5:28pm: The deal is for $2.5MM, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweets.
5:04pm: The Braves have signed righty Jim Johnson to a one-year deal, the club announced via press release. Johnson, 32, is a client of Moye Sports Associates.
With the move, Atlanta has re-acquired one of the many players it traded away least year. Johnson was a part of the 13-player deadline swap between the Braves and Dodgers that also saw several more controllable assets change hands.
Johnson first joined the Braves on a fairly cheap, one-year deal after enduring a disastrous 2014 campaign. He bounced back nicely, tossing 48 innings of 2.25 ERA ball with 6.2 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9.
But things turned south again once Johnson reported to Los Angeles. He surrendered 21 earned runs in just 18 2/3 innings of work for the Dodgers. While he upped his strikeouts (to 8.2 K/9) and held his walk rate to under three free passes per nine, Johnson was done in by an over-.400 BABIP and 1.4 HR/9 rate in L.A.
The Braves will hope that Johnson can once again steer clear of the control problems that ruined his 2014 season while continuing to generate something close to the 58.3% groundball rate he owns for his career. Metrics tend to think his ultimate 4.46 ERA last season was somewhat unlucky. Another feather in his cap: Johnson continues to deliver about a 94 mph average fastball, and even trended up in velocity last year.
Atlanta has long been said to be targeting bullpen upgrades this winter. The team has relatively few sure things in the pen, though it received a promising campaign from Arodys Vizcaino and will eventually bring back the injured Jason Grilli. It’s not immediately clear whether the addition of Johnson means that the club will bow out of the higher-end pen market — where it’s been said to have at least done some window shopping — but Bowman adds on Twitter that “a setup man and another lefty reliever” remain on the organization’s shopping list.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
It’s deja vu all over again…
It will be if Friedzaidi find a way to trade for him again.
I wonder what they get for him this season.
July Headline: Braves trade Jim Johnson
2016 off-season: Braves sign Jim Johnson
I hope he can play like he did last year for them
Alright…. somebody get the booze out of Hart’s hands.
You realize Hart isn’t the GM
he wears a face mask, not sure if he knows who the indians are
Hart is president of baseball operations, meaning he has final say on trades, free agent signings, etc.
Not a bad re-signing at all. Johnson gets another chance to show case himself again to suitors and The Braves hope to catch lightning in the bottle again. It’s smart for The Braves and Johnson to have this pact in a place that seemed to be conducive to his success in the first half of 2015. Welcome Back aboard.
I agree. Very little risk here for a team that is gonna push 100 losses.
Braves have 4 real wild cards coming back for the pen in 2016 who can be Boom or Bust. RHP Chris Withrow, RHP Shae Simmons, RHP Daniel Winkler, and RHP Jason Grilli. So I think Jim Johnson will give the team a little more certainty than those players would. If we could get back someone like a John Gant for example who we got in the Juan Uribe / Kelly Johnson trade. Then it makes this signing worth it, and might breed some competition early on before he is inevitably dealt.
You forgot David Carpenter. If he, Grilli, and JJ rebound the pen could become a strength in a hurry with Simmons and Viz looking like long term pieces.
Hopefully someone can work with Ian Krol on the left side, and too bad Paco Rodriguez had Tommy John surgery or the pen could actually wind up being a surprising strength.
still could be if Grilli and Shae Simmons return to form. Grilli,Viz,JJ,Simmons and Carpenter are 5 serious arms to run out there if they stay healthy and pitch as they have in the past.
I’m right there with you brother. Great deal for the Bravos. The bullpen’s potential is intriguing.
over/under this contract be worth $2M? That would be a reasonable 25% raise on his 2015 salary…
It’s actually only $1.25mm for the Braves—the other $1.25M will be covered by the Dodgers after a 13 player trade
ok five different people don’t need to make this joke. it’s covered
i’ll have another J Johnson bartender – gotta love baseball
Lol at this
was so tired i thought i was seeing things, gott agive the Braves some props – buy low, sell high on JJ
Would rather have money gone toward Brandon Morrow as a flip candidate and let the young guys who have fallen out of favor as starters or will fall out of favor have room to roam in the bullpen. The Bullpen is rather empty though so I can’t see any real harm in it. I think this insures Mike Minor will be back if Jim Johnson is worth a 2.5 million gamble Minor is easily worth a 5 million gamble.
I don’t see how the Braves tender Minor a contract. He hasn’t thrown off the mound yet and it’s unclear when he will again. It’s too risky too give Minor approx $6M to sit on the DL.
After Medlen and Beachy you never know (It would not shock me if Minor is non tendered) Minor upside is just worth more than 6 million in my opinion. If the Braves are comfortable in risking 2.5 for the small package Johnson would bring, I’d think they would have no problem with the potential package Minor could bring, but maybe the risk is viewed as higher with Minor, I don’t know RP are known to be erratic especially this one, whose to say any one even will trade for him if hes pitching well any more he is so Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
Key word here: tender, like Mike’s arm.
can see Morrow in SD for another year, maybe more
A very good under the radar deal. Was hoping the Red Sox would sign him to a similar cheap contract.
What are the odds he is traded by the all star break?
Every single last one of the odds!
I actually thought the Orioles might take Johnson back.
Not a bad pickup and most likely he will be traded again for a single -a prospect