There was actually a good 10 run difference between Johjima and RJ in non-CERA defense. When Joh's is the better hitter and the better "measurable" defender, it comes down to CERA. By "measurable value" the Ms are going to lose roughly 2 WAR next season at catcher.
Personally I'm still bitter about the way Johjima was treated by fellow players. With reports from Ichiro about Joh crying behind the scenes and the fact that Joh tended to do worse with vets and better with post -06 rookies.. I'll just say that I'm not very happy at all with the way the Ms handled that situation (especially compared to how something like this would have gone down in Boston).
That said, it is very possible that this kind uncomfortable situation could lead to bad results on the mound. Its also possible that it didn't. We will just have to see.
Lookout Landing with their usual rock-solid job of thinking through the question of Johjima vs Johnson. This of course goes to the issue of M's pitching in 2010.
Johjima-san, who is one of my favorite players, consistently ran CERA's 1.00 to 2.00 runs worse than other Mariners catchers during his career here. I believe that this was 80% - 90% the fault of everybody except Johjima, and yes, I know exactly how weird it is to say that.
Should M's fans expect runs-off-the-scoreboard, for the enemy, because Johjima left? If not -- is it reasonable for M's fans to hope for fewer runs allowed?
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=== I-5 Mile Markers ===
Exit numbers being rough and from memory. :- )
2006 to May 2009 -- all of the scouts rave about Johnson's natural catching and his technical progress, except for blocked pitches.
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2008 - Dr. D observes Johnson at Cheney and is underwhelmed. Johnson frequently has trouble even catching the baseball, it seems to him. Aside from the three balls a game that bounce off the backstop about 10 feet :- ) behind Johnson, about twice that many are dropped and roll a couple of feet away.
Well, y'know.
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Early 2009 - Johnson comes up and, from the sabermetrically-oriented in Seattle, draws skepticism.
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May 5, 2009 - Dr. D opines that Rob Johnson will probably have a Dan Wilson career in the major leagues, albeit with less playing time.
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May 1 -June 15, 2009 - most of cyber-Seattle wonders how Wakamatsu can justify playing Rob Johnson, whose early batting lines are very weak and whose WAR's look bad in his first couple of months as a major leaguer.
July 2009 - Johnson goes on a hitting tear in which he BB's more than he K's and shows excellent gap power. Sandy points this out and protests against Johnson's PT cease.
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August 6, 2009 - Having watched Johnson for a while, Dr. D offers an argument that it's not only possible that the scouts are right about Johnson's defense being plus, but perhaps (60-40) probable that the scouts are right.
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Sept-Oct 2009 - Skepticism continues in cyber-Seattle about Johnson's defense.
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Oct. 19, 2009 - Dr. D states that he would be just fine with an Adam Moore, Rob Johnson situation at catcher in 2010 -- more than fine, in fact, since money could then be deployed elsewhere.
He was trolling for a bit of shock and resistance, but received little overt criticism for the piece. :- )
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Late Oct. 2009 - The Mariners themselves sent signals that they were perfectly fine with Moore and Johnson at catcher in 2010.
No real objection has been raised to this paradigm, since, that I have seen.
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Nov. 8, 2009 - Lookout Landing pushes the soccer ball upfield, furthering discussion of Johnson's defense with a well-thought-out analysis of Johnson's overall value. LL's syllogism goes as follows:
1. Johnson doesn't have much value, unless his CERA is a real skill.
2. It's highly doubtful that his CERA is a real skill.
3. It's highly doubtful that Johnson has much value.
The logic is sound, obviously; only the premises, not the validity, are open to investigation.
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Comments
we're just talking about whether the pitchers will throw better, now that they don't have a resistance to their batterymate, but yeah, you've got the SB's, the offense, etc.
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I think I'm more bitter than you about the treatment of Johjima-san, Taro, though don't usually phrase it in those terms.
Am not sure how much difference there is between the clubhouse / on-field environments that Johjima played in, vs. Jackie Robinson's. I'm sure the M's players, and Hargrove etc., didn't intend racist harassment, but in practical terms, the situation appeared to be just about as lonely and hostile, and for similar reasons ("you're not like us").
Yet Robinson is (perhaps properly) deified, and Johjima gets zero credit whatsoever for his courage and grace.
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I do think it's fair to note that a white catcher would probably face just as bad a situation in the NPB.