Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Reed Johnson

On Sunday the Jays released Reed Johnson, but he will not remain unemployed long as several teams need help in the outfield or on the bench. Ken Rosenthal notes that the Cubs, Red Sox, Rays and Rangers have shown interest in Johnson, while Jim Baubach added the Mets to the equation. That is a lot of interest in a player that has 42 home runs, 28 steals and a career OPS+ of 95 in 4.5 seasons. Then again, with one week prior to the regular season, there are not a lot of options available. It’s not like a player that posted a 170 OPS+ in 2007 is available…Oh wait…Never mind…Let’s take a look at what is being written about Johnson in the Blogosphere.

• Mets Geek believes that Johnson is exactly what the Mets need, noting that he would be the right-handed bat that the bottom of the Mets order desperately needs. They also like his defense and the fact that he comes without having to surrender players.
• MetsBlog is not convinced that Johnson is much of an upgrade over Angel Pagan or Brady Clark and feels the Mets prefer Xavier Nady but are content with Pagan if Nady cannot be acquired.
• MetsMerized was against trading for Johnson but doesn’t see how Omar Minaya can pass on signing him now.
• Baseball Crank sees Johnson as a good fit for the Mets, noting that he has a solid career line against lefties, but concedes that what little power he has shown came at the hitter-friendly Skydome, or whatever they are calling it these days.
• Cobra Brigade sees the Cubs signing either Johnson or Jeff DaVanon, whichever comes at the cheaper price.
• Crawley’s Cub Kingdom feels the Cubs are going to make a deal and that a player like Johnson may fit better than a Coco Crisp or Marlon Byrd, both of whom may complain about playing time and impede the progress of Felix Pie.

Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.