Josh Johnson Signs Extension With Marlins

Sports News - January 15th, 2010 - Written By John

Earlier in the week, it was announced that Major League Baseball's union determined that the Florida Marlins were failing to live up to their end of the revenue sharing agreement, which obligates teams to use their share of baseball's kickback money to improve their team.

It was believed the ruling, which ordered the Marlins to use the extra cash on players, would force the team to start with pricey contract extensions with it's own players to finally give the franchise some stability in it's 18th season.

Thursday night, that proved to be the case.

Florida and pitcher Josh Johnson have reportedly agreed to a $39 million contract that will keep the righty in Miami for another four years.

"I'm excited,'' Johnson said. "It sets up me and my family for life. One of the best parts is knowing where I'm going to be the next four years. I won't have to hear about any trade rumors or anything like that. I'm happy to be in South Florida.''

The move allows the Marlins to avoid dealing with impending arbitration, and keeps Johnson from pondering his next move. He will be given just under four million this year, then his pay will jump to $7.75 million in 2011, and again to $13.75 million in 2012.

According to ESPN, it's the second-biggest contract for a pitcher given a second contract, just under Johan Santana's $40 million deal signed in 2005.

Johnson was Florida's best pitcher this year after Tommy John surgery benched him for all of 2008, racing off to a brilliant start and finishing 15-5. He made the 2009 All-Star team and struck out 191 batters in 209 innings. But it was believed that he was not long for the Marlins because of the team's frugal nature and his desire to come close to Zack Greinke's $38 million deal signed a few months ago.

Worse news was teammate Jeremy Hermida, who was also due arbitration soon, was dealt to the Boston Red Sox in a cost-cutting move.

It seemed like the two parties were at a crossroads until the union found Florida to be giving a poor effort to use it's resources to sign top players, which is the point of revenue sharing, and outlined penalties if it continued doing so. The Marlins agreed to change with news of a brand-new stadium coming in 2012.

"Jeffrey Loria, our owner, came up to me a couple of times during the season and said, 'We'll get something done -- I promise you,'" Johnson said. "Even when the talks broke down, I was confident we would get something done.''

The Marlins' $36.8 million payroll is almost as much as New York Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez's alone, and is easily the cheapest tag in all of MLB Baseball. The team was even considering trading second baseman Dan Uggla, who has made the All-Star team twice and is one of the two most recognizable faces on the team.

"In response to our concerns that revenue sharing proceeds have not been used as required," union director Michael Weiner said. "The Marlins have assured the Union and the Commissioner's Office that they plan to use such proceeds to increase player payroll annually as they move toward the opening of their new ballpark."