Yankees sign Nick Johnson to one-year deal
Posted on December 19, 2009
Nick Johnson #24 of the Washington Nationals bats against the San Francisco Giants during the game at AT&T Park on May 13, 2009 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Brad Mangin)
The San Francisco Giants will have to look elsewhere for a free-agent bat to help their sagging offense as free agent first baseman Nick Johnson signed a one-year deal with the New York Yankees on Friday for a reported $5.5 million. This move by the Yankees means that free agent Johnny Damon will not be back in New York. Maybe he will end up in San Francisco!
Nick Johnson #24 of the Washington Nationals bats against the San Francisco Giants during the game at AT&T Park on May 13, 2009 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Brad Mangin)
Johnson will be returning to The Bronx to wear the same pinstripes he wore his first three seasons in the big leagues. The 31-year-old will replace World Series MVP Hideki Matsui in the Yankees lineup. Johnson split time in 2009 between the Nationals and Marlins where he hit a combined .291 with eight homers, 62 RBIs, 99 walks, a .426 on-base percentage and a .405 slugging percentage.
Nick Johnson #24 of the Washington Nationals runs the bases against the San Francisco Giants during the game at AT&T Park on May 13, 2009 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Brad Mangin)
Johnson has spent the off season on the Giants short list of decent available free agent bats that could play first base, including Adam LaRoche. Now that Johnson is off the market the Giants will continue to wait and hope the market slows down so the prices cool off. They just don’t want to spend any money. They keep telling their fans to be patient, but things are looking pretty grim out there.
Nick Johnson of the Washington Nationals bats during a game against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park in San Francisco, CA on May 8, 2005. (Photo by Brad Mangin)
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