PHOENIX--The Arizona Diamondbacks, in the spectacular final act of their ambitious offseason pursuit of free agents, agreed yesterday to a $52.4 million, four-year contract with Randy Johnson.

With an average salary of $13.1 million per season, Johnson becomes the game's highest-paid pitcher and the second-highest paid player behind Mo Vaughn, who agreed last week to an $80 million, six-year contract with Anaheim that averages $13.33 million.

The addition of one of the game's most feared pitchers, coupled with last week's signings of Todd Stottlemyre and Armando Reynoso, gives the second-year expansion club one of the game's most formidable rotations.

"I'm not going to call us a contender, but what I'm hearing from people in baseball is that our starting rotation could be one of the top two or three in baseball," Diamondbacks owner Jerry Colangelo said.

Johnson, who lives in nearby Paradise Valley, chose the Diamondbacks over the Anaheim Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers and Texas Rangers because he wants to play close to home, and he thinks Arizona is making moves to quickly become a contender.