The Twins have sold left-handed starter Kris Johnson to the Hiroshima Carp of Nippon Professional Baseball, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN. At least six clubs from Japan’s top league showed interest in Johnson, but the Carp submitted the highest bid, according to Wolfson.
The move appears to work out for both the Twins and Johnson, as Wolfson reports in a followup tweet that the Twins will receive a six-figure sum for selling Johnson’s rights, while Johnson himself will have a seven-figure salary in Japan. (Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press tweets the Twins will receive something in the “mid six figures.”)
Johnson, 30, was acquired from Pittsburgh following the 2013 season in exchange for Duke Welker. Johnson and Welker had both been available for the Twins to select as a PTBNL in the Justin Morneau trade. The Twins initially selected Welker, then flipped him back to the Pirates for Johnson in the offseason. (The other player in the trade, Alex Presley, was claimed off waivers by the Astros earlier this year.)
Johnson made three spot starts for the Twins this season, surrendering seven runs in 13 1/3 innings of work with a 12-to-9 K/BB ratio. Though he has very little big league experience, Johnson has six seasons of experience at the Triple-A level and posted a 3.48 ERA with 7.0 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 in 132 innings at that level in 2014.
Johnson offered the following take on his situation to Wolfson via text message: “I’m very excited about playing for Hiroshima and appreciate the Twins making it happen. I talked to different players about how great the fans and team treat foreign players. I was really impressed with the respect they showed me during the negotiations.”
This transaction marks the second time that the Twins have sold a player to a foreign league, as last offseason the team sent lefty Andrew Albers to the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization.
Minnesota also freed up a 40-man roster spot earlier today by declining a $3.6MM club option Jared Burton.
I don’t mean to be rude, but Johnson wasn’t part of the 2013 Justin Morneau trade. The Pirates sent Duke Welker to the Twins as the 2nd piece of that trade and then, in November, traded back for him, sending the Twins Johnson
Not rude to post a correction by any means. I spaced a bit there, since Johnson and Welker were the two PTBNLs the Twins could choose from and they chose Welker initially before flipping him back to PIT for Johnson following the season. I appreciate the correction.
Glad I could help! Just wanted to be polite as I gave the correction.
Do Japanese teams specifically target a certain type of player? Is it simply “We are looking for AAAA players” or do they specifically target certain skill sets that they feel would succeed in Japan?
I don’t know what they look for in pitchers but as far as hitters they want the next Wladmir Balentin or Matt Mutton. I’m kidding though one thing they definitely scout is plus power that does not make it on this side of the Pacific.
They can’t afford major league talent so they look for the closest they can possibly get
I think it’s great there is a secondary market where guys like this can get paid. Million bucks is no joke.
Right. Have to be happy for guys like Johnson and Albers, and it’s always a nice story when someone like Vogelsong or Colby Lewis figures it out over there and has a few nice years back in the States once they’re into their 30s.
I’m still waiting for Mike Carp to play for the Hiroshima Carp. Hey, it could happen…
Yes, I love it!