do what’s right, but I don’t want to be stupid,” Moreno said -- they have to do it, operating cautiously.

Prospects can become suspects, but seldom is an organization in position to plug in more of their own players than the Angels seem to be over the next year or two, a valuable opportunity.

One thing is certain: With almost 20 of the 30 teams retaining playoff hopes at the start of the second half and still unwilling to part with players they might otherwise trade, the market coming up to the 31st has been conspicuously quiet, particularly since Freddy Garcia and Carlos Beltran have been traded already.

Said San Francisco General Manager Brian Sabean: “There are not that many difference makers out there, and Lord willing, they’ll all go to the Red Sox or Yankees anyway.”

The Big Unit is a difference maker who has the Red Sox and Yankees salivating, not to mention those fans who have been saying more than hello to Arte Moreno on his nightly walks.