Orioles sign Chris Johnson

[oriolesacox]

Could be decent if he finds his stroke against lefties again.  

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/02/orioles-sign-chris-johnson-to-minor-league-deal.html?fv-home=true&post-id=85344

[FlipTheBird]

31 minutes ago, oriolesacox said:

Could be decent if he finds his stroke against lefties again.  

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/02/orioles-sign-chris-johnson-to-minor-league-deal.html?fv-home=true&post-id=85344

Solid organizational depth move. I can't see him making the MLB roster out of the gate unless there's an injury. Even if he does find the stroke again against lefties... when would he play? If the team just wanted to spell CD against lefties from time to time they'd play Trumbo at first for a day and DH Mancini.

[Rene88]

Son of Ron Johnson, good stuff.

[oriolesacox]

Solid organizational depth move. I can't see him making the MLB roster out of the gate unless there's an injury. Even if he does find the stroke again against lefties... when would he play? If the team just wanted to spell CD against lefties from time to time they'd play Trumbo at first for a day and DH Mancini.

Good point.  Of course injuries happen but for the most part, not likely we see much of Mr. Johnson

[SteveA]

Probably one of the least known guys ever to win a major league batting title.

As others in the thread have noted, he doesn't seem to fit a need at thrajor league level.  And his skill set overlaps somewhat with Mancini's.  Could this be an indication that Mancini might be traded?

[jamalshw]

4 minutes ago, SteveA said:

Probably one of the least known guys ever to win a major league batting title.

As others in the thread have noted, he doesn't seem to fit a need at thrajor league level.  And his skill set overlaps somewhat with Mancini's.  Could this be an indication that Mancini might be traded?

I don't think so. I think this is more of an indication that Machado will be in the WBC and they'll need someone to eat up innings in Spring Training at third. Depending on opt outs in his deal, he could also provide solid depth should too many injuries crop up. 

[FlipTheBird]

17 minutes ago, jamalshw said:

I don't think so. I think this is more of an indication that Machado will be in the WBC and they'll need someone to eat up innings in Spring Training at third. Depending on opt outs in his deal, he could also provide solid depth should too many injuries crop up. 

Yeah, no one's really beating down Johnson's door. I'd imagine that if all goes to plan he'll be in Norfolk as simple depth in the case of an injury.

[oriolesacox]

Roch on twitter has indicated a lot of these infield depth signings are in correlation with the WBC and Norfolk needing bodies.

[bobmc]

 

[25 Nuggets]

1 hour ago, SteveA said:

Probably one of the least known guys ever to win a major league batting title.

Since I did not remember this I had to look it up.  Johnson finished second to Michael Cuddyer in 2013 for the NL batting title and was 5th in the majors behind Cabrera, Mauer and Trout.  Still, an interesting anecdote, and he still carries a lifetime .275 batting average.

[baltimoreO's22]

1 hour ago, SteveA said:

Probably one of the least known guys ever to win a major league batting title.

As others in the thread have noted, he doesn't seem to fit a need at thrajor league level.  And his skill set overlaps somewhat with Mancini's.  Could this be an indication that Mancini might be traded?

I don't think he's ever won a batting title. I could be wrong though.

 

I think this is a solid organizational depth signing.

[FlipTheBird]

3 minutes ago, baltimoreO's22 said:

I don't think he's ever won a batting title. I could be wrong though.

 

I think this is a solid organizational depth signing.

You are correct. He was the NL Runner Up in 2013 at .321. Cuddyer's .331 won the title.

[webbrick2010]

Good insurance against Hardy getting injured

Manny to short, call up Johnson to play 3B

Guy was a great hitter for a couple of years... not sure how good his defense was at 3B

[wildbillhiccup]

14 minutes ago, webbrick2010 said:

Good insurance against Hardy getting injured

Manny to short, call up Johnson to play 3B

Guy was a great hitter for a couple of years... not sure how good his defense was at 3B

Sorry, but would you mind pointing out the "great" years to me? 

 

hris Johnson Batting Stats

Year	Team	LG	G	AB	R	H	TB	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	GO/AO
MLB Career	-		839	2811	256	773	1136	154	10	63	339	144	16	753	18	4	.275	.313	.404	.717	1.32
2009	HOU	NL	11	22	1	2	2	0	0	0	1	1	0	6	0	0	.091	.130	.091	.221	6.00
2010	HOU	NL	94	341	40	105	164	22	2	11	52	15	2	91	3	0	.308	.337	.481	.818	1.12
2011	HOU	NL	107	378	32	95	143	21	3	7	42	16	3	97	2	2	.251	.291	.378	.670	1.11
2012	HOU	NL	92	341	36	95	146	21	3	8	41	23	1	92	4	1	.279	.329	.428	.757	1.01
2012	ARI	NL	44	147	12	42	74	7	2	7	35	8	1	40	1	0	.286	.321	.503	.824	0.97
2012 [-]	2 teams	-	136	488	48	137	220	28	5	15	76	31	2	132	5	1	.281	.326	.451	.777	1.00
2013	ATL	NL	142	514	54	165	235	34	0	12	68	29	5	116	0	0	.321	.358	.457	.816	1.63
2014	ATL	NL	153	582	43	153	210	27	0	10	58	23	2	159	6	0	.263	.292	.361	.653	1.58
2015	ATL	NL	56	153	12	36	49	7	0	2	11	7	0	49	2	1	.235	.272	.320	.592	1.18
2015	CLE	AL	27	90	6	26	33	4	0	1	7	3	0	25	0	0	.289	.312	.367	.678	1.73
2015 [-]	2 teams	-	83	243	18	62	82	11	0	3	18	10	0	74	2	1	.255	.286	.337	.624	1.35
2016	MIA	NL	113	243	20	54	80	11	0	5	24	19	2	78	0	0	.222	.281	.329	.611	1.36

[FlipTheBird]

22 minutes ago, wildbillhiccup said:

Sorry, but would you mind pointing out the "great" years to me? 

 

hris Johnson Batting Stats

Year	Team	LG	G	AB	R	H	TB	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	GO/AO
MLB Career	-		839	2811	256	773	1136	154	10	63	339	144	16	753	18	4	.275	.313	.404	.717	1.32
2009	HOU	NL	11	22	1	2	2	0	0	0	1	1	0	6	0	0	.091	.130	.091	.221	6.00
2010	HOU	NL	94	341	40	105	164	22	2	11	52	15	2	91	3	0	.308	.337	.481	.818	1.12
2011	HOU	NL	107	378	32	95	143	21	3	7	42	16	3	97	2	2	.251	.291	.378	.670	1.11
2012	HOU	NL	92	341	36	95	146	21	3	8	41	23	1	92	4	1	.279	.329	.428	.757	1.01
2012	ARI	NL	44	147	12	42	74	7	2	7	35	8	1	40	1	0	.286	.321	.503	.824	0.97
2012 [-]	2 teams	-	136	488	48	137	220	28	5	15	76	31	2	132	5	1	.281	.326	.451	.777	1.00
2013	ATL	NL	142	514	54	165	235	34	0	12	68	29	5	116	0	0	.321	.358	.457	.816	1.63
2014	ATL	NL	153	582	43	153	210	27	0	10	58	23	2	159	6	0	.263	.292	.361	.653	1.58
2015	ATL	NL	56	153	12	36	49	7	0	2	11	7	0	49	2	1	.235	.272	.320	.592	1.18
2015	CLE	AL	27	90	6	26	33	4	0	1	7	3	0	25	0	0	.289	.312	.367	.678	1.73
2015 [-]	2 teams	-	83	243	18	62	82	11	0	3	18	10	0	74	2	1	.255	.286	.337	.624	1.35
2016	MIA	NL	113	243	20	54	80	11	0	5	24	19	2	78	0	0	.222	.281	.329	.611	1.36

Yeah, Johnson's never been great. His 2012/2013 campaigns were pretty strong, but that's really it.