The Giants and right-hander Josh Johnson are in agreement on a minor league contract, per the MiLB Roster Tracker account on Twitter (MLBTR has confirmed the move). Set to turn 33 in January, Johnson hasn’t appeared in a Major League game since the 2013 season due a cavalcade of injury issues.
Most notably, Johnson underwent Tommy John surgery in early 2014 after signing a one-year, $8MM deal with the Padres the preceding offseason. Johnson re-upped with San Diego on a one-year deal worth about $1MM for the 2015 season, but his rehab was slowed by a nerve issue in his neck and recurring soreness in his elbow later that year. The 2015 season brought the third Tommy John surgery of Johnson’s career — a procedure from which he is now attempting to return.
While the odds are certainly stacked against Johnson, the allure is easy to see. When Johnson was healthy and at his best, he was a top-of-the-rotation talent, as evidenced by an NL-leading 2.30 ERA in 2011 and a collective 2.99 ERA in 644 1/3 innings from 2009-12 while anchoring the Marlins’ rotation. Injuries have routinely been a problem for Johnson throughout his professional career, though, and the right-hander’s last MLB action saw him post a 6.20 ERA through 81 1/3 innings in an injury-shortened season with the Blue Jays after being included in the Jose Reyes/Mark Buehrle blockbuster.
Johnson, obviously, is somewhat of a lottery ticket for the Giants and amounts to little more than a low-risk depth move. The team currently has a deep rotation mix including Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija and Matt Moore as locks, with former ace Matt Cain and intriguing young lefty Ty Blach both serving as options in the No. 5 slot. The bullpen may be a better option for Johnson in his attempt to return from a three-year absence from a Major League field. The Giants have Hunter Strickland, Will Smith, Derek Law and George Kontos among those who will be penciled into the ’pen next season.
I wonder how many pitchers have missed three full seasons and come back to be successful? Not counting WW2 cases, of course.
Or just 3 tommy john surgeries… that’s determination
Yeah. The only one is jason isringhausen I believe. The stats are pretty grim for even two- time guys.
I really like this move. He could be 100% by this point- and he’s still young enough (33) to have somewhat of a resurgence. Great move by Sabean and Evans.
Padres thought same thing
Low risk, I don’t think he is getting $8m or $1m, he is getting a Minor Deal which will see him go to ST and then AAA. He may pitch for SF, long shot. But it’s a low risk flyer.
Except the Padres were taking that gamble at $8.5M whereas the Giants are doing it as a minor league deal. Can’t fault a club for taking a flyer at that price. Pretty low risk.
Never thought I’d see his name again on here
Agree, lol. He was solid back in the day. It’d be a great story for him to make a comeback.
I hope just for his sake that he can have a healthy year again, even if it’s below league average. It’s such a shame that his health hasn’t allowed his talent to play, guys like him are easy to root for
Better then having Peavy in the rotation
As a Blue Jays fan, I thought we had gotten a gem in Josh Johnson, but he just never could avoid the injury bug. All the best to him him in SFO.
He’s playing for an airport?
Good AAA rotation with Johnson and Romero for the giants lol
What happened to Heston? He had a really good rookie year last year.
The stuff is mediocre. Heston pitched into a lot of good luck but he’s just not more than a sixth starter/swingman.
he just got hurt last year and missed a lot of time
SF is just the type of organization that could bring him back and make him successful again.
We do attract a lot of this type don’t we, in the twilight years. I wonder when will we start getting top calibre who are locks, instead of old, almost done, serviceable OAPs (Old Aged Pensioners)
As a Dodger fan I think this is great!
Hooray for you! Your franchise is still a joke!
Yes I care about a Dodgers fans opinion. The team that can’t win a World Series with a huge payroll. Obviously Dodgers and there fans know what they are doing.
* their.
We know a little bit about grammar…
Here’s to hoping you get a steal of a deal – JJ was awesome when he was healthy.
Huge payroll? The Giants had the fourth-highest payroll in baseball in 2016. Pot, meet kettle.
Pot has three rings in the last six years, kettle has none. Pot seems capable of getting it done lately, kettle seems to regularly fall short.
That’s all well and good. I don’t root for either team. But you can’t snark on the Dodgers payroll without acknowledging that the Giants have a huge payroll as well.