Jan. 15: The Reds have formally announced the signing. There’s a mutual option for the 2027 season on the contract as well, though since mutual options are never exercised by both parties, that amounts to little more than an accounting measure to push some of the $6.5MM salary to the ’27 books (by way of an option buyout).
Jan. 12: Johnson is guaranteed $6.5MM, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.
Jan. 11: Right-hander Pierce Johnson is headed to the Reds, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The details of the contract are not yet known. Johnson is represented by John Boggs & Associates.
Johnson, 34, was a first-round pick all the way back in 2012. He made his big league debut in 2017 but didn’t stick in the majors right away and eventually headed to Japan in 2019 to pitch for the Hanshin Tigers. The result was a dominant 1.38 ERA over 58 2/3 innings of work in NPB, and Johnson then returned to the majors in 2020 and posted strong numbers overall across three seasons with the Padres.
Missing most of the 2022 campaign due to injury, however, put Johnson in an awkward position entering free agency following the year. He caught on with the Rockies and struggled badly, posting a 6.00 ERA during his time in Colorado, but was still an attractive enough target to be dealt to the Braves at the trade deadline. Upon arriving in Atlanta, he looked like a different pitcher, turning in a a 0.76 ERA, 36% strikeout rate, and 5.4% walk rate across 24 appearances down the stretch for the Braves.
It was a performance so impressive that Atlanta chose to extend Johnson on a fresh two-year deal that guaranteed him $14.25MM, including a $250K buyout on a $7MM club option for the 2026 season. Johnson posted a 3.36 ERA and 3.77 FIP overall across 115 1/3 innings in the next two seasons, but he was unable to carry over the pinpoint command he had flashed down the stretch in 2023. His peripherals declined, culminating in the righty striking out a diminished (but still strong) 24.8% of his opponents this past year, and the Braves ultimately chose to buy out his 2026 option.
Now headed into his age-35 season, Johnson will join a Reds team that managed to squeak into the playoffs last year and has its sights set on returning in 2026. After re-signing Emilio Pagan to serve as the club’s closer, Cincinnati has continued to retool its bullpen by adding Caleb Ferguson and now Johnson. That trio should be joined by Tony Santillan to make a formidable late inning relief corps for the Reds, while former starters like Graham Ashcraft and Connor Phillips provide some upside but likely slide into lower-leverage roles. With a stacked rotation led by Hunter Greene and Andrew Abbott, Terry Francona’s pitching staff looks solid headed into the season.
The question for the Reds headed into 2026 is mostly focused around the club’s lineup. While Elly De La Cruz is a budding superstar and players like TJ Friedl and Spencer Steer have proven themselves to be quality role players, it’s hard to know if the Reds’ lineup will produce enough on offense to carry them back to October. Players like Noelvi Marte and Matt McLain have shown great promise in the past but have also struggled badly at times. The same can be said for reclamation projects JJ Bleday and Ke’Bryan Hayes. If the Reds have more planned this offseason after adding Johnson, adding more to the lineup would be the best way to improve the roster, whether that’s through free agency or perhaps a trade of someone like right-hander Brady Singer, who’ll be a free agent next winter.
Sounds painful.
Everytime I see this guys name I wince.
in Atlanta we called him Prince Albert.
Apt
Turning Red could be concerning.
Rude, crude, and obnoxious
Castellini must have gotten the word. Sign some people or the revenue checks stop. No other explanation.
I heard he is a real hickdole.
Nice pickup.
Piercing Curve Johnson!
I see on TV that they have a medicine for that now!
They do but did you see the side effects?
I thought he resigned with the Braves? Regardless, seems like he is Scott Barlows replacement.
Basically.
Still would like to see them get a long relief guy/spot starter type and another lefty for toward the end of the game.
Williamson or Aguilar potentially
Maybe…but not every starter can pitch relief. Also, with those guys missing a year, they might want to pitch them at Louisville a while to get sharp again.
Burns, Lowder, Williamson, and Aguiar are all possibly on innings limits in 2026. Any or several of them could transfer to relief duty sometime after the ASB- just like Burns did in 2025.
Yeah that kinda what I was thinking c guy, long relief mop up would give them a chance to build up strength and get back to the majors
Sure they can. You just bring them in after the game has started and boom, they’re pitching in relief.
At the moment, the Reds have so many starting pitcher options that you could turn one into a long relief guy. Heck – even Graham Ashcraft could be long relief.
Graham has morphed into the 7th inning guy based on last year.
We had Brent Suter and Nick Martinez last year – there was no reason for him to be a long man. Because he was the 7th inning guy last year doesn’t mean he can’t pitch more than 1 inning this year.
like to have Suter on a MiLB contract (or hybrid contract) for 2026.
how come nobody has signed Martinez? he was handy to have around
Guessing he wants more than they are willing to pay.
I kinda wanted them to get coulombe
I would like to see them get a left handed power hitter. I feel like now what we have on the roster is what we head into the 2026 season with on offense. Finish last of the 12 playoff teams in ops and home runs in 2025 and basically swap out Austin hays and andujar both decent everyday power bats for Bleday who is basically a platoon type. How could something possibly go wrong with that logic?
dbacks just refuse to fix their pen
“Johnson, 34, was a first-round pick all the way back in 2024. He made his big league debut in 2017.”
The man is a time traveler.
/s
Aaaallllllll the way back in 2024. Man I’m old
We’ve found Benjamin Button!
And to think when he was growing up authority figures told him hanging out with that creepy old scientist would bring him nothing but trouble.
Not reported on here but apparently the brought back Garrett Hampton on a minor league deal too. Not sure why they are enamored with him. The guy can’t hit his weight.
De La Cruz is a “ budding superstar”? He looks to be budding in the wrong direction. Last year he dropped to 3.6 bWAR, which isn’t exactly superstar territory. We’ll see about 2026. Another okay but not overwhelming year could finally erase the “superstar” hype.
I understand but he just turned 24 today. He cut his strikeout rate like 5-6% last year at age 23.
and played with an injured quad
160 and 162 gp in the last two years is no small feat either. “Everyday” players are harder and harder to come by
It’s not bad for a 23-year-old. The superstars almost always come up to the majors very young, like he did.
Now the Reds can enjoy his dad jokes that he tells during rain delays
One I’m glad to see not coming back.
Somebody told me to check for the author every time there’s a mistake and it’ll be Nick Deeds, without fail. Sure enough 🤣
A 7 million dollar buyout on a 250 thousand dollar club Option? Alex Anthopolous can’t stop flexing on us. He is taking a 6.75 million loss, Just ’cause!
That and “Johnson, 34, was a first-round pick all the way back in 2024. He made his big league debut in 2017”.
Well, no need to proofread your work on this site, I guess!
Oh and look how much you are paying- nothing since too cheap to compensate people for their work.
Reds need to make a 40 man roster move to add Pierce Johnson. I’m thinking trade.
Hopefully lux
They still have plenty of dead weight to dfa, I’m thinking no trade.
Not much left to DFA on the pitching side. If it’s not Lux, maybe one of their depth OF like Dunn or Hinds?
I’d like to keep hinds since they probably won’t add the the outfield and he seems most likely depth piece to be able to contribute.
Tyler Callihan. Dunn. Hinds. There’s a couple of pitchers that could go. A trade to bring a bat would be great.
Hopefully to a team that hasn’t seen them play. Hinds is strikeout machine, Callihan is coming off a nasty injury and Dunn looked overwhelmed in the big leagues. They would have to trade better prospects than that and probably throw in Singer. They have to take a chance and go for it, something Krall doesn’t have in his DNA. There is a lack of hitting in the big leagues, gotta give something to get something. The Reds have a window open w the pitching they have on affordable deals. If they dont at least win a playoff series, Krall’s legacy will be the guy who had Greene, Burns, Lodolo and Abbot but couldnt field a lineup to support them.
I wasn’t talking about using those players in a trade. I was talking about who to take off the 40 man roster.
Yes In a trade it would have to be Singer and a prospect or just Singer alone. Unless a team would take one of those players sure. That would be great. But not going to get as much back.
Gotcha. That makes alot more sense and I obviously agree with that.
“including a $7MM buyout on a $250K club option for the 2026 season”
Why would they pay him $7 million when they could have kept him for 300% less than the minimum?
The quality of writing has been steadily declining here for a while, but the past few months has been so much worse. Maybe hire some writers who can spell and put together a competent thought?
Prolly using AI to write their articles now….
The core guys that have been here for years are still pretty good, but the newer folks they’ve brought on need to work on their proofreading.
Solid pitching staff heading into 2026, poor lineup though.
Keepin pace w cubs ! Let’s go !
Nice. Lol
Good for the Reds they need bullpen depth
Reds stack bullpen with Johnson, Pagan, Ferguson. If he’s healthy, 2026 late innings could be elite.
Let’s go Reds!
Good pick up for the Reds.
I was hoping my Braves would re-sign him.
I am not sure why they let him go.
He was a reliable reliever.
@Kasper –
Is this a Pierce Johnson Haiku?
Dad sighs, shakes his head
The hinky Pierce Johnson jokes
Are too bad for him
His stuff really dropped off post-AS Break where they did not use him for many high-leverage IP and didn’t see him as worth $7M (or $6.75M considering he had a 250K buyout). CIN didn’t pay that, but almost. If his curve isn’t biting, very little room for error at GAB.
7MM buyout, 250K club option? I think it’s 7MM option and 250K buyout.
Yeah Brady Singer trade makes sense. He makes a ton too. Earlier Singer was a trade candidate for the Astros. Melton for Singer. Now Melton was traded, but is that the price the Reds want?
Hopefully they want offense, as it stands they’re probably the most lopsided teams in the league
He is cheap enough that they do not need to trade him for that reason. For more offense with more controllable years yes. They are still under their budget.
For this money, I would have been happy to resign him. I would have been good if they exercised his option. But I understand why they didn’t.
Prince Albert approves. Don’t worry I’ll let myself out.
Singer/Benson for Mountcastle/Kjerstad
Was kjerstad a big deal in the minors cause he hasn’t done anything in the majors but he’s brought up a lot.
Id love to visit the Philippines
The offseason is still young, still time to strike a deal for Singer and get a bat.
He’s #1 on my list of righty pitchers that I always think are lefty’s
Makes 6x of EDLC and may provide 1/60th the value…
Didn’t he play James Bond?