Odds & Ends: Johnson, Redding, Lopez, Giants, Hillman

Hope everyone's Sunday is going well! Here's some links for the afternoon…

• Israel Gutierrez of the Miami Herald feels that the face of the Marlins' future is ace Josh Johnson. Gutierrez feels that the most critical move the Marlins need to make it locking up Johnson to a long-term deal. To quote Gutierrez: "If Hanley Ramirez was worth paying for, then Johnson is at least as important, if not more."
• David Lennon of Newsday has Tim Redding's take on the possibility of being released: "I'm not an idiot. I've been around the game long enough to know what's going on, with the way I've been used." Redding, however, remains with the Mets despite a 7.22 ERA.
• Felipe Lopez isn't thinking about the trade rumors surrounding him, according to Nick Piecoro. He's focused on helping Arizona. Piecoro says that the Brewers have expressed interest in the Arizona second basemen.
• It's been a hard weekend for the Giants, as the team's largest shareholder, Sue Burns, died at the age of 58 just a week after learning that she had cancer. Rich Aurilia had some kind words about Burns: "Being here for a while, I've known her family for a long time. They're great people to be around and always treated everyone on the team like a part of their own family, which is nice. You don't get that a lot from a lot of teams and owners. This is a huge loss not only for the Giants but everybody who knew her." Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Burns family, Giants organization, and Giants fans everywhere.
• Royals general manager Dayton Moore has given Trey Hillman his vote of confidence, stating that despite the club's struggles, Hillman will remain with the Royals for both this season and next. Says Moore: "We're all in this thing together… You just can't keep reshuffling." The Royals have lost 42 of their last 61 games.