Johnson's career with Athletics off to a bad start
During the offseason the Baltimore Orioles traded Jim Johnson to the Oakland Athletics for Jemile Weeks, that full story can be found here. Weeks did not make the Orioles 25-man roster.
The Orioles did not want to pay Johnson his large $10 million arbitration number. Johnson also showed signs of losing his touch last season and nine saves last season. Those nine saves went a long way towards the Orioles not making the playoffs.
Already for the Athletics Johnson has blown a save and has taken two losses. Johnson has allowed five runs in only one inning of work.
It was easy to see last season that Johnson was starting to lose his velocity. The Orioles flat out over used him in 2011, 2012 and 2013. In 2013 Johnson appeared in almost half the games, appearing in a career high 74 games. The most innings Johnson has worked however was in 2011 when he pitched 91 innings.
Johnson may come back to have a great season for the Athletics but so far it is off to a rocky start. Johnson was good to the Orioles and I wish him well. So far however it looks like the Orioles made the right call trading him before they had to pay him.
Check out this interview with Johnson.
