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Padres Sign Josh Johnson

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The Padres finished the season with a six-man rotation and have talented arms on the mend from Tommy John surgery in the form of Cory Luebke and Joe Wieland, but that didn't stop GM Josh Byrnes from landing one of the highest-upside arms on the free agent market. The Padres announced on Wednesday that they have signed right-hander Josh Johnson to a one-year contract.

Johnson's deal is reportedly worth $8MM, and he can earn another $1.25MM if he makes 26 starts. The contract also contains a conditional option that offers the Padres some protection against his lengthy injury history; if Johnson fails to make seven starts next season, San Diego will gain a $4MM club option for the 2015 season.

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The Pirates appear to have been the runners-up in the Johnson sweepstakes, MLBTR's Tim Dierkes tweets, and ESPN's Jerry Crasnick cites the Astros, Royals, and White Sox (Twitter link) among the other clubs that expressed interest in Johnson.  Johnson had the Padres and Giants as his top two choices and turned down bigger one-year offers to sign with San Diego, a source told Crasnick.  

Johnson had a rough 2013, making just 16 starts thanks to injury troubles.  The soon-to-be 30-year-old pitched through tendonitis in his knee all season and spent time on the disabled list due to a forearm strain and triceps inflamation before undergoing surgery to remove bone spurs from his right elbow in early October.  Johnson has only topped 200 innings in a season once and has only thrown more than 100 innings four times in a Major League season.

In his shortened 2013 campaign, Johnson posted a 6.20 ERA with 9.2 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 81 1/3 innings. However, advanced stats such as xFIP (3.58) and SIERA (3.73) would indicate that bad luck played a role in Johnson's troubles.  For his career, Johnson owns a 3.40 ERA with 8.3 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9.

Johnson figures to join Ian Kennedy, Andrew Cashner, Eric Stults, and Tyson Ross in San Diego's projected 2014 rotation, giving the Padres a very solid starting five in the increasingly competitive NL West.  Joe Wieland, Cory Luebke, and Robbie Erlin also figure to be in the mix.

While Johnson and his health might not be a sure thing, the deal appears to be fairly low-risk at just one year and the $8MM price tag doesn't break the bank for San Diego.  Tim predicted back in October that Johnson would net a one-year, $8MM deal in free agency.

Earlier today, Travis Sawchick of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that Johnson narrowed down his choices to three or four teams, with the Pirates being among the clubs in the mix.  Shortly thereafter, Tim learned that all of the interested teams were out of the National League with some likely on the West Coast.

Johnson is in San Diego for a physical today and the deal is expected to be announced Wednesday.  The right-hander ranked 30th on Tim's Top 50 Free Agents list for 2014.

Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com first reported the one-year, $8MM agreement. MLBTR's Tim Dierkes was the first to learn about the incentives (Twitter link), and Yahoo's Jeff Passan broke the news about the conditional $4MM option for 2015 (on Twitter).

Steve Adams contributed to this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Nationals Sign Chris Young

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WEDNESDAY: Adam Kilgore of the Washington post tweets that Young would earn $1.5MM if he made the roster, and his deal could be worth as much as $6MM via incentives. He can opt out of his contract at the end of Spring Training.

TUESDAY: The Nationals have re-signed pitcher Chris Young to a minor league deal, according to Bill Ladson of MLB.com (via Twitter).  Young is represented by Williams & Connolly, as shown in the MLBTR Agency Database.

Young, 34, last appeared in the majors with the Mets, posting a 4.15 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 across 20 starts.  He spent last season in the Nats' minor league system but was sidelined for the majority of the year, making just nine starts in total.  Financial terms of the pact are not yet known.

Discounted Josh Johnson Is Low Risk, High Reward For Padres

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The Padres have long held a competitive advantage in that San Diego is a desirable place to play baseball, specifically with a large, pitcher-friendly ballpark.  They can often sign free agent starting pitchers without making the highest bid, as was the case with their one-year, $8MM deal for righty Josh Johnson.

Johnson was limited to 16 starts for the Blue Jays in 2013 due to triceps tightness and a forearm injury, which resulted in arthroscopic elbow surgery in early October.  As explained in our free agent profile, Johnson has had only three healthy seasons in the last five, and the gold standard contract for a pitcher coming off an injury is Ben Sheets' $10MM deal with the Athletics nearly four years ago.  It seems possible Johnson and agent Matt Sosnick could have gotten close to that $10MM mark had they focused on the highest bidder, but the pitcher preferred San Diego for personal reasons.  The Padres got a discount approaching 20%, just for being the Padres.  

Johnson was already a low-risk proposition, since he targeted a one-year deal from the outset as a means of rebuilding value and re-entering free agency after 2014.  The Padres further lowered their risk a bit by acquiring a $4MM club option for 2015 in the event Johnson makes fewer than seven starts in 2014, according to Yahoo's Jeff Passan.  We saw a more drastic version of this clause play out with the Red Sox and John Lackey, as Lackey's league minimum option went into effect when he missed significant time with surgery for a pre-existing elbow injury.  Most likely, Johnson will make at least seven starts in 2014, as he has each season since 2007, when he had Tommy John surgery.  If he doesn't, something serious will have gone wrong, and the Padres may not want to guarantee Johnson even $4MM for 2015.  It would be nice to have the option, though.

Johnson hasn't had an ace-caliber, healthy season since 2010, which is why I think his upside is something closer to 2012's 3.81 ERA rather than the type of season that gets Cy Young votes.  There's still considerable upside for the Padres in this deal, though, as Johnson's earnings top out at $9.25MM for 2014.  The going rate for a #3-4 type starter is around $14MM, and Johnson certainly has that capability for the Padres.

The best part about signing Johnson for the Padres is that they are not relying on him.  As Passan explains, they've got a surplus of starters with Ian Kennedy, Andrew Cashner, Eric Stults, Tyson Ross, and others, so if Johnson goes bust it won't ruin their chances of having a good rotation.

AL Central Notes: White Sox, Konerko, Albers, Twins

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White Sox GM Rick Hahn says that the intensity of trade talks has picked up in the past few days, according to Scott Merkin of MLB.com (Twitter links).  "We well could have something in the next day or it could take through Orlando (Dec. 9-12) when the logjam sort of breaks,” Hahn said.  More out of the AL Central..

  • Hahn says he doesn't have new info on Paul Konerko, but his situation has not hamstrung their offseason plans, tweets Dan Hayes of CSNChicago.com.  "I don’t think Paulie wants to play just to be on the bench or a farewell tour. That’s not him..He would want to play only if he felt he had something left in the tank and something to add to a club," Hahn said, according to Merkin (Twitter links).
  • Tim Dierkes of MLBTR (on Twitter) hears that multiple teams have expressed interest in Matt Albers.  Albers, 31 in January, posted the third best ground ball rate among regular relievers last season for the Indians and throws fairly hard.  Tim (link) thinks a two-year deal is possible for the veteran.  Albers posted a 3.14 ERA with 5.0 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 56 appearances in 2013.
  • Twins GM Terry Ryan says that he parted with Duke Welker earlier today because he needed a starter like Kris Johnson more than a reliever like Welker, writes MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger.  "We were looking for starting pitching," Ryan said. "It doesn't mean we didn't like what we had in Welker."

Coaching Links: Nationals, Angels

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The latest on the various coaching vacancies around Major League Baseball…

  • The Nationals announced that they have promoted minor league fielding coordinator Bob Henley to the position of third base coach. Henley, who has been with the Nationals/Expos organization for 11 years, played with the Expos in the 1998 season, appearing in 41 games and batting .304/.377/.470 in his only Major League action. The now-40-year-old Henley appeared in parts of eight minor league seasons as well.
  • The Angels announced that they have added Rick Eckstein as their Major League Player Information Coach in 2014.  Eckstein, 40, joins the Angels coaching staff after spending the past five seasons as the hitting coach for the Washington Nationals. In 2012, he helped the Nats offense rank among the top of the National League in several offensive categories and the club’s 194 home runs established a new franchise record en route to the club’s first National League Eastern division championship.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

AL East Rumors: Blue Jays, Johnson, Markakis, Ruiz

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After looking at the Red Sox earlier this evening, let's check out the rest of the American League East..

  • General Manager Alex Anthopoulos says the Blue Jays haven’t had recent talks with Josh Johnson and gets the impression that he has better options elsewhere, writes Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. Earlier today it was reported that Johnson is down to three or four teams with the Pirates among the finalists and Tim Dierkes learned that all of those clubs are in the National League.
  • Nick Markakis is among the Orioles in need of a better 2014 campaign, writes Rich Dubroff of CSNBaltimore.com. Markakis was plagued with injuries in 2012 and struggled in 2013, even though he played a full season. If he's going to turn things around, 2014 – his walk year – might be the time to do it.
  • Anthopoulos acknowledged that he had dialogue with Carlos Ruiz's agent and "liked the player" in an interview on Sportsnet 590, BN-S tweets. The Phillies re-signed Ruiz to a three-year, $26MM deal earlier this week.
  • Yankees president Randy Levine denied conspiring with MLB to run Alex Rodriguez out of the game or to personally benefit financially if his 211-game suspension is upheld, a source familiar with his testimony told Wallace Matthews and Matt Ehalt of ESPNNewYork.com.
  • Jim Bowden of ESPN.com (video link) looks at Matt Wieters' future with the Orioles.

Red Sox Rumors: Beltran, Relievers, Yankees

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Earlier today, Corey Hart told Jim Bowden of SiriusXM that he's getting interest from a handful of interested clubs, including the Red Sox.  However, he won't be getting full medical clearance for a couple of weeks and he admits that he'll likely be in a holding pattern until that point.  Here's more out of Boston..

  • The Red Sox have had "serious dialogue" with free agent oufielder Carlos Beltran, hears Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald (Twitter link).  Boston has been said to have interest in the veteran, but the Yankees, Orioles, Royals, Indians, and Mariners are also said to have interest.
  • GM Ben Cherington & Co. are exploring a right-handed setup-type reliever, tweets Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.  The Red Sox should have plenty of payroll flexibility to work with as they look to bolster their bullpen and other areas and they could free up more space by trading a veteran starter like Jake Peavy, John Lackey or Ryan Dempster.
  • Given the value they place on draft picks,  the Red Sox's interest in Beltran is puzzling to Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe (Twitter links), even if they get picks for their own free agents.  Abraham wonders if this might be a case of an AL East team engaging a free agent in an attempt to raise the price for their rivals.

Orioles Have Interest In Gavin Floyd

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The Orioles have some interest in free agent right-hander Gavin Floyd and have been monitoring his progress as he recovers from elbow surgery, industry sources tell Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun.  Agent Mike Moye told MLBTR's Tim Dierkes earlier today that his client is progressing extremely well after undergoing surgery to repair his ulnar collateral ligament and torn flexor tendon in his elbow back in May.

The Maryland native has been throwing long toss at 180 feet and could begin a mound progression in early December with hopes that he can be ready for game action at, or near, Opening Day.  An O's representative has periodically kept tabs on the progress of Floyd, but their interest is obviously tied to how healthy they believe he can be next season and beyond.  Floyd, 31 in January, made just five starts last season for the White Sox but prior to the surgery he made at least 29 starts or more in his previous five full seasons.

For his big league career, Floyd owns a 4.48 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 over ten seasons.

Red Sox, Rays, Rockies, Others Interested In Corey Hart

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Corey Hart told Jim Bowden of SiriusXM (Twitter link) that his agent has talked with the Brewers, Red Sox, Rays, and Rockies amongst other interested teams.  Hart added that he won't officially get 100% medical clearance until December 3rd when he visits his doctor in Los Angeles, but he's fully healthy (link).

The CAA Sports client doesn't consider himself to be an injury prone player but admits that he's in a holding pattern until he's cleared physically, tweets Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter links).  Hart says that he's dropped 20 pounds and that he should be able to run around better than he had the past few years, so he'll be open to playing in the outfield (link).

Also from Rosiak, Hart says that a winning team would be nice, but he's a family man first and will do what he feels is best for them.  As MLB.com's Adam McCalvy points out in his transcript of Hart's interview, Harts and his family live in Arizona, which could factor into his decision.  McCalvy notes that of the four teams mentioned by Hart, the Rockies and Brewers both have Spring Training facilities in the Phoenix area.  The Spring Training facilities for Tampa Bay and Boston are each in Florida.

Hart last played in 2012, batting .270/.334/.507 with 30 homers, 35 doubles and four triples, illustrating why he can still be considered one of the most promising power bats on this year's free agent market even after missing the 2013 season.

Steve Adams contributed to this post.

Pirates Reacquire Duke Welker From Twins

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4:07pm: The Twins will receive left-hander Kris Johnson from the Pirates in exchange for Welker, the teams have announced via press release.

Johnson, 29, seems to have a shot at making some starts for the Twins at some point next season after pitching to a 2.39 ERA with 6.2 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 135 2/3 innings for the Pirates' Triple-A affiliate in 2013. That will, of course, depend on how the Twins' offseason hunt for pitching shakes out, but few teams have less rotation stability than the Twins. MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger spoke with GM Terry Ryan, who said the team plans to leave Johnson in a starting role (Twitter link).

Like Welker, Johnson made his big league debut with the Bucs in 2013, making three relief appearances and one spot start. After allowing two runs in six innings of relief work in his debut, Johnson was torched for five runs in just two innings in a spot start versus the Cardinals.

Johnson, who is represented by agent Matt Sosnick, was originally selected by the Red Sox with the 40th overall pick in the 2006 draft as compensation for the loss of Johnny Damon via free agency. He signed as a minor league free agent with the Pirates following the 2011 season and has enjoyed his two most successful minor league seasons with Pittsburgh since.

3:48pm: Just six weeks after trading him to the Twins as part of the return for Justin Morneau, the Pirates have reacquired right-hander Duke Welker from Minnesota, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). It's unclear what the Twins are receiving in return at this point, Passan adds.

Welker, 27, was acquired as a player to named later in the Morneau deal. The Pirates also sent outfielder Alex Presley to Minnesota as part of the trade. Welker posted a 3.57 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9 in 63 Triple-A innings this season and made his Major League debut with the Pirates, hurling 1 1/3 scoreless innings.

After a five-year absence from the Pirates' Top 30 prospect lists (per Baseball America), Welker resurfaced at No. 26 prior to the season. Drafted in the second round as a starting pitchers, a slew of injuries derailed his prospect status for a number of years. BA wrote this past offseason that since converting to a reliever, Welker's fastball had topped out at 98 mph and he could emerge as a setup man for the Buccos.

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