Best Deal This Winter?

by on 01/16/2010 in MLB News

You’re probably saying John Lackey to Boston or maybe the weirdest move this winter when the Phillies sent Cliff Lee to the Mariners to acquire Roy Halladay from Toronto. None of these are the best deals of the winter IMO.

I can probably think of better deals, but a good deal is one that doesn’t come with a huge price tag for a young quality player. Are you still guessing? In my opinion the best deal happened on January 14 when the Florida Marlins signed Josh Johnson for $39MM over 4 years.

Josh Johnson gets $3.75 million this year, $7.75 million in 2011 and $13.75 million in each of the following two seasons. Josh Johnson is regarded as one of baseball’s best young pitchers, he made the All-Star team for the first time last year, when he had a career-best record of 15-5 with an ERA of 3.23 in 209 innings.

Josh eats innings and for any bullpen, that spells relief! Josh Johnson is young (26) on January 31.

You may disagree, but for the price and the fact it’s back loaded, it’s a bargain. The Florida Marlins are known for their off-the-wall fire sales. It’s nice to see them reach in their pockets for a change – no pun intended.

The only good day for Marlin fans is when Josh pitches, because after him they have Ricky Nolasco (13-9, 5.06ERA) and Andrew Miller (3-5, 4.84 ERA). It will be a long season for Marlin fans so sit back and watch the better teams play in Florida during spring training.

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