Jeff Passan at Yahoo sports is reporting that Josh Johnson has agreed on a $8 million guaranteed contract with $1.25 million in incentives with the San Diego Padres. The Padres have a $4 million team option for 2015, that will trigger only if Josh makes fewer than 7 starts in 2014. That is a cool idea..
I figured $8 million was going to be the magic number.
San Diego is a good choice for Johnson, a big ball park, a tough place to hit home runs. As you likely remember (if you are like me, you remember everyone of them) Josh gave up 15 home runs in 81.1 innings as a Blue Jay. 11 of those home runs were hit at Rogers Centre. So you can understand why he would want to pick somewhere else to pitch. I would point out that Josh had a 7.59 ERA on the road and a 5.29 ERA at Rogers. But it would be tough to find a bigger park than Petco
Josh is intent on building up his value for 2015, when he'll be a free agent again (provided he makes at least 7 starts), so there was no way he would have signed a similar contract with the Jays. Pitching in a huge park, in the NL, He might have been able to get more money from some other team, but he does want to maximize his stats this year. It is likely a smart move for Josh.
Bye Josh, I wish I could say it was fun, but it was about as far from fun as you could get.