Atlanta Braves Chris Johnson? It could be worse…

Yesterday Atlanta Braves Country…

… found out through a Chris Johnson interview orchestrated by beat writer Mark Bowman that Chris is frustrated and hopes the Braves can move him soon.  We feel ya, Chris! As Braves fans, we are also frustrated.

In hindsight, Chris Johnson‘s contract seems like a hasty move by Frank Wren that came after the extension crazed offseason where we saw Freddie Freeman, Julio Teheran, Craig Kimbrel, Andrelton Simmons, and Jason Heyward all inked to multi-year contracts. The extension occurred after Johnson had put up a fantastic 2013 campaign in which his slash-line was .321/.358/.457. But there were warning signs late in that season that Johnson’s run of a ridiculously high BABIP was crashing down as the last 2 months of that season his batting average dropped from a peaked .346 to .321.

However, the big whammy came next season when Johnson started his 2014 season horrendously, hitting to the tune of a .590 OPS through his first 25 games and not finding the magic that was granted to him by sustaining a high BABIP. Apparently Frank Wren hadn’t been looking at the box score because prior to the 26th game, the Braves signed Johnson to a contract extension for 3 more years at 23.5 million dollars.

And the Braves have been regretting it since.

So yes, the Braves have themselves a bad contract.  And if you look at Braves Cot’s Contracts, they actually have a few of them:

"1. Bronson Arroyo being paid about 9 million more dollars not to pitch 2. Trevor Cahill about 3 million more dollars to pitch for someone else 3. Carlos Quentin about 4 million more dollars to retire 4. And…oh boy, Dan Uggla about 6 million more dollars to torture ONLY US and to play for the Washington Nationals."

There’s nothing the Braves can do about the above 4…. the stupid proverb “It is what it is” rings true here.  But the Braves can continue to try and find a way to rid themselves of Chris Johnson’s contract, of which will cost them about 20 million more dollars through 2017.

But let me tell you Braves fans, it could be worse. MUCH, MUCH WORSE.  Today, we will be venturing into the world of bad contracts throughout the MLB, not to try to match Chris Johnson in a trade for another, equally bad contract, but just to show you that, in retrospect, it’s not that bad.

What we do already know is that the Braves have been shopping Chris and there were reports earlier that the Braves and Cleveland Indians discussed a Chris Johnson/Nick Swisher poor contract trade, but it fell through for varying reasons.  So, it’s not out of the realm of possibilities.

Next: We'll start out west...the American League West! Holy Cano-ly!