The Braves announced that they’ve acquired second baseman Micah Johnson from the Dodgers in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. Johnson was designated for assignment earlier this week to clear a spot on the roster for Kenley Jansen when his deal was formally announced.
In Johnson, the Braves are adding a left-handed-hitting utility option with plenty of control and perhaps some upside, too. He has been on the prospect radar for some time, though he hasn’t performed well in limited major league action.
The Dodgers acquired Johnson as part of the three-team Todd Frazier deal. At the time, he was coming off of a year in which he started out as Chicago’s second baseman, and put up excellent numbers at the Triple-A level following a demotion. But Johnson struggled at the highest level of the minors in 2016, slashing just .261/.321/.356, and saw only scant action with Los Angeles.
Speed and plate discipline have long been Johnson’s calling cards, but there are some worrying developments in both regards of late. He no longer tries to steal quite as much as he did in his breakout 2013 season, and was cut down on 11 of 37 attempts last year. Also, he surged to a 20.4% strikeout rate at Triple-A in 2016, far more than had been his custom.
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It doesn’t help that Johnson isn’t regarded as a top-quality fielder and doesn’t have much pop. Still, it’s easy to see why the Braves were willing to take a shot on his talent. That’s not to say that Johnson is likely to make a serious challenge for MLB time right off the bat, as Atlanta already employs a similarly functioning player in Jace Peterson — another 26-year-old, left-handed hitter who spends most of his time at second base.
Knew he’d be picked up by the first team available.
Not the first team available. He didn’t even go to waivers. They traded him to the team that offered the most cash (or, possibly, was willing to offer the best list of PTBNLs).
Braves were 5th in waiver priority, after Twins, Reds, Padres, and Rays. I guess they wanted him and didn’t think he’d get past the Padres if he went to waivers.
3rd behind reds and padres. He has to go through every NL team before he hits AL teams
He’s another failed “can’t miss” prospect by the white sox. Hello Atlanta, he sucks.
Eh, I’m fine with this. More so if it’s just money
Jose peraza hit over 300 last year and plays 2B. Dodgers may have made a huge mistake in that 3 team deal. Thompson is the only player from that deal still here but he showed he can be a promising player
Every team made a terrible deal. Worst deal that coppy has made a most likely will make.
English speak we not well.
And the braves made a mistake in giving y’all peraza (and Alex wood) in the deal with y’all lol
They got Rich Hill, their #2 starter, out of Montas though. Peraza also profiles more as a utility player.
Do you not understand how trades work? They got Reddick and Hill for Montas which helped them make the postseason. Even Peraza-Thompson straight up isn’t a horribly 1-sided. “Huge mistake”? Not in the slightest. Not any mistake at all. And I’m not a Dodgers fan. You even literally say Thompson can be promising, so how can something be a huge mistake if it nets a promising player?
Straws: youre graspin at em
They didnt get hill/reddick straight up for montas genius. Montas wasnt the biggest piece in that deal either so they probably could have made it even if the 3 team reds deal never happened. The dodgers biggest need is 2B while i admit Thompson has promise the dodgers have many long term options in the outfield while at 2b they have none. Peraza would fit in perfectly with the dodgers today. Its too early to judge the trade but right now the reds got the better end of it. It isnt a reach at all your telling me the dodgers wouldn’t take a 300 hitting right handed 2b right now? Come on man
I’m not sure you should ask someone if they understand how trades work and then claim that they got 2 players for Montas while ignoring Cotton and Holmes, who also went in the deal.
my 1st reply didnt post for some reason so hope this one does. 1st of all they didnt trade montas straight up so that does not work as a reason the reds deal was a positive trade. In fact montas was probably the last piece of the oakland trade. Your telling me the dodgers would not take a 300 hitting 2b back right now? ok man. They DFA 1 player, trade another and get an OF with back problems. meanwhile they still dont have a 2b for 2017. But no im just reaching ok
It wasn’t a huge mistake considering the pieces we ended up with but I wouldn’t mind seeing Peraza at 2B this year if he builds off of what he got going last season…maybe we should just avoid any kind of trading when it comes to the 2B position, the last few that come to mind have kind of blown up on us (especially if Peraza takes a leap this season and Dee picks up where he left off before the suspension)
@Just Another Fan: Before the Hill/Reddick trade, the Dodgers were 59-46 (.562). After the trade, they went 32-25 (.561), meaning that they played about the same after the trade as they did before. The reason they made the playoffs wasn’t b/c the Dodgers were playing lights out; it was b/c SF absolutely collapsed in the 2nd 1/2. That being said, I wouldn’t trumpet Montas being included in that trade as such a great thing.
The truth is that LA has not been winning their trades. The Gordon trade has been a bust. The Hill/Reddick trade resulted in minimal value. And likewise, the Peraza trade hasn’t really gotten LA much. They got Thompson (who’s at best a 4th outfielder), Johnson (who’s now be DFA & traded for a player-to-be-named), and Montas (who was traded in the aforementioned Hill/Reddick trade). The only trade that you can say was a win for the Dodgers was the Kemp/Grandal trade.
I’m not sure you can say they’ve lost in trades. The def won the Olivera trade. You can say at the beginning they probably lost the Gordon trade but let’s see what he is after his PED bust. The white Soxs trade really might just end up being win win for the Dodgers, Reds, and depending on what they spin out of Frazier might be a win for all three. I chalk the Hill trade to one of those moves made trying to win. That being said don’t quote the records because with 28 injuries there really is no significance you can draw from. Sure the Giants probably won’t collapse but in the same sense the Dodgers will not have to wet 5 rookie pitchers feet they probably also won’t have 28 injuries. So in terms of trades the Dodgers have won 2 because of the unloading of two bad contracts. I’d also say they won the Soxs trade bc they received pieces to spin to others. I’d also say the Gordon trade is incomplete. The A’s trade is really incomplete also. We will see what cotton looks like when adjustments against him are made. I still see Montas as a pen arm. Holmes that’s going to be interesting to see if they sold high on him. But yeah the trades haven’t been pretty decent. What has failed are the signings for guys like Kaz and McCarthy.
Jose Peraza will be the Reds’ starting SS if they can move Zack Cozart out of the way.
While Micah Johnson is a 2b, Peraza is a SS/2b/CF
They also got Alex Wood. They also used pieces from that trade to acquire Hill and Reddick
Yeah there’s no way they are regretting that trade. It helped obtain Hill and Thompson. It’s also pretty clear they don’t want guys who are just going to pound the ball into the ground. Average is kind of shallow when it’s lead with an unsustainable babip. It’s also extremely telling if he’s not going to really walk. The game is evolving with shifts and athleticism in which pounding balls into ground is going extinct unless you can provide significant gap power. His value is the ability to play a plus SS he holds little value at 2nd really especially seeing as we are starting to see 2b becoming a source of pop.
Yunel Escobar disagrees. Dude is a solid hitter despite showing little to no pop and pounding grounders all day long. Has sustained BABIP the last few years too
Yeah, I wish the Sox still had Trace Thompson. Not sure what to expect out of Charlie Tilson. Still hoping they can trade Frazier and Quintana soon.
Thompso had about a good month and has a bad back. Platoon bat at best.
I would MUCH rather see Tilson in CF next year.
It stinks that Tilson was injured down the stretch. Would’ve been a great chance to see what you had going into the next year.
Okay, I can see the pile of cash adequately manning second base. But can it hit left handed pitching.? You just have to wonder exactly what the Dodgers have in mind. They have been cheerfully jettisoning second basemen (Gordon, Peraza, Kendrick) for a couple of years now and – as of right this minute – they have nothing to show for it. Unless, of course, the deal for Dozier is more “on” that they are saying or Willie Calhoun is the next coming of Davey Lopes. Guess we’ll find out when the pile of cash gets a spot on the 25 man roster. Or Dansby Swanson is the PTBNL
This is pure speculation on my part. But I have a feeling they know they can acquire Josh Harrison easily. If they can’t land Dozier, they will go take on Harrison’s contract and start him at 2nd.
Johnson actually opened 2015 as the White Sox 2B, and got sent down around June that year because he didn’t really do anything other than have a solid average. No power, no speed, didn’t get on base. He played well in AAA though and was called back up in Sept, but really hasn’t done anything since. Still could be a good bench player, but I think the White Sox rushed him a bit
As for Peraza, he needs to be a SS to really max his upside. Probably the Braves wish they still had him since they moved him when he was blocked and have since traded Simmons though they also have Swanson now too so I’m sure they aren’t to upset about it.
The counterpoint to the ‘rushed’ argument is that he debuted in his age 24 season, and just turned 26. To me guys who don’t debut by age 24 or 25 start to lose their luster…
The “rushed” argument is such garbage 90% of the time. It gets thrown around WAY too much when players can’t cut it in the majors. Apparently people have a hard time accepting that some players just aren’t very good, and making the excuse that they were “rushed” is easier than accepting the fact that they are just bad.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they have Micah play some CF in case Ender gets hurt again. We cash in Mallex for prospects and then inexpensively line up a possible replacement. Love how Coppy’s mind works
Great pickup for the braves. Seems like a low risk with potential for high reward type of deal. Hopefully it’s cash. The player to be named later better not be anyone decent in all honesty. Dodgers would be smart to take the cash.
As a guy DFA’d to make room who the Braves just wanted to ensure wasn’t claimed off waivers before they got a shot, I sure doubt they gave up much of anything. If he had noteworthy trade value he wouldn’t have been DFA’d.
Definitely a good low risk, high reward pickup.
He went to the braves, so he has high reward potential now! Let the overrating of Micah Johnson and his ‘potential” begin
Please just shut up and go home. Do you not have anything better to do than be condescending know it all?
Uh, boom- Tandy Miller
Someone teach this guy a new act. This one is old and stale.
Anymore I just laugh, because you know it is gonna be.
Hollowing out the depth at 2B when they lack an incumbent at that position is a strange move. Some other shoe about to drop?
I understand johnson since he just isnt that good, but trading howie makes no sense. Other then the 10 million salary dump there was nothing positive about that deal. They better get a solid 2b on the trade market because howie is by far better then any current option
Johnson looked like at least a contender for the 25-man, given the vacancy at 2B. It seems like they are trading themselves into a corner, but this coming so quickly after the discussion with the Twins was shelved leads me to suspect that it’s preliminary to some other move. The PTBNL aspect might be the key. I hope.
That seems to be just wishful thinking. Johnson was DFAd because he had no real def position and was a casualty of being lh bat. I’m not really sure DFAing Johnson means much of anything beyond he disappointed last year. He probably wasn’t the guy they thought he could be.
He was DFA’d to create space on the 40 man roster for Jansen, right? This just looks like the Dodgers getting what they can for him instead of just letting him get claimed. The brain-trust FO says they’re still trying to get a solution to 2B though.
Yeah that was the spot used for Jansen. Seemed as though they were trying to spare part him to MN as a thrown in piece. Makes sense as to why MN didn’t want him because they have Polanco. I’m not doubting they are searching for a 2b. I’m just not sure it’s indicative of anything.
It’s the PTBNL that raises the question. They do that to hang onto a roster spot for as long as possible. We’ll see what comes of it.
They just got Jose M Fernandez, pretty sure he’s taking Micah’s spot in the minors for the time being. Plus Culberson, Kiké, Barnes, Taylor, and probably even Turner would be 2b options to use before Micah Johnson
Fernandez appears to be further away from usefulness than Johnson, and Turner is no way in the depth chart at 2B. Barnes is the backup catcher, Hernandez is a super-ute player. So that really leaves only Culbertson and Taylor.
I love chesteraarthur. Thank you sir.
Micah seems like he should be an average major league hitter. He has good contact skills with solid doubles, triples and 10 HR power to go with a high walk rate, reasonable strikeouts and plus speed.
To me the issue is he is not a good second baseman. He should have been moved to LF/CF a long time ago. There are several teams that need a CF, like Det or Oak. If he could play plus defense in the OF he would definitely deserve a chance at a full time job.
He’s solid, but at 26, I doubt he’s much more than a utility infielder/second division regular. Granted, that’s still valuable, but he’s by no means a star
Braves should sign L.Valbuena. Trade with Astros//////Wisler,A.Morris,A.Riley and B.Cunniff for Gattis and J.Gustave. Also sign K.Johnson.
Not Austin Riley but maybe Braxton Davidson
Why would the braves want Farris?
Micah Johnson showed some signs of being a ballplayer with the White Sox. I think he got caught in the Sox’ mid-life crisis. Hopefully the Braves can pull that talent out of him.
Another cousin of Gabby Johnson makes good ! Headley Lamarr (“that’s Headley !”) will take notice….
Good Blazing Saddles reference!!!
I wouldn’t be surprised if they put Micah in center field incase Ender gets hurt. They cashed Mallex in for prospects and inexpensively replace him. I love the way Coppys brain works.