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2005 There's no question that we are big fans of plate discipline and players that can draw walks. However, there's more to offensive production than convincing yourself to keep the bat on your shoulder, and Johnson simply lacks the requisite skills to actually hit a baseball. His .217 career batting average isn't a fluke; if you throw him strikes, you can get him out. Re-signed to a minor league deal, Johnson should head to Nashville and play Crash Davis for the pitching staff. 2003 Johnson isn’t Piazza-in-waiting, but the Sox should have taken a chance on him instead of screwing around with Sandy Alomar Jr. last year. A lot of Johnson’s offensive value comes from his strong plate discipline, which some teams don’t value as much as others. It isn’t surprising the A’s nabbed him in the Foulke-Koch trade. He’ll be backing up Ramon Hernandez in 2003, with his defense and patience giving him the opportunity to push into sharing the job. 2002 Johnson has been the Sox' best option for catcher since the middle of the 1999 season. Despite this, they've messed around with Sandy Alomar, Josh Paul, and Brook Fordyce while shuttling Johnson between Illinois and North Carolina. Feh. He was the semi-regular in the second half of 2001; if he can get 350-400 at-bats in 2002, the Sox will get back to the top of the division. Good arm. 2001 Mark Johnson is out of favor. He’s considered too passive a hitter, but drawing walks is his primary offensive skill. Unlike Josh Paul, he's never been one of Kenny Williams’s guys, even though he is an outstanding catcher and plate blocker. If the Sox weren’t so stubborn about Paul, Johnson would give them 60 walks and a dozen home runs in the ninth slot as a semi-regular. Now, he'll wait for the inevitable Sandy Alomar injury. 2000 Johnson is already one of the best defensive catchers in the game, good at framing and receiving pitches. He's also one of the most nimble catchers, making it look easy when he pushes off his back leg from the crouch to put himself squarely in front of an errant pitch. Beyond that, he contributes to the offense by working pitchers and taking walks. He’s comparable to Mike LaValliere, and potentially better. 1998 Johnson has been a disappointment since his selection in the first round, but he’s a polished defender and handles his pitching staff well. Although he isn’t progressing offensively like they’d hoped, he has the most important offensive skill: control of the strike zone. 1997 Late bloomer? It took him three tries, until he was 26, to figure out AA pitching, and you could charitably call 1995 a year that should have been spent in Calgary. It’s hard to imagine he’ll do any better than this, and it’s barely adequate for a first baseman.
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