Jim Johnson, 2012 Topps Orioles Team Set #BALT13

Wow, the Orioles sure got out while the getting was good with Jim Johnson. Last night, the ex-Orioles closer faced his old teammates for the second time this season. For the second time, he allowed a home run that extended an O's lead, as Chris Davis led off the ninth inning in Oakland with a no-doubt blast to right field to push the Baltimore lead to 8-4. Johnson only saved two games for the A's before getting demoted from the closer role, and here in mid-July his earned run average sits at an unsightly 6.25. He's allowed 56 hits in 40.1 innings, with 23 walks, 28 strikeouts, and five homers. His WHIP is 1.96, and whenever he pitches at home (where he's got a 10.29 ERA and 2.79 WHIP in 16 games) the fans are ready to jeer him at the drop of a hat. All that, and he's making $10 million dollars for a cash-strapped team. I'm actually starting to feel bad for Dirty Jim, but I'm glad that he's not our problem.

Jim Johnson, 2013 Bowman Chrome #185

Jim Johnson might be the only guy who's had a worse first week of the 2014 than the Orioles. On Monday, Oakland and the Indians were scoreless when the new A's closer entered the game in the ninth. Five batters later, he'd given up two runs and only recorded one out. The Athletics lost the game, and Jim was serenaded with boos as he headed for the showers. Two days later, he got his first save chance of the year in the nightcap of a doubleheader. Trying to protect a 3-2 lead, JJ instead gave up three runs on three hits and two walks in two-thirds of an inning and earned his second loss. On the plus side, he did lower his ERA from 54.00 to 45.00. Today, he finally escaped an inning unscathed, but it was an eighth-inning appearance with Oakland trailing Seattle by two. So that's a start.

Jim Johnson, 2013 Topps Allen and Ginter Mini Black #166

Just like that, the Baltimore bullpen is 50 saves and $10-11 million lighter. Jim Johnson, erstwhile closer and one of the senior Orioles (drafted in 2001, O's debut in 2006), has been traded to the Athletics for second baseman Jemile Weeks and the ever-cryptic Player to Be Named Later. You never like to see an established star leave, but it is encouraging to see the Birds sell a guy when his salary starts outstripping his value. There are better ways to spend money than on a "proven closer", since plenty of previously-anonymous pitchers have proven capable of racking up saves when given the chance. I'll never forget Dirty Jim's contributions to the suddenly-competitive Orioles of 2012, even if his hiccups in 2013 put a couple dings in the team's postseason hopes. He was also a valuable setup man from 2008 onward, and I'll root for him in Oakland as long as he's not facing our guys.

As for Weeks, he's not head and shoulders above the other candidates in the O's second base soup despite his lineage (younger brother of the Brewers' Rickie Weeks) and his pedigree as the twelfth overall pick in the 2008 draft. But he's got a penchant for walking, a rare commodity in Birdland, and he's two years removed from a rookie batting line of .303/.340/.421. It's worth a shot. Incidentally, I was in attendance for Jemile's big league debut on June 7, 2011. Now I'd like to see the Birds spend the money they've saved on a big-ticket player elsewhere. Something tells me that Santa Claus might be the best bet on that one.

Jim Johnson, 2013 Panini Prizm #77

Tonight I said my personal goodbye to Oriole Park at Camden Yards and I was able to leave smiling, thanks to a 6-5 comeback win that featured Brian Roberts' eighth home run in his 76th game, each of those his highest totals since 2009. Steve Pearce had a pair of doubles and three RBI, including the go-ahead hit in the bottom of the eighth. Young Kevin Gausman earned his third career win with some crucial outs in relief, and Jim Johnson earned his 49th save of the 2013 season by freezing Johnny Gomes with a 3-2 pitch to strand Quintin Berry on second base. The O's clinched their second straight season series win over Boston, the first time they've done the trick back-to-back since 1991-1992. Thanks for everything, guys. I'll see you in April.

Jim Johnson, 2006 Upper Deck Update #1022

Jim Johnson had a rare luxury in this afternoon's game against the Rays: he was called upon to finish a game in a non-save situation. Thanks in large part to Chris Tillman's six innings of two-run ball and Chris Davis' two-hit, four-RBI game, the Orioles handed a 6-2 ninth-inning lead to their closer. After allowing back-to-back singles to start out, Jim wrapped things up in his customary fashion with a pair of ground balls to account for the three outs he needed. I'm just hoping that the O's carry over a bit of momentum into tomorrow night's series opener with Oakland, as I will be attending the game with my dad and uncle. I've already been to eight games at Camden Yards in 2012, and I'm working with a 6-2 record. 7-2 sounds pretty good.

Jim Johnson, 2009 Upper Deck O-Pee-Chee #88

At long last, in the final month of the 2011 season, Buck Showalter has tired of watching that junk-tossing galoot Kevin Gregg blowing saves. For the past few weeks, he's instead trusted the Orioles' ninth-inning leads to Jim Johnson, who is *gasp* the best reliever in the bullpen. And guess what? The sinkerballer has gotten the job done with efficiency and a decided lack of drama. Since September 7, when he pitched around a walk and a single to preserve a 5-4 11-inning win over the Yankees, Johnson is 6-for-6 in save situations. He has allowed no runs, one hit, and three walks, though oddly he hasn't recorded a strikeout. (Full disclosure: he surrendered a run in his only non-save appearance, finishing out a 6-2 win over the Angels. In that outing, he struck out a pair. Go figure.)

It's nice to not have to sweat out those last three outs of the game. I've had my fill of Doug Jones and Jorge Julio meltdowns, of George Sherrill and Kevin Gregg tightrope acts. It's heaven on earth to see the rarest of sights for an O's fan, a quick and easy ninth inning in a close game. For a reliever - any reliever - to have a series like Johnson just did in Boston is a rare and beautiful thing. In helping the Birds secure their first series win at Fenway since 2003, J.J. saved all three Oriole wins. He eight of the nine batters he faced; Jacoby Ellsbury reached on catcher's interference on an 0-2 pitch on Tuesday night and was immediately wiped out by a Dustin Pedroia double play grounder. In fact, all nine outs recorded by Johnson came on grounders, which tells you just how well his stuff is working right now. He disposed of the Red Sox on 27 pitches total over those three games, allowing him to work without a night off in between.

There's been a lot of talk about moving Jim Johnson to the starting rotation in 2012, and considering the strides he's made as a pitcher in the past few years, the Orioles would be foolish not to try it. After all, a pitcher with Johnson's talents can provide more value in 160 innings than he can in 70 or 90. Besides, we all know that the O's never seem to be able to find enough starters. But I can think of worse things than giving him the ball for those late, high-leverage innings.

*Of course it would figure that by the time I posted this, Kevin Gregg was called upon in the ninth inning of tonight's 6-5 win over the Tigers, and got the save with a 1-2-3 inning. I remain confident that Jim Johnson would have been in there if he hadn't worked three straight days in Boston.