Red Sox place Brian Johnson on outright waivers

EdRalphRomero

wooderson
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Oct 3, 2007
4,472
deep in the hole
The guy made some serious contributions to the 2018 Championship with his 4.17 ERA. Brian, I'll be more than happy to buy either/both of you and Doug Mirabelli a pizza of your choice if you ever swing by my house. Thank you!
 

billy ashley

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Jul 15, 2005
1,228
Washington DC
I'm actually sad about this. Johnson is a great example of someone who has persevered through a ton setbacks. He was a two way player out of college (amusingly, I think he was listed as the Red Sox draftee with the most power in that draft class) featuring only fringe average stuff and good command. Whenever he looked to be gaining momentum, bad luck just kept finding him:

-The line drive to the face
-Being car jacked at gun point
-Anxiety issues
-the normal assortment of injuries that befall pitchers

He was never going to be a star but it still sucks to see when someone who worked so hard and overcame so much falls short. I hope he lands somewhere and gets a chance to eat garbage innings in the majors again.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Jan 23, 2009
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Maine
I think it needs to be pointed out that being placed on outright waivers only means they're trying to remove him from the 40-man roster. It does not mean he's gone from the organization entirely. If he clears waivers, he can be assigned to the minors. Since he has less than 3 years of service time, he can't refuse that assignment in order to become a free agent. He could well be in the depth mix for 2020, with this simply being a bit of roster manipulation.
 

JBJ_HOF

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Apr 5, 2014
538
He was waived off a roster with a lot of waivable options. He's at driveline this winter and with driveline deciples all over the major leagues now no one was willing to claim him. Says it all.
 

Cesar Crespo

79
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Dec 22, 2002
21,588
Yep, the new three man minimum rule is going to make it tough for him.
It would have been tough for him anyway because I don't think he's good enough vs lefties to be a LOOGY. Walden, Workman, Barnes were better than him vs lefites in 2019 despite being right handed. Colton Brewer was comparable too. Brewer is weird in that he had a huge reverse split. Josh Taylor and Darwinzon were also better vs lefties, but are obviously lefty.

Johnson just isn't very good, which means he'll probably end up in somewhere like Oakland next season and have a 2.52 era in 111.2 ip between starting and the bullpen.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Jan 23, 2009
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Maine
Johnson just isn't very good, which means he'll probably end up in somewhere like Oakland next season and have a 2.52 era in 111.2 ip between starting and the bullpen.
If the A's are willing to trade for him so he can do that, hopefully the Sox get something just as useful in return.
 

Cesar Crespo

79
SoSH Member
Dec 22, 2002
21,588
If the A's are willing to trade for him so he can do that, hopefully the Sox get something just as useful in return.
Yeah, it slipped my mind that Johnson is still under our control.

I always assumed Brian Johnson would have a Lenny DiNardo type career but DiNardo was worse than I remember him being. I was mistaking his career for this guy (who is better than I remember being) who was traded for something useful.

I hope they use Brian Johnson exclusive as a starter in Pawtucket next year. I don't see why they wouldn't given the question marks in the big clubs rotation.
 

Earthbound64

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SoSH Member
I was mistaking his career for this guy (who is better than I remember being) who was traded for something useful.
It only took him 15 years (and 7 years after we traded him, and after the team that we traded him to traded him on again - so not exactly "next season") to produce the numbers you suggested.
So, I guess in 2033 we'd better watch out for Brian Johnson.

There are examples of the Red Sox trading away players who ended up being useful for the team they were traded to.
Justin Duchscherer isn't really one of them.
 

Plympton91

bubble burster
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Oct 19, 2008
12,408
It only took him 15 years (and 7 years after we traded him, and after the team that we traded him to traded him on again - so not exactly "next season") to produce the numbers you suggested.
So, I guess in 2033 we'd better watch out for Brian Johnson.

There are examples of the Red Sox trading away players who ended up being useful for the team they were traded to.
Justin Duchscherer isn't really one of them.

What? They traded him in 2001 and he was pitching well for Oakland in 2004.