WEDNESDAY: The Marlins will have to offer a "market deal" to retain Johnson, according to his agent Matt Sosnick (Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reporting). Sosnick says Johnson is "absolutely unaffected by the economy" and notes that paying full-price isn't typically a Marlins strategy.
MONDAY: Yesterday the Miami Herald's Barry Jackson wrote about "some sentiment inside the Marlins toward making a long-term offer to Josh Johnson this offseason." The big righty turns 26 in January. He's having the best year of his career, with a 3.06 ERA and 166 strikeouts in 188.3 innings.
Noting that Johnson is under team control for 2010 and 2011 anyway, ESPN's Keith Law opined today Zack Greinke's four-year, $38MM extension signed in January would serve as a "realistic guideline." Both have developed into nasty pitchers, but with bumps along the way. For Johnson, it was Tommy John surgery in August of 2007.
What do you think - will the Marlins make a serious attempt to buy out Johnson's last two arbitration years and first two years of free agency? Is Greinke the right comparable? How about Jon Lester, who signed with less service time and gave more concessions to the team?
