Cubs Sign Reed Johnson

it'll be interesting to see what this does for the Cubs bench...

Epat got sent down today, but will this cost Murton his job?

Blanco, Ward, Johnson seem set

Two spots for

Murton, Fontenot, Cedeno and Cintron 

Cedeno is out of options, so he seems like a no-brainer and that means one spot for Murton, Fontenot or Cintron. It'll depend if they want an extra infielder or outfielder. 

I like it. Low risk, decent reward.

Also, quote of the day, which I saw on Yahoo.

"Apparently, J.D. Drew is in midseason form."

Brilliant.

While I mocked the idea of Johnson losing his spot to Eckstein in the previous thread, I do like this deal.

It does seem like a very low risk, moderate reward deal.

And if he can just be decent against LHP, he will be able to fill his needed role.

but I kinda hope we don't just run Johnson out there to start the year. It's time that we give Pie a decent shot, and hurting his confidence by platooning him is not the way to go. Hopefully Johnson is a bench player that can become a platoon (or, ugh, regular) player if needed.

Unless Pie does some really bad playing in the next couple of games or gets hurt, I think he will be playing the majority of the games

Hey..until Pie can hit at leat .670 in ST, he has no business in the majors...
After all, the Cubs have soured on him.....I bet we can get Juan Pierre for Pie, Murton, and Gallagher?

(please note sarcasm)

Murton's OBP, nice average (even though ST), and the fact that he gets his uniform soiled often, should be the guy getting the gig.

Fonty is...well, Fonty. With Ward, Dome, and Pie, its probably gonna be enough.

DeRosa and Dumb-ass Ronny should be sufficient to cover IF replacement needs, I'd think.

Kinda shows why most other fans think Cub fans are not too bright-

http://deadspin.com/371030/baseball-season-preview...

$1.3 MM? I mean, who were they bidding against? It's not a ton of money, but it looks like he's already getting 750K from the Jays. They couldn't have offered him league min or 500K?

Roster has really shaken itself out.

Soto
Lee
DeRosa
Theriot
Ramirez
Sori
Pie
KFuk
Blanco
Ward
Reed Johnson
Murton
Cedeno

With Fontenot in Iowa if an infielder goes down and Fuld/EPatt there if an outfielder goes down.

Plus he kind of looks like the Drowning Pool guitarist. So that's a good thing I suppose.

... just sayin'.

Like this pickup.

And did anybody catch Mariotti's column today? Mindless snarkiness for snarkiness' sake.

While I am not expecting much out of Johnson until he can prove he is healthy, this move is fine IMO. Now paying him $1.3 million is a little much, but fairly low risk. Murton might be the odd man out, which should anger many Cubs fans but oh well, if things go well that spot should get like 200-250 AB's all year. Now Reed has barely played CF the past few years, so that along with his bat could be a problem, but shouldn't be a disaster.

and that's what you need if you want to get off to a fast start.

Career before the All-Star break:

.298 .365 .444 .809

I wouldn't be so quick to punch Fontenot's ticket to Iowa. With Fukudome and Pie starting, the only LH bat on the bench is Ward. I'd be looking for a Cedeno waiver deal, or Murton goes to AAA instead of Fontenot.

Aaron B,

Once again, you're love for all things Murton cloud your baseball talent judgement. My point is that Ward is the only LH bat on the bench when Pie/Fukudome start. As already pointed out, DeRosa can play RF when a RH bat is needed there a helluva lot better than Murton (an absolute butcher in the OF). Fontenot and Ward give Lou 2 LH bats for PH duties.

Without another deal (which very likely will happen before Opening Day), the bench will likely be:

Blanco, c
Ward, 1b/LH PH
Fontenot, 2b/LH PH (SS in absolute emergency)
Cedeno, ss/2b
R. Johnson, CF/RF/LF

DeRosa is still the 'super-sub' for 3B and RF with capable options at 2B when he isn't playing there.

Submitted by djchi on Tue, 03/25/2008 - 5:14pm.

I have a question...Johnson had a relatively large contract with the Blue Jays, no? And since he was released, they're on the hook for most of it, correct?

So if the Cubs go to arbitration, are they responsible for offering him 80% of his Blue Jays salary at minimum? If so, then he wouldn't be that cheap. Or am I missing something?

 ================================

DJCHI: Because Reed Johnson's contract was not guaranteed and because the Blue Jays released him prior to March 28th, they only owed him 45 days pay (1/4 of his 2008 salary, or just a bit over $800K). So it's not surprising that Johnson wanted more than the MLB minumim to sign with the Cubs.

In fact, he PROBABLY thought he deserved $2.4M (the remainder left on the table from his $3.25M 2008 contract with TOR), but after considering his options, he apparently decided to settle for half a loaf.

As far as what the minimum the Cubs would have to offer Johnson after the season if they tender him a contract (with a salary arbitration option), it would be 80% of his Cubs salary from 2008. Once he was released by Toronto, that contract became incompetent, irrelevant, and immaterial for salary arbitration purposes post '08. He was a free-agent when he signed with the Cubs, and the fact that the Blue Jays had to pay him a severance when they released him doesn't apply to post-2008 . 

And the Cubs could non-tender him on 12/12 and then try to sign him for less money where the 20% maximum cut rule would not apply. 

haven't seen it mentioned in here so someone might as well say it...

he's got a legit arm. he's not ichiro...he's definately not juan pierre...

then again even as a late-inning replacement he's not replacing any arm in the OF that's weak (unless there's murton/d.ward out there).

still...the cubs got their marlon byrd/jay payton/whatever and didn't have to give up anything anyone cares about except (maybe) a roster spot.