The Mets have signed catcher Rob Johnson to a minor league contract with an invite to Spring Training, the team announced.
Johnson, 28, hit .190/.259/.285 in 199 plate appearances for the Padres last year and owns a .197/.275/.297 career line in parts of five big league seasons. He's thrown out 28% of attempted basestealers and is a .272/.328/.385 career hitter in nearly 1,400 Triple-A plate appearances. Johnson gives the Mets some veteran depth behind Josh Thole and Mike Nickeas.
haha
Why? He’s an American Mike Nickeas. Would rather waste my time with Paulino or Castro again. Compared to Rob Johnson, those are some serious sluggers.
A career .197 hitter. I’m psyched!!!
World Series Bound!
That’s hilarious! Oh wait… someone says this on every thread for a minor league signing…
Depth…..thats all. move along.
no one thinks you’re clever or witty by writing “big moves!” or “WS bound!” or something…..
I really thought it said Mets sign Rob Thomas.
shoulda signed marlo thomas or even danny thomas
I’m holding out for Civil War general George Thomas.
i think tim thomas can bring the pass ball percentage down…
Of course, Sandy Alderson goes out and signs a former player from the San Diego Padres.
Sandy loves bringing us more junk from San Diego
Scott and Chris last year (although those two weren’t quite “junk”), too; I was thinking that myself when I saw the headline.
As a Padres fan all I have to say to Mets fans is: I’m sorry. Hopefully you won’t see him play a game. Horrible fielder, horrible batter. Just bad all around. He bunts worse than a pitcher
Last year, the bottom of the Padres lineup was brutal – especially with Johnson the rally killer at bat
For a second there I thought the Mets had signed former Bills QB Rob Johnson, and then I realized that the Mets’ AAA affiliate is in Buffalo, which made me think he’d be pelted with debris.
Then I realized it was a different Rob Johnson.
Shoulda held out for Don Johnson. That’d be awesome.
And he’s bad defensively to boot.
Wassup with Pudge or Tek or even Posada.
mike nickeas > rob johnson, and we all know how sad that is for both people
Rob’s a nice guy. Signed a ball for my kid once and went out of his way to be pleasant. Works hard. Might surprise in the future. Don’t count him out yet.
Nice guys finish last.
too late.
Rob Johnson may be a .272/.328/.385 career hitter in nearly 1,400 Triple-A plate appearances, but Brandon Wood is a .283/.350/.536 hitter in more than 1400 Triple-A plate appearances, and look how well Brandon Wood is doing in the majors.
and look how well rob johnson is doing in the majors…
we could put a log with a hat behind the plate and he would be more productive than this guy.
or we could finance an entire gulf cost team…wait a second..
glad the mets are gonna finish dead last for the next 3 years..im sorry to be a met fan everyone is making good moves and making dumb moves..so sad were run worst the the pirates and royals…guess thats why ill always be second best in ny
Why not Dioner Navarro? Almost nobody has interest in him after has sub- .200 BA season, he’s only 27 and is a former All-Star. He’s great defensively and when playing like an All-Star, hits for average, perfect in the #2 hole. Low risk high reward I say. Sign him to a minor league deal, no sense giving up on him just yet.
I think the point of this signing is to have a guy with some major league experience to catch between one third and two thirds of the games at AAA. He needs to work well with young pitchers and support the organization’s plans with them. With respect to guiding young catchers on the roster, he should needs to be able to call a good game and have decent mechanics rather than a strong arm and bat with poor mechanics and game-calling skills. Better that he have good work habits and poor skills than the other way around. And, should the major league catcher go down for a couple of weeks, he needs to be someone who can come up, hit his weight, and not screw up the pitching staff. That said, I don’t know if Johnson fits the bill. Last year, the Mets had 38-year-old Raul Chavez sharing the catching with Nickeas in Buffalo. In 2010, it was J.R. House sharing the job with Thole. A few years ago, they kept Mike DeFelice around in this role.
Most people sign depth players who don’t need a tee to get a base hit.