Last season, the Mets started revamping their lineup when they acquired Kelly Johnson from the Atlanta Braves.
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According to Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com on Twitter, the deal will send Johnson to New Yok in exchange for minor league right hander Akeel Morris. Johnson hit.250 with five homers in 49 games for the Mets last season, but the team opted not to retain him this offseason. Johnson brings positional versatility, having played everywhere except pitcher, catcher and center field in the past two years.
Johnson is hitting just.215 for Atlanta this season, but handled the bat well past year in limited time with the Mets – batting.250 with five home runs.
Johnson likely will see time at third base as a lefty complement to Wilmer Flores, as David Wright sits on the disabled list until at least August with a herniated disk in his neck. He’s hung around the majors for a long time precisely because he can play multiple positions, including second base and all the corners. Minor league righty Akeel Morris heading back in return. In Binghamton this year, Morris had a 2-2 record and a 4.62 ERA.
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The Mets might have slightly overpaid for Johnson considering that he is not producing at the rate he was a year ago, but he will be a formidable bench piece for the club and they will have him for over a month longer than they did in 2015. Over his first 25 1/3 innings this year, all coming at the Double-A level, Morris has surrendered 13 earned runs and issued 16 free passes – though he’s also allowed only 19 hits while racking up 36 strikeouts.
