Jim Johnson: A Pretender?

Over the past few days, the Orioles have experienced a failure in an area that has been consistent for them all of last year.  Jim Johnson has blown two saves in the past week against San Diego (1-Run Lead) and last night against Tampa (2-Run Lead).   Jim Johnson has entered unfamiliar territory for him and the question lies if he is the Pretender?

I made the bold prediction at the beginning of this season that Jim Johnson would not be our closer by the end of this year.  This wasn’t so much towards the fact that I didn’t have faith in his ability, but I felt as if the Orioles had other players able to step into that role including Darren O’Day, Pedro Strop, or Tommy Hunter.  I believed that Jim Johnson would be a valuable trade chip for the Orioles and that they should consider using him in order to garner prospects or a starting pitcher.  Of course, the only trade rumor around Jim Johnson this off-season was Rick Porcello who has an odd 2013 season to say the least.

However, the prevalent opinion was it was not worth it to give up a known quantity for a question mark.  However, we are now in the position of having the potential for a question mark as our closer.  Johnson has shown a lack of control with a higher WHIP and BB/9 for this season than last.

Am I saying I was right and Birdland was wrong?  No.  Do I think Jim Johnson is going to come back and be a dominant closer once again?  Yes.  However, we as fans have to be careful not to overvalue certain players.  Sometimes you have to make a move when a player’s value is at his highest in order to get the most return.  Tampa has been known to do this many times and its the sign of a good franchise competing against the money juggernauts in MLB.

So Jim Johnson, who are you?  Yeah, who are you? Yeah, who are you?