The Arizona Diamondbacks jumped into the free agent market after two weeks of inactivity to re-sign one of their own. After a few days of negotiations and fielding offers from other teams closer Jim Johnson agreed to a $23.4 million four year deal to return to Arizona. Johnson decided to test the market after a record setting stretch of two years, but the offers didn't materialize for the 30 year old reliever and he ultimately decided to take a longer contract over a higher annual salary. A number of teams expressed interest on two year deals, but Johnson did not want to risk hitting the market at 32. The return of Johnson and the addition of Joakim Soria via trade gives the Diamondbacks a chance to form a solid 1-2 punch at the end of games.
Can Johnson be the first to post three 50+ save seasons in a row?
After recording two consecutive seasons with 50 or more saves Jim Johnson made history as the second player in MLB history to do so. The first player was Eric Gagne (2002-2003), and he only managed one more season as an elite closer. The Diamondbacks seem to believe that Johnson will not follow Gagne's path to irrelevance, even though he has a similar pre-50 save season track record with only 21 saves in his previous five years of service time. At 30 years of age Arizona shouldn't be exposed with a four year deal, but if Johnson does follow Gagne they will be eating his contract from 2015-17.
