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Elliot Johnson

Dodgers Acquire Elliot Johnson From Rangers

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The Dodgers have acquired infielder Elliot Johnson from the Rangers, Stefan Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets. Texas will receive cash considerations in the deal.

Johnson, 31, provides a shortstop-capable utility option to plug into the Los Angeles depth chart, though it is hard to imagine he will crack the active roster to start the season with so many infield options already in place. In parts of five seasons at the major league level, Johnson carries a .215/.269/.316 slash over 826 plate appearances but has contributed 46 stolen bases.

AL West Notes: Moss/Donaldson Trades, Joba, Johnson, Angels, Castro

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Looking to get some more insight into the trade that sent Brandon Moss from Oakland to Cleveland, Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer spoke with Athletics assistant GM David Forst and manager Bob Melvin about the swap (Oakland received second base prospect Joe Wendle in exchange). Though Wendle has never ranked as a Top 100 prospect according to outlets such as Baseball America, ESPN, etc., Forst said that the A’s don’t concern themselves with prospect rankings. Rather, the A’s have been enamored with Wendle for more than a year and tried to trade for him in the past. “He is a high-contact hitter. He plays good defense. He has an outstanding makeup. We like him,” Forst explained. Melvin explained that the A’s very much like Moss, but were hoping to get a bit younger. Candidly, the Forst told Pluto that the A’s feel Ike Davis can replace Moss’ bat at a cheaper price.

A bit more from Pluto’s interview and the rest of the AL West…

  • Forst told Pluto that the Athletics never discussed Josh Donaldson with the Indians. Oakland targeted a few select teams, and the Blue Jays were at the top of their list of potential trade candidates, he added. Meanwhile, Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star chimed in on that same trade (via Twitter), noting that Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos said that his initial hope was to acquire Donaldson and move Brett Lawrie to second base, but it eventually became clear that Lawrie had to be included in the return to obtain Donaldson.
  • The Rangers offered Joba Chamberlain more than the $1MM base salary he received on his new deal with the Tigers, but Chamberlain elected to return to Detroit, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Earlier this morning, GM Dave Dombrowski told reporters that Chamberlain had received more lucrative offers elsewhere but “really wanted” to be a Tiger again.
  • Also from Heyman (on Twitter), infielder Elliot Johnson will receive a $900K base salary if he makes the Rangers’ big league roster. Johnson signed a minor league deal with a Spring Training invite yesterday, the team announced.
  • Drew Butera’s Major League experience and the fact that he’s out of options make him the favorite to win the Angels’ backup catcher job, writes Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. However, Fletcher does quote manager Mike Scioscia, who says he’s also been impressed by candidates Carlos Perez and Jett Bandy. “All of these guys have shown on the defensive side they are ready for the challenge,” said Scioscia.
  • Astros catcher Jason Castro recently spoke to Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle about the feeling of seeing his name floated in trade rumors for much of the offseason. “I think if you focus too much on it, you kind of drive yourself crazy,” said Castro, who called trade rumors “part of the offseason.” The White Sox and Rangers were among the teams with interest in Castro, per Drellich. Castro’s spot with the Astros became secure again once the team dealt Carlos Corporan to the Rangers. Castro and Hank Conger will see the bulk of the time behind the plate for Houston.

Minor Moves: Elliot Johnson

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Here are the day’s minor moves:

  • The Rangers have added utility infielder Elliot Johnson on  a minor league deal, the club announced. Soon to turn 31, Johnson will receive an invite to big league camp. After a three-year run in which he made at least 180 plate appearances per season, Johnson earned only twenty trips to the plate last year with the Indians. Across his 826 career plate appearances, Johnson owns a .215/.269/.316 slash with 46 stolen bases. Johnson has been more productive in parts of six seasons at Triple-A, where he owns a lifetime .732 OPS.

Players Who Have Elected Minor League Free Agency

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A total of 43 players have elected to become minor league free agents, according to Baseball America’s Matt Eddy in his latest round-up of minor league transactions.  MLBTR has already reported on some of these moves over the last few days, and here is the rest of the list, with players grouped by their most recent team…

Minor Moves: Tateyama, Phipps, Komatsu, Johnson

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Here are today’s minor moves from around the league…

  • Japanese sidearmer Yoshinori Tateyama has been released by the Yankees, according to the International League transactions page. The 38-year-old, a 12-year Nippon league veteran, came stateside in 2011 with the Rangers. In two seasons, he threw 61 innings of 5.75 ERA ball while striking out 9.0 batters per nine against 2.5 BB/9. Working out of the Yanks’ Triple-A pen this year, Tateyama carried a 6.08 ERA in 13 1/3 innings, though he did have an impressive 11.5 K/9 against just 2.0 BB/9.
  • The White Sox have released 28-year-old outfielder Denis Phipps, according to the International League transactions page. Phipps was struggling at Triple-A for Chicago in 2014 with a .159/.250/.270 line in 72 plate appearances. This year was the first that Phipps spent away from the Reds, with whom he had a cup of coffee in 2012. Of course, if the Dominican never finds his way back to the bigs, he can still talk up his lifetime 1.064 OPS, even if it covers just 11 plate appearances.
  • MLB.com’s Bill Ladson reports (via Twitter) that the Nationals have released outfielder Erik Komatsu. The 26-year-old was selected by the Cardinals in the 2012 Rule 5 Draft and then claimed off waivers by the Twins when St. Louis cut him loose. Komatsu made 58 total plate appearances that season, hitting .216/.293/.216 before being returned to the Nats. The former eighth-round pick, who was once traded from Milwaukee to Washington in exchange for Jerry Hairston, batted .188/.365/.271 at Triple-A this season and owns a career .232/.344/.328 batting line at that level.
  • The Indians have outrighted utility man Elliot Johnson to Triple-A Columbus, according to the club’s transactions page. Johnson signed a minor league deal with Cleveland this offseason but collected just two hits with seven strikeouts and no walks in 20 plate appearances in his time with the club before being designated for assignment last week. The 30-year-old Johnson had the option to reject his assignment and pursue free agency, but the team announced that he has accepted and will report to Triple-A Columbus (Twitter link).

Indians Designate Elliot Johnson For Assignment

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The Indians have designated infielder Elliot Johnson for assignment, MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian tweets. The Indians also placed catcher Yan Gomes on the paternity list and promoted catcher George Kottaras and pitcher Nick Hagadone.

Cleveland signed Johnson to a minor-league deal in January after the Braves non-tendered him in December, and he made the Indians out of spring training. Johnson collected just 20 plate appearances with the Indians, hitting .105/.211/.316. In parts of five seasons mostly spent with the Rays, Royals and Braves, Johnson has a .215/.269/.316 line in 826 plate appearances.

Indians Sign Elliot Johnson

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The Indians have signed infielder Elliot Johnson to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training, according to Jordan Bastian of MLB.com (Twitter link). Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish first connected the Indians to the ACES client yesterday (also on Twitter).

Johnson, 29, was acquired by the Royals as a player to be named later in the blockbuster James Shields-for-Wil Myers trade last offseason. He batted just .179/.218/.241 in 173 plate appearances with Kansas City before finding himself designated for assignment and claimed off waivers by the Braves. Johnson improved at the plate in Atlanta, hitting a more respectable .261/.317/.359 in 102 PAs. He also offers plus speed, as evidenced by his 22 stolen bases in 24 attempts in 2013.

Johnson's best asset is his ability to handle both up-the-middle positions. Ultimate Zone Rating thinks highly of his glove at second base (+7.9 UZR/150), while grading his shortstop defense as passable, though slightly below average (-2.7). Defensive Runs Saved pegs him at +13 in 602 innings at second base and +3 in 1079 innings at short.

While Ryan Raburn is one option to occasionally back up second baseman Jason Kipnis, he saw just 17 innings there last season and is better suited to play right field. Mike Aviles presents another option to back up Kipnis as well as shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, but Johnson could fight his way into the mix for a utility spot.

National League Non-Tenders

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Major League clubs have until 11pm CT tonight to tender contracts to players for the 2014 season. We'll run down the list of National League non-tenders here. Remember that you can track all of the action using MLBTR's Non-Tender tracker, and we offer a full list of non-tender candidates as well. Also of use will be our Arbitration Eligibles series, which includes Matt Swartz's projected 2014 salaries for all arbitration eligible players.

  • The Reds non-tendered outfielders Xavier Paul and Derrick Robinson, according to the AP.  Robinson had been designated for assignment last Thursday to open a roster spot for Skip Schumaker.
  • The Rockies have non-tendered reliever Mitchell Boggs, tweets Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post.
  • The Dodgers have non-tendered Ronald Belisario, tweets Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times.
  • The Marlins have non-tendered outfielder Chris Coghlan and reliever Ryan Webb, the club announced via press release.
  • The Pirates have non-tendered Garrett Jones, Michael McKenry, and Kyle McPherson, tweets Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
  • The Giants have non-tendered Sandy Rosario and Francisco Peguero, tweets Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.
  • The Cubs have non-tendered Mat Gamel, tweets Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com. The club has also non-tendered Chang-Yong Lim, tweets Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com. 
  • The Mets officially announced their slate of non-tenders, which includes a few new names in Jeremy Hefner and Justin Turner (via tweet from Andy Martino of the New York Daily News).
  • The Braves announced that they have non-tendered infielders Elliot Johnson and Paul Janish as well as right-hander Cristhian Martinez (Twitter link). Johnson, 29, batted .209/.255/.283 in 275 plate appearances between the Royals and Braves last season. Janish was less productive in 45 PAs, batting .171/.222/.220. Martinez, 31, missed nearly the entire season due to shoulder surgery. However, he posted a 3.63 ERA in 151 1/3 innings for Atlanta from 2011-12, making him a potential buy-low candidate for another club.
  • The Mets have non-tendered Jordany Valdespin, Rubin reports. Valdespin has been a persistent source of drama for the Mets, lashing out at manager Terry Collins after being demoted and also being slapped with a 50-game suspension for his involvement in the Biogenesis PED scandal. The soon-to-be 26-year-old is a career .219/.271/.380 hitter in 350 big league plate appearances. Valdespin's non-tender comes despite him not yet being arbitration eligible, illustrating the Mets' frustration with the second baseman/outfielder.
  • The Cubs will non-tender right-hander Daniel Bard, tweets Jesse Rogers of ESPN Chicago. Bard was claimed off waivers in September and never threw a pitch for the Cubs organization. WEEI.com's Rob Bradford notes that Bard was pitching in the Puerto Rican Winter League but walked nine batters while recording just one out. The Cubs could still agree to a non-roster deal with Bard, he adds. Bard's control has vanished into thin air, as the formerly dominant setup man has also walked 56 batters over his past 47 1/3 minor league frames.
  • The Mets have informed shortstop Omar Quintanilla that he will be non-tendered, Quintanilla told Jorge Castillo of the Star-Ledger. Quintanilla projected to earn $900K this offseason after batting .222/.306/.283 in a career-high 359 plate appearances last season.
  • ESPN's Adam Rubin tweets that the Mets will also non-tender Scott Atchison. The right-hander projected to earn $1.3MM coming off a 4.37 ERA with 5.6 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 45 1/3 innings. Atchison will turn 38 in late March.

NL East Notes: Harvey, Collins, Johnson, Valencia

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The plan of action could change later this offseason, but for now, Matt Harvey has decided to try and avoid undergoing Tommy John surgery, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. The young Mets ace will try to rehab his right elbow for a month or two and then throw to see if he bounces back well from the partially torn ulnar collateral ligament. Here's more on the Mets and the rest of the NL East…

  • Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog isn't on board with the Mets bringing Terry Collins back for next season and beyond.  The Mets have stopped short of officially saying that Collins will manage the team in 2014, but all indications are that he will be back in the dugout.
  • Look for Elliot Johnson to be back with the Braves in a super-utility role next season, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com within his latest column.  Atlanta is quite pleased with their August waiver claim on the 29-year-old as he has done a capable job of filling in for second baseman Dan Uggla.
  • More from Rosenthal's piece, as he writes that Danny Valencia’s strong play with the Orioles could make him an appealing option for the Marlins, who will be looking for help at third base this winter.  It doesn't hurt that Valencia has strong ties to the area as he was born in Miami, grew up in nearby Boca Raton, and attended the University of Miami.
  • The Phillies are a prime example of how fortunes can change quickly in the game of baseball, writes MLB.com's Paul Hagen.  The Phillies opted to keep their aging core in tact this season despite being bogged down by injuries.

Steve Adams contributed to this post.

Braves Claim Elliot Johnson

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The Braves have claimed infielder Elliot Johnson off release waivers from the Royals, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star (on Twitter). The Royals had requested release waivers on Monday after designating Johnson for assignment last week.

Johnson, 29, batted .179/.218/.241 in 173 plate appearances for the Royals this season after coming over as the player to be named later in the James Shields–Wil Myers blockbuster. He's a career .212/.267/.313 hitter in 704 plate appearances who is a defensive standout at second base but below average at shortstop, according to Ultimate Zone Rating. The Braves have been said to be looking for extra offense at second base with Dan Uggla and Tyler Pastornicky on the shelf, but the addition of Johnson suggests they're content to make a significant defensive upgrade for the time being.

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