Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
The Atlanta Braves‘ 2015 MLB season is going to be colored by the change in GM and the moves that have had to be made in order to stop the train wreck that former GM Frank Wren had started. If they win, it will be a greater story because of the rebuild. Chris Johnson stands as an example to what can go and wrong when a GM puts their faith in a certain player. Johnson is a more valuable version of Melvin Upton Jr., someone they cannot seem to trade away.
This situation is actually quite a bit different than the trap the Braves found themselves in with Upton Jr. While Johnson is owed $21 million through the 2017 season, it’s not the huge amount that Upton had coming his way. Also, though Upton has been reduced to basically the most expensive pinch runner in the history of the game, Johnson still has value to him that other teams need or will need.
While rumors persist that the team is having a little trouble trading him, they should absolutely keep the pressure on. Some team, somewhere will find themselves in need of a player like Johnson. He has struggled against righties but he is still clubbing lefties at the clip that nearly won him the batting title a few years ago. Add to that the fact that he plays a decent third base and first base and you have someone who might be a great add-on for a contender down the stretch.
If the Braves have to eat 70 percent of his salary over the next couple of years to get a deal done, they will be able to afford it thanks to being rid of Upton Jr’s huge contract. Johnson is not going to be who he was during his first season in Atlanta, and the inability of Wren to foresee that exemplifies the factors that eventually cost him his job. John Schuerholz, Bobby Cox and John Hart are legendary at the same job however, which is why they will find a way to get the deal done.
David Miller is an MLB Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @davidmillerrant, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
