Josh Johnson Rumors: Wednesday

The Marlins are willing to listen on most of their players, including Josh Johnson. But there’s no guarantee they’ll deal the 28-year-old right-hander, who is under contract for 2013. While his salary has risen to $13.75MM, he’s still an attractive commodity to teams seeking starting pitching such as the Rangers and Blue Jays. Here are the latest rumors on Johnson:

• Executives expect the Marlins to trade Johnson, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets. The Rangers are viewed as the favorites to acquire him.
• Executives expect the Angels, Orioles, Blue Jays and Rangers to push for Johnson, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets.
• The Rangers haven't yet agreed to surrender Olt in a trade for Johnson, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets.
• The Marlins had not intended to trade both Hanley Ramirez and Johnson, but that stance could be changing given the interest in Johnson, ESPN.com's Buster Olney tweets
• The Rangers are one of the teams actively pursuing Johnson, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports. They'd be willing to trade top prospect Mike Olt for Johnson, Nightengale writes.
• There’s a 50-50 chance the Marlins move Johnson, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro reports (on Twitter). The Marlins are holding out for a great offer.
• There should be a “feeding frenzy” for Johnson, an executive tells Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter).
• The Rangers would like to add an elite starter and ESPN.com’s Buster Olney suggests they’ll pursue Johnson. The Rangers could also ask about Cliff Lee and Zack Greinke, Olney writes (Twitter link).