Dan Johnson is the Latest MLB’er on his Way to Japan
Nikkan Sports is reporting that Yokohama has reached an agreement to bring Tampa Bay Ray Dan Johnson over to Japan. I saw Johnson quite a bit when he was with the A’s, and I like his approach at the plan; he always had a plan and was very patient. Where he plays in Yokohama will be a question, the BayStars have batting champion Seiichi Uchikawa at first, Johnson probably isn’t much of an outfielder and there’s no DH in the Central League. My gut feel is that he’ll wind up in left.
19/12/2008 at 6:32 pm Permalink
An Aaron Guile type player, I like this move! Though, patient approach at the plate is still very much underappreciated in Japan.
20/12/2008 at 1:00 am Permalink
Yeah, that’s true, though I always thought Ken Suzuki and Kosuke Fukudome could work a count. He’ll be appreciated by me at least.
21/12/2008 at 1:52 am Permalink
Oh! DJ! Wow, it’ll be bizarre to see him in Japan, but I watched him with the A’s and Rivercats quite a bit 🙂
I do have to wonder where he’ll end up. I guess 1B actually, and Uchikawa will go elsewhere, maybe. Even when it was between Swish and DJ at first, they’d usually put Swisher in the outfield, IIRC…
(dang, I would have liked to see him as a DH for the Fighters or Marines! Seriously!)
21/12/2008 at 9:09 am Permalink
Great pickup… He got stuck in TB last year… Woulda played MLB with other orgs…. Good luck DJ… Should have a long solid career over there
27/01/2009 at 7:15 pm Permalink
If you like baseball, you will really like DJ. This Major Leager has game. He plays great defense and is even better on offense. Really looking forward to following DJ and the BayStars this season.