Bavasi Signs Johjima For Three More Years

Three more years of the deuce at catcher. Here's the M's official release.

Reaction from USS Mariner was swift and negative: "Signing [Johjima] through his age 35 season is a classic M’s move, as they consistently show willingness to have bad long term contracts in exchange for some short term rewards."

John Hickey of the P-I appears to be mystified: " This is one of the more improbable postings of the year ... not because Johjima is hitting .200 this year, which he is, or because he doesn't have any home runs, which he doesn't. It's improbable because catching is the one area where the Mariners seem fully stocked for the next 3-5 years."

Oddly, both the P-I (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseball/360219_mfarm23.html) and Tacoma News Tribune (today), had stories this week averring that Jeff Clement is ready to catch at the major league level. The source for both stories was M's minor league coordinator Roger Hansen. Evidently the Mariner front office does not agree.

Or, possibly, they think Clement's such a good hitter, they don't want the risk of having him behind the plate full time (see Mauer, Joe).