What Ever Happened to Charles Johnson?

With all the discussion of the lack of African-American ballplayers in the MLB, a particular African-American player came to mind. I remember this person being a very dynamic catcher in the National League. Even though I thought he was a very good catcher will always be known for the trades that involved him and other players. The player that I'm thinking about is Charles Johnson.

I first remember seeing Charles Johnson while he was playing for the Florida Marlins. I always thought his style was reminiscent of Tony Peña who is currently a bench coach for the New York Yankees. Johnson was originally drafted in the first round of the 1989 draft and was picked by the Montréal Expos with the 10th pick. He declined to sign with Montreal choosing instead to attend the University of Miami. He once again was drafted in the first round this time in the 1992 draft with the 28th pick in the draft by the Florida Marlins. He decided to sign within a couple months after being drafted.

Johnson's potential was so promising that he spent a very short time in the minor leagues. Johnson spent the 1993 season playing for the Kane County Cougars of the Single A Midwest League. He was promoted to the Portland Sea Dogs of the Double A Eastern League for the 1994 season where he continued to impress. The impression made by Johnson even got him a call-up to the parent Marlins team where he played in 4 games before the players strike halted and eventually ended the 1994 season. Johnson would play in 2 games for Portland in 1995 before getting the permanent call-up to the majors. Johnson would by-pass Triple A entirely. To show you the impact made by Johnson in the minors, here is a description of Johnson from the article Charles Johnson to Return to Portland on April 18th from the Portland Sea Dogs website:

Johnson was a member of the Sea Dogs' inaugural team in 1994.  He opened the season as the Florida Marlins top prospect and he did not waste any time in making an impact in Portland.  In the Sea Dogs' inaugural game, Johnson belted two home runs including a game winner in the 14th inning as the Sea Dogs defeated the Reading Phillies 2-1.  The catcher hit .264 with 28 home runs and 80 RBI for the Sea Dogs in 1994 and was named to the Eastern League All-Star squad.  His 28 home runs led the league and were the most by an Eastern League catcher since Tony Peña hit 34 in 1979.

In making the jump to the Marlins, Johnson would be the first Marlins minor leaguer to reach the majors. In his rookie season of 1995, Johnson would end up 7th in the National League Rookie of the Year voting by hitting .251 with 11 homeruns and 39 RBI. He also made only 6 errors in the field and threw out 43% (38 of 89 runners) of would be basestealers earning the 1st of 4 straight N.L. Gold Glove awards for the catcher position. Johnson's performance would steadily improve during his seasons with the Marlins. Here is when things get a bit hectic for Johnson.

As part of the salary purge of the 1997 World Series Champions Johnson would be traded on May 14, 1998 with Manuel Barrios, Bobby Bonilla, Jim Eisenreich and Gary Sheffield to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Mike Piazza and Todd Zeile (Piazza himself would be traded by the Marlins on May 22, 1998 to the New York Mets for Preston Wilson, Ed Yarnall and minor leaguer Geoff Goetz). Johnson would finish out the 1998 season with the Dodgers and once again get traded.

On December 1, 1998 Johnson would be part of two trades. In the first transaction, Johnson was traded by the Dodgers with Roger Cedeno to the New York Mets for Todd Hundley and minor leaguer Arnold Gooch. Then he would be traded to the Baltimore Orioles for reliever Armando Benitez. You would think that being traded to the American League would afford Johnson the opportunity to grow some roots with the Orioles. Not so. After spending the 1999 season with the Orioles where Johnson hit .251 with 16 homers and 54 RBI while throwing out 38% of would be base stealers, he would be traded once again.

On July 29, 2000 Johnson would be traded with Harold Baines to the Chicago White Sox for Brook Fordyce and minor leaguers Jason Lakman, Juan Figueroa, Miguel Felix. Finally after being traded four times in three seasons, Johnson would be granted free agency and re-signed with the Florida Marlins. Johnson's homecoming would be temporary.

In two seasons with the Marlins, Johnson would average 12 homeruns with 56 RBI while hitting .245 and throwing out 42% of base stealers in 2001 and 40% of base stealers in 2002 with his second All-Star appearance in 2001. After the 2002 season Johnson would once again be backing his bags. On November 16, 2002 Johnson would be traded by the Marlins along with Vic Darensbourg, Pablo Ozuna and Preston Wilson to the Colorado Rockies for Mike Hampton, Juan Pierre and cash (Hampton would be traded to the Atlanta Braves on November 18, 2002 for Tim Spooneybarger and minor leaguer Ryan Baker).

Johnson would spend two seasons in Colorado where he would find his career stalled by the Rockies pledging to play rookie J.D. Closser as their everyday catcher. After deliberations with a failed proposed trade with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Johnson would be traded for the last time in his career. Right before Spring Training camp broke on March 30, 2005 Johnson was traded by the Rockies along with Chris Narveson to the Boston Red Sox for Byung-Hyun Kim and cash. That same day Johnson was released by the Red Sox and would sign with the Devil Rays on April 4th. Johnson would only appear in 15 games for the Devil Rays before he was released on June 13, 2005 effectively ending his professional career.

In total of 12 season, Johnson had the following statistics:

Player		G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI		BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	AVG	OPS
Charles Johnson		1188	3836	465	940	211	4	167	570		475	997	6	10	.330	.433	.245	.762

Johnson was a two-time All-Star, a four-time Gold Glove winner and won a World Series Championship with the 1997 Florida Marlins. 

Sisco Kid.

For Further Reading

- Click Here to Access Charles Johnson's Career Statistics from Baseball Reference.com

What Happened to Dan Uggla

It hindsight seems that the Miami Marlins who take a lot of heat (and deservedly so) for their salary dumps is definitely the winner of the Dan Uggla trade that they made with the Atlanta Braves in 2010. Granted Omar Infante was traded to Detroit last season with Anibal Sanchez and 2013 compensation draft pick round A to the Detroit Tigers for minor leaguer Brian Flynn, Rob Brantly, Jacob Turner and 2013 compensation draft pick round B and Mike Dunn is a fixture in their bullpen, if they had chosen to resign Uggla, they might be stuck with a player who is playing way below expectations. Here is what I said about the trade in my blogpost The Florida Marlins Play the Trade Game from November 16, 2010:

It was reported that the Marlins were trying to sign Uggla to a 4-year 48-million dollar extension which Uggla rejected. It is believed that Uggla was looking for a deal in the 5-year 71-million dollar range...From what I've read, the general consensus believes that the Marlins basically gave away Uggla and to a division rival no less. Uggla has been an offensive force for the Marlins from the second base position who in 5 major league season is hitting an average of .263 with 32 Homeruns and 97 RBI. Uggla is good for about 161 hits a season (35 2B/3 3B/32 HRs) and an OPS of .837 (.347 OBP/.488 SLG). Uggla is also a consistent player having played an average of 155 games per season. Economically, the deal might benefit the Marlins more...Had they not traded Uggla now, they might have ended up trading him during the season with risking losing him after next season.

Look at his numbers while with the Marlins: .263 with 32 Homeruns and 97 RBI. Uggla is good for about 161 hits a season (35 2B/3 3B/32 HRs) and an OPS of .837 (.347 OBP/.488 SLG). I don't know if it was the tropical sunshine in Miami that had Uggla hitting like that but he sure isn't hitting that way in Atlanta.

In his two seasons with the Braves, Uggla is averaging a .227 batting average with 28 homeruns and 80 RBI. He's been good for 132 hits (26 2B/0 3B/28 HRs) and an OPS of .750 (.329 OBP/.421 SLG). He's below his career average in all catergories. I can't even blame it on him striking out more in Atlanta than when he was in Florida. He averaged 158 K's with 76 walks with the Marlins and in Atlanta he's averaged 162 K's and 78 walks.

Perhaps he has regressed in terms of plate discipline. And looking at his spring training performance this season, the regression seems to have continued. In 55 at-bats Uggla is hitting .182 with only 10 hits with 1 HR, no other extra base hits, 3 walks and 19 strikeouts.

Defensively he's no worse than he was in Florida. He's a decent fielder who you can count on playing 154 or more games a season (his lowest was 146 in 2008). I would say that perhaps a change of scenery would benefit Uggla but with the Atlanta Braves on the hook for $39 million dollars over the next three season, it would seem that they are both stuck with each other.

Can Uggla snap out of his apparent hitting funk? Can hitting coach Greg Walker help Uggla find his stroke or will this go down as one of the worst trades ever made by the usually reliable Atlanta Braves.


What do you think. Let me know.

Sisco Kid

For Further Reading
- Click Here to Access Dan Uggla's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

Adios Chicago Hola Miami

Not that any of us should be surprised, but controversy and Ozzie Guillen are once again walking hand-in hand. The 8-year love and hate affair between the Chicago White Sox and Ozzie Guillen has come to an end. In a bizarre twist, manager Ozzie Guillen was released of his duties so that he could pursue a deal with the Florida Marlins. It is believed that he will be announced as the manager of the Marlins tomorrow afternoon. Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reports that since Guillen had one year remaining on his contract with the White Sox, the Marlins will have to trade two prospects as compensation for Guillen.

There had been many rumors to the effect that the Florida Marlins have been interested in hiring Ozzie Guillen as their manager for next season. With the Marlins looking at a major franchise change for the 2012 season, it is only natural that they would want to make a splash. What changes will we expect from the Marlins? They will open a new stadium, a new logo and a new name in the form of the Miami Marlins. Hiring Ozzie Guillen makes sense in that they are trying to tap into the large Latino population that lives in Miami and as we've seen multiple times, Guillen knows how to keep the spotlight burning hot on himself and his team. As the sayings go: Any publicity is good publicity and There's no such thing as bad publicity. We'll see how that part of Ozzie will play out in Miami.

What we do know his teams win for him. in 8-seasons with the White Sox, Guillen compiled a 678-617 record for a winning percentage of .524 and the White Sox only had two losing seasons under Guillen. Their best season was the 2005 season where the White Sox finished with a 99-63 record and brought the World Series trophy to a starved city of Chicago with a sweep of the Houston Astros. The cafes and restaurants of the Little Havana neighborhood in Miami will be super-charged with strong black coffee and baseball talk. Bienvenidos to Miami Ozzie. Buena suerte. Quizas lo vas a necesitar.

FH

For Further Reading
- Click Here to Access Ozzie Guillen's career managerial statistics from BaseballReference.com
- Click Here to access Mark Gonzales' article Sox set to receive two players for Guillen from the Chicago Tribune website dated September 27, 2011

The Florida Marlins Play the Trade Game

A few days ago I posted that the Oakland Athletics were making waves this offseason on the West Coast. Well folks, the waves are not exclusive to the Oakland. Over here on the East Coast, the Florida Marlins have been making their own waves though the reaction to the waves have been anything less than positive. The Marlins have made three trades with the biggest being the trade of second baseman Dan Uggla to the division rival Atlanta Braves. Before I go into that trade, allow me to shed light on the other two trades that went down earlier this week.

- Andrew Miller to Boston
When the Florida Marlins traded starter Dontrelle Willis, first baseman Miguel Cabrera to the Detroit Tigers for Dallas Trahern (minors), Burke Badenhop, Eulogio de la Cruz, Cameron Maybin, Andrew Miller and Mike Rabelo in 2008, shockwaves were felt throughout the majors. If I'm not mistaken, Andrew Miller was deemed to be the jewel of Tigers' prospects that were shipped to South Beach.

According to the Andrew Miller page on the official North Carolina athletics page Miller in 2006 was chosen as Baseball America National Player of the Year and won the Roger Clemens Award winner as nation's top collegiate pitcher. Miller was also a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy and Brooks Wallace Award. In addition, Miller was chosen to the Collegiate Baseball, Baseball America, NCBWA and Rivals.com first-team All-America. While at North Carolina, Miller set North Carolina's single-season (133) and career strikeout records (325).

His production at North Carolina led to his being picked by the Detroit Tigers with the sixth overall pick in the 2006 MLB Draft (ahead of current major-leaguers Clayton Kershaw and Tim Lincecum among others). His massive potential led to a call up in August of 2006 just months after being drafted. In two seasons with the Tigers, potential remained just that as Miller compiled a 5-6 record with a 5.69 ERA in 21 games. Miller struck out 62 and walked 49 while giving up 81 hits for a WHIP of 1.749.

After the trade to Florida, Miller's troubles continued. From 2008-2010 Miller accumulated a 10-20 record with an ERA of 5.89 in 58 games. Miller struck out 176 while walking 125 and giving up 256 hits for a WHIP of 1.732. After running out of Minor League options, Miller was dealt to the Boston Red Sox for pitcher Dustin Richardson.

In Richardson, the Marlins get a 26-year old left-hander who two seasons with Boston accrued a 0-0 record with an ERA of 3.31 in 29 games. Richardson struck out 12 while walking 14 and giving up 18 hits for a WHIP of 2.020. Meanwhile, Miller will join the Red Sox and his North Carolina teammate Daniel Bard. Maybe this change of scenery will prove more successful to Andrew Miller.

- Cameron Maybin to San Diego
Another piece to that big 2009 trade was outfielder Cameron Maybin who after a breakout season of sorts was traded by the Marlins to the San Diego Padres for relievers Ryan Webb and Edward Mujica. Since I wasn't very familiar with these players, I decided to look to my twitter log for some insight.


According to the Twitter feed of Mickey Koke from the Friarhood blogpage dated November 13, I got the following information on the players involved in the trade:

The #Padres lost two solid arms in Webb (the centerpiece of the deal) and Edward Mujica. Having said that, the #Padres did not give up their top arms in Bell, Adams, Gregerson and Freri. Very solid deal for a 5-tool Of with loads of potential that is still ONLY going to be 24 in April.

Ben Badler of Baseball America also states the following about Maybin on his Twitter feed:

Does Maybin's swing have holes? Sure. Worth taking a chance on a 23-y.o. CF w/ a .325/.401/.477 AAA line in 486 PAs last 2 yrs? Absolutely

From what I can tell both teams benefited from this exchange. The Padres get a 5-tool, 24-year old outfielder who has tremendous potential while the Marlins get two relievers who help to shore up their bullpen. Webb was 3-1 with a 2.90 ERA in 54 games. He struck out 44 while walking 19 and giving up 64 hits for a WHIP of 1.407. Mujica went 2-1 with a 3.62 ERA in 59 games. He struck out 72 while walking only 6. Mujica gave up 59 hits for an impressive WHIP of 0.933. In the short term I think the Marlins have the edge with this trade. We'll have to see how Maybin plays this season with the Padres.

- Dan Uggla to Atlanta
In the big trade to rock the baseball world today was the trade of second baseman Dan Uggla to the division rival Atlanta Braves for infielder Omar Infante and pitcher Mike Dunn. It was reported that the Marlins were trying to sign Uggla to a 4-year 48-million dollar extension which Uggla rejected. It is believed that Uggla was looking for a deal in the 5-year 71-million dollar range.


From what I've read, the general consensus believes that the Marlins basically gave away Uggla and to a division rival no less. Uggla has been an offensive force for the Marlins from the second base position who in 5 major league season is hitting an average of .263 with 32 Homeruns and 97 RBI. Uggla is good for about 161 hits a season (35 2B/3 3B/32 HRs) and an OPS of .837 (.347 OBP/.488 SLG). Uggla is also a consistent player having played an average of 155 games per season. Economically, the deal might benefit the Marlins more.

Had they not traded Uggla now, they might have ended up trading him during the season with risking losing him after next season if they didn't deal him. According to J.C. Bradbury of Sabernomics.com:

I estimate Uggla’s play to be worth $11 million in 2011, while collecting a salary of $9-$10 million in his final year of arbitration. I estimate Infante to be worth $5.5 million with his salary contractually set at $2.5 million. Dunn is expected to be worth $800,000 with an estimated salary of just over the league minimum of $400,000. The values reveal that the Braves become a better team, but they will be paying for it. Infante will be in the last year of his contract, while Dunn still has five years of service time left...Infante will immediately fill Uggla’s hole in the lineup, and while I don’t expect him to repeat his 2010, he’ll do a fine job on a reasonable contract. Dunn’s performance projection has wide variance; he could become a regular reliever or never make a big-league roster again. He’s a junk bond that the Marlins are willing to gamble on. When the Marlins open their new stadium in 2012, they’ll have salary room to add a player or two and be on the fringe of contention as they seem to be every year.

Alden Gonzalez in his blogpost You can't really blame the Marlins this time from Gonzo and "The Show" also believes that the Marlins did the right thing in trading Uggla. This opinion goes against the general consensus who believe that the Marlins are once again selling off their best players. Time will tell on that one.

On the Atlanta Braves side, the deal shores up a big hole the Braves had with second base. Watching Brooks Conrad make error after error in the NLDS against the Giants proves that the Braves needed help and Uggla will be a defensive improvement. Uggla also helps bolster the Braves lineup and moves into the lineup with such hitters as Heyward, McCann and a (hopefully) healthy Chipper Jones. Hopefully the Braves can resign Uggla to a deal or risk losing him to free agency after the 2011 season.

Already the financial freedom for the Marlins has translated to results for the Marlins with the signing of catcher John Buck to a 3-year 18-million dollar contract. Maybe the Marlins will still be in the hunt for a few more players this offseason. Still it is hard to think that the Florida Marlins couldn't have gotten "more" from other suitors for Uggla throughout the league.

FH

For Further Reading
- Click Here for Alden Gonzalez's article from MLB.com on the Andrew Miller/Dustin Richardson trade
- Click Here for Corey Brock and Joe Frisaro's article from MLB.com on the Cameron Maybin trade to the San Diego Padres
- Click Here for Mark Bowman's article from MLB.com on the Dan Uggla trade to the Atlanta Braves
- Click Here to read J.C. Bradbury's article Breaking Down Uggla for Infante and Dunn from Sabernomics.com
- Click Here to read Alden Gonzalez's article You can't really blame the Marlins this time from his blogpage Gonzo and "The Show"
-Click Here for Joe Frisaro and Alden Gonzalez's article from MLB.com on the signing of John Buck by the Florida Marlins
- Click Here to access The Friarhood.com

Edwin Rodriguez The 1st Puerto Rican Manager in MLB

With the firing of Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez this morning, his replacement makes history. Edwin Rodriguez becomes the 1st Puerto Rican manager in the Majors after taking over the reins of the Florida Marlins with the dismissal of Fredi Gonzalez after a disappointing (to team owner Jeffrey Loria) 34-36 record. It was believed (again by Jeffrey Loria) that the Marlins were a playoff caliber team. The situation was compounded by a benching of superstar Hanley Ramirez and the ensuing public dispute between Gonzalez and Ramirez. (Photo Credit: Andres Leighton/AP Photo)

Rodriguez, in his eighth season in the Marlins organization, managed their AAA affiliate the New Orleans Zephers for the past season and a half. Rodriguez had spent two years as manager of Single-A Greensboro (2007-08), two as manager of the Gulf Coast League Marlins (2005-06), and two as hitting coach for Double-A Carolina (2003-04). Rodriguez also was part of the Tampa Bay organization, managing Rookie-level Princeton for three seasons (2000-02) and Class A Hudson Valley for one (1999). He played parts of three seasons with the Yankees and Padres from 1982-85. Rodriguez joins Juan Samuel as the 2nd Latino to be hired as a major league manager (Samuel is the interim manager for the Baltimore Orioles).

In terms of the departing Gonzalez, he has the most wins of any manager in Marlins history with an overall record of 276-279. After an overachieving 2008 season where the Marlins finished in 2nd place in the NL East with an 84-77 record, he was named The Sporting News' Manager of the Year.

As much as I hate to see a Latino lose his job, I'm glad to see that another one was chosen to right the ship. Felicidades Edwin, good luck.

FH

Curious Trivia Questions from Last Night

There weren't many game on last night and I saw two trivia questions that I found real curious and interesting. Here goes.

1. Which pitcher has the most wins for one franchise
The answer is Walter Perry "Big Train" Johnson. In 20 seasons with the Washington Senators (1907-1927), Johnson compiled a 417-279 record with a 2.17 ERA (WOW!!!!!!), 4913 Hits, 1363 BB, 3509 K's and a WHIP of 1.061. To make his numbers look even more astonishing, Johnson appeared in 802 games of which he started 666 and completed 531 of those games with 110 of those games being shutouts. Johnson had 10 consecutive seasons of 20 or more win seasons with his best being in 1913 when he was 36-7 with a 1.14 ERA with 232 Hits in 346 innings pitched. Johnson walked only 38 with 243 K's. Johnson started 48 games, completed 29 and threw 11 shutouts. Not surprisingly, Johnson won the first of his two MVP awards (1913 and 1924). Johnson is second in total wins just being Cy Young. Johnson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in the inaugural class of 1936. His performance was truly amazing since in the 20 years he played in Washington, the Senators finished in 1st twice (1924/1925), in 2nd twice (1912/1913) and won only one World Series in two attempts (1924 against the New York Giants). Truly amazing.

2. Aside from the Arizona Diamonbacks, there are 4 other franchises that have not had a player win the regular season MVP award, who are they.
Myron and I sat there trying to guess who the teams were. I had guessed that at least two of the remaining four had to be part of the recent expansion teams. I chose the Florida Marlins and the Tampa Bay Rays. I also figured the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals have never had an MVP and then I was stumped. I thought maybe San Diego or maybe the Milwaukee Brewers didn't have an MVP, but the answer truly surprised me: The New York Mets. The Mets have never had a regular season MVP.

Now I was a bit taken aback at that since I was sure that at the very least, the Mets would have had an MVP either in 1969 or 1986. But researching the MVP winners list, Willie McCovey won the award in 1969 and Mike Schmidt had won the award in 1986. Truly surprising indeed.