To his credit, Randy Johnson hasn't begun mailing it in yet in Arizona the way he did in Seattle six years ago.

But make no mistake -- the Big Unit has had his fill of life in the desert, and he can't help but think this would be a much more pleasant September if he were wearing Yankee pinstripes.

The veteran left-hander leads both leagues in ERA (2.80), strikeouts (249) and batting average against (.192). But for all of that Johnson is just 12-13 with the Diamondbacks, who have scored two runs or fewer in 15 of his 30 starts.

"To go out and have a very slim margin to work with every fifth day, it takes its toll on you," Johnson said after his latest loss, 4-1 Sunday to the Giants. "You realize you have to be perfect -- and I've only thrown one perfect game in my career."

Never the most garrulous of players, with each loss Johnson has become more and more withdrawn. Even sullen, on occasion. The low point may have come last week, when he missed the annual team photo. No explanation was given, but teammates said he pretty much blew it off.

Was it just a coincidence, then, that manager Al Pedrique sent Johnson out against the Giants with a supporting cast that included six players who were in the minors on Opening Day and guys with season batting averages of .224, .172, .171 and .091? Or it was a little payback for the Unit's lack of team spirit?

In any case, what's happening in Arizona right now is not a pretty picture. Whether Johnson is in it or not.

MLB Power Rankings Rank LW Team 1 1 St. Louis Cardinals With 21 homers, Reggie Sanders is the first player to hit 20 or more in a season with six different teams -- four of them in the past four years. Gotta think Reggie also knows the drill on breaking a lease. 2 5 Boston Red Sox At 49-22, they have the best home record in either league. But Angels manager Mike Scioscia, after being swept last week, thinks the Sox are pretty good wherever they play. "Right now," said Scioscia, "they could play in the Grand Canyon and score runs." 3 2 New York Yankees They're 9-1 in Orlando Hernandez's starts. "He's No. 1, as far as I'm concerned," said George Steinbrenner. "We were thinking today of how many good guys have come out of Cuba, and he's certainly the best one that ever came out of there." Same old story -- no love for Desi Arnaz. 4 4 Atlanta Braves Chipper Jones and his wife, Sharon, named their newborn son Shea Logan Jones -- after Shea Stadium, where Chipper has a .314 average with 17 homers and 41 RBIs in 239 career at-bats. Some day that kid is going to be real glad dad hit .077 at U.S. Cellular Field. 5 7 Los Angeles Dodgers Brad Penny is still hurt, Hee-Seop Choi has been a bust since coming over from the Marlins and they got blitzed by the Cardinals in St. Louis last weekend. Let's just say they're a little happier than Randy Johnson to see the Diamondbacks. 6 3 Oakland Athletics They won 20 games in August for the fourth straight season, and they're 80-34 in September since 2000. But that won't mean much in October if Ken Macha and Co. can't figure out a way to beat the Red Sox. 7 8 Minnesota Twins Torii Hunter, not surprisingly, likes their chances the rest of the way. "I hate to be cocky, but if we lose this lead right here, we shouldn't have a team," he said. "I'll be the first one to say we want to get contracted." For starters. 8 6 Anaheim Angels Darin Erstad is bidding to become the first Gold Glove winner at two positions. He won the award as a center fielder in 2000 and '02, and he has just one error in 863 chances at first base this season. That translates to a fielding percentage with a whole bunch of nines. 9 13 Houston Astros They've won 12 straight games and 20 of their past 23 to jump right back into the NL wild-card race. Yeah, yeah, we had them written off two weeks ago. So sue us. We forgot they were chasing the Cubs. 10 11 San Francisco Giants Of Barry Bonds' 102 intentional walks this season, 21 have been issued by the Rockies. Bonds has scored just three of those 21 times, so Rockies manager Clint Hurdle has no regrets. "Those other guys," he said, "don't have the back of the bubble gum card [Bonds] does." 11 14 Florida Marlins Mike Lowell offered to house teammates and their families as Florida braced for Hurricane Frances last week. Lowell, whose house in Coral Gables, Fla., survived hurricanes Charley and Andrew, said, "I have an open-door policy." 12 10 Chicago Cubs Remember them complaining about broadcasters Steve Stone and Chip Caray being too critical? Kent Mercker recently called the press box, saying Stone had been too complimentary about Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt. Want some cheese with that, Kent? 13 9 Texas Rangers Buck Showalter likes the looks of 6-foot-10 rookie pitcher Chris Young, a former Princeton basketball star. "Good body language. Big body language," said the 5-10 Showalter. "I appreciated him walking to the bottom of the mound when I came out there." 14 12 San Diego Padres Mark Loretta, hitting .344 with 15 homers and 72 RBIs, may very well turn into the best ballplayer ever to come out of Northwestern. Yes, even better than Joe Girardi. 15 16 Chicago White Sox They plan to unveil a life-sized statue of Minnie Minoso on Sept. 19 on a concourse at U.S. Cellular Field. Minoso led the AL in hit-by-pitches 10 times in his 17-year career. That could be an interesting statue. 16 18 Philadelphia Phillies One year as manager of the Phils' Class A Clearwater team was enough for Mike Schmidt. "I need to be out earning," said Schmidt. "I can make more in two hours at a card show than I did [as a minor-league manager] all year." And it's such satisfying work, too. 17 15 Cleveland Indians When the Indians handed the Yankees a record-setting 22-0 loss last week, Casey Blake and John McDonald went a combined 0-4, the only Cleveland players without a hit. Even more amazing, neither of them is on my fantasy team. 18 23 Baltimore Orioles Rafael Palmeiro's streak of 38-homer seasons is over at nine. His return to the O's may be, too. Raffy's guaranteed $4.5.million for 2005 if he plays 140 games on defense this season, but he's 18 games short and suddenly sitting against lefties, who've held him to a .179 batting average. 19 20 Detroit Tigers Jason Johnson was upset when Alan Trammell quickly yanked him from a recent game. "That frustrates me -- that makes me mad -- because I'm not some rookie who has one year in the big leagues," said Johnson. Nope, and he's got the career 44-70 record and 4.86 ERA to prove it. 20 19 Pittsburgh Pirates They put the "tight" in tightwad. One day before rosters expanded, they sent pitcher Mark Corey to Class AAA Nashville, largely to avoid paying him $54,000 for September. Last year, they yanked Jeff D'Amico from the rotation so he wouldn't earn a $125,000 bonus for starting 30 games. That sound you hear is Abe Lincoln going "Ow!" 21 17 Cincinnati Reds How bad is it at the Great American Ballpark these days? The Reds' public relations staff has taken to labeling the team batting notes on the pregame media sheets as "Skid Row." 22 24 Milwaukee Brewers They're 15-36 since the All-Star break, and Ned Yost accused them of quitting after a 10-0 loss to the Phillies last week, their 11th straight loss. Yost promptly called a team meeting -- after which they lost No. 12. 23 26 Colorado Rockies Clint Hurdle has been mentioned as a possible replacement if the Mets fire Art Howe, but the Rockies' manager isn't interested. "I have a contract here and I'm big on loyalty," said Hurdle, who's signed through 2006. "I'm big on my word." Plus, there are those Broncos season tickets. 24 21 New York Mets Former Met Armando Benitez is 11-for-11 in save opportunities against his old team this season, the most saves by anyone against one team in a season. Maybe one of his problems with the Mets was that he didn't get to face them. 25 25 Montreal Expos Frank Robinson was furious when ESPN cameras caught him apparently napping in the dugout during a game. Robinson said he'd taken two sinus pills before the game and was drowsy "but my eyes never closed." It was just a really long blink. 26 22 Tampa Bay Devil Rays They entered Thursday's games a combined 7-22 against the Red Sox and Yankees this season, 52-55 against the rest of the league. Care to guess who they have nine more games with this season? 27 27 Toronto Blue Jays Meet the anti-Bonds. Frank Menechino has eight homers, all of them solo shots and seven of them leading off an inning. "I think what it might be," he said, "is they don't want to walk me." 28 28 Seattle Mariners This doesn't sound good for Bob Melvin. GM Bill Bavasi won't even give him a vote of confidence. "I refuse to entertain the question," Bavasi said. "I'm not about to discuss anyone's job status in public -- Bob's, mine or yours." Hey, that doesn't sound good for me, either. 29 29 Kansas City Royals They're on pace to lose 104 games. "When you lose 100, it says you stink for six months straight," said Desi Relaford. "We've played like we stink." Well, there's analysis, and then there's analysis. 30 30 Arizona Diamondbacks Randy Johnson's numbers are good enough to make a case for a sixth Cy Young Award. But can he really become the first CY winner with a losing record? And when he throws that fastball in Arizona, is it dry heat?

Dan George is a Senior Producer for SI.com.