Here are some of the latest notes and news on our acquisitions from the Florida Marlins.
Josh Johnson open to contact extension with Blue Jays:
Josh Johnson has yet to throw a pitch for the Blue Jays after being acquired in a 12-player blockbuster earlier this month, but the right-hander is open to remaining with the team beyond 2013. Agent Matt Sosnick told Brendan Kennedy of The Toronto Star they’d be receptive to a new deal to remain in Toronto.
“If there is anyone in the game I’d be receptive to talking to about it it’s (Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos),” said Sosnick. “It hasn’t come up in any of our conversations … (Anthopoulos) hasn’t volunteered it and I haven’t asked him about it. It’s probably something that if he wants to talk about it we’ll talk about it down the road.”
Johnson, 28, will earn $13.75MM next season, the final year on the four-year, $39MM contract he signed with the Marlins prior to 2010. He pitched to a 3.81 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 191 1/3 innings this season, though his fastball velocity dipped and both his strikeout and walk rates declined for a second straight year.
From 2009-2011, Johnson posted a 2.64 ERA with 8.6 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 453 innings across 70 starts. A return to that level of performance with the Blue Jays this year would potentially put Johnson in line for a nine-figure contract as a free agent next offseason, when he will be arguably the best starter on the market.
Mark Buehrle not overly happy with Miami:
Being traded after only one season in Miami isn’t sitting well with Mark Buehrle. The pitcher and his agent fired a parting shot at the Marlins, saying team officials lied to him about his future in South Florida.
“Just like the fans in South Florida, I was lied to on multiple occasions,” the 34-year-old pitcher said Wednesday in a written statement.
Buehrle was one of five players traded by the Marlins to the Toronto Blue Jays.
“I’m upset with how things turned out in Miami,” Buehrle said.
Buehrle signed a four-year, $58 million contract in January. But the Marlins, per team policy, refused to grant him no-trade protection that would have allowed him to veto any deals he didn’t like. Still, sources said Buehrle was assured by owner Jeffrey Loria that, despite the absence of a no-trade clause, he need not worry. The team had no intention of trading him.
“Throughout the recruiting process, the Marlins made repeated assurances about their long-term commitment to Mark and his family and their long-term commitment to building a tradition of Marlins baseball in the new stadium,” said Buehrle’s agent, Jeff Berry, in a prepared statement
AL Eastbound & Down 