MLB Rumors: Toronto Blue Jays Targeting Josh Johnson?
File this one under the daily barrage of Twitter rumors that are surfacing ahead of the trade deadline.
Just a day after the Miami Marlins began the selling process, moving Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante, it seems that there’s now at least one more target there for the Toronto Blue Jays to pursue in their quest to bolster their starting pitching. At least, Jon Morosi of Fox Sports thinks so:
#BlueJays interested in both Josh Johnson and Hanley Ramirez. Source says they have stronger desire to land JJ because of pitching need.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 24, 2012
Josh Johnson isn’t a name that’s come up in rumors prior to this because well, as far as anyone knew, he just wasn’t available. Injury risk aside, he would be a sensible target for a team like the Blue Jays, still just 28 and under team control through 2013 at a relatively friendly $13.75 million price tag (not that the Blue Jays wouldn’t be at least somewhat interested just about any decent pitcher on the market these days). Johnson 4.14/ 1.34 ERA/WHIP is mediocre this season, but the non-counting numbers – 2.98 FIP, 3.43 xFIP – suggests that this is similar to the Johnson that went through nearly half a season with an ERA under 2 last season, and who posted a 2.30 ERA in 2010. Even with the AL shift, he would immediately slot in as the Blue Jays’ 2nd best pitcher behind Brandon Morrow, and would help the team contend not just this year, but the next.
All good so far, then. But who might the Blue Jays have to give up to get an arm like Johnson’s? Why would Miami be motivated to trade away another in-his-prime arm? It’s all speculation, of course, but at least one ESPN affiliate, Marlins Daily, took a guess, suggesting that “the Marlins can send Hanley Ramirez and Josh Johnson to Toronto for a bounty of prospects and young third baseman Brett Lawrie.”
Thanks, but no thanks.
Not to say that it wouldn’t cost the Blue Jays a package of prospects with at least one of their best (Anthony Gose?) among them, but I’ll just go ahead and assume that there’s no reason for Alex Anthopoulos to move Brett Lawrie in a deal like this, even if Hanley is coming back with 2+ years of team control. As Morosi mentioned, the Blue Jays are probably more motivated to land Johnson anyway; but if it’s going to cost the team a player like Lawrie to do it, I think we can probably file this rumor as “dead in the water”.
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