From Jerry Crasnick:

Pitcher Josh Johnson reached an agreement on a four-year, guaranteed $39 million contract that will keep him with the Florida Marlins through 2013. The pitcher confirmed the agreement to ESPN.com Thursday….

The deal will pay Johnson $3.75 million this season, $7.75 million in 2011 and $13.75 million in each of the 2012 and 2013 seasons.

The contract buys out the final two years of salary arbitration eligibility and the first two years of free agency for Johnson, who has a 34-16 record and a 3.40 ERA in parts of five seasons with the Marlins.

Yesterday, we discussed the agreement between the Marlins, MLB, and MLBPA in which the Marlins agreed to spend more money on players. At the time, I suggested that this may actually have a negative effect on the Yankees, as the Marlins would be more likely to lock up their great young talents. Signing Josh Johnson was exactly what MLB intended when they directed the Marlins to spend more, and can only be good for baseball.

The problem with teams like the Marlins is not that they do not go out every offseason and frivolously throw money at the Brandon Lyons and Jose Valverdes of the world. Rather, the issue is that they refuse to spend to keep their young cores together once they begin to get even a little bit pricey. AJ Burnett and Miguel Cabrera would make the 2010 Marlins a legitimate contender, but they had to let them go for financial reasons. If that changes, fans of those clubs may be able to from lasting attachments to players that come up in the system. While this development may not be great for the Yankees, it is certainly great for the sport and its fans around the country.

From the excellent Craig Calcaterra D.J. Short over at Circling The Bases, we get word of two likely Yankee targets involved in discussions that would preclude them from making it to free agency. The first link D.J. provides is from MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro:

Sometime this week the Marlins plan to have discussions with agent Matt Sosnick regarding a contract for Josh Johnson.

Whether there is movement on a multiyear deal will depend on a key factor.

Sosnick claims if the Marlins will guarantee a four-year deal then he will listen.

Arbitration-eligible for the second time, Johnson is in line to make about $4.2 million in 2010, if both sides don’t reach a multiyear agreement for the 6-foot-7 right-hander.

Johnson is just beginning to blossom as a star pitcher, with 2009 being his first full “ace” type year. He required Tommy John surgery for an elbow injury that cost him chunks of 2007 and 2008, but is now fully healthy and seems ready to take that next step into stardom at just 26. He would garner a huge contract in free agency, but is unlikely to ever reach that point. Even if Johnson does not sign a deal with Florida, they are certain to trade him to reap a return from his departure. The cost in prospects will be extremely high, and I doubt the Yankees will be willing to give up the pieces necessary to get him. The only hope may be that Johnson refuses to sign with the club that acquires him, which would allow him to test the free agent market as a 28 year old in his prime.

The second link is to a story from Nick Cafardo about Felix Hernandez:

Talks between the Mariners and Hernandez’s agent, Alan Nero, are getting serious, and there’s more optimism that a long-term deal can get done this offseason. The Mariners have been aggressive signing players (Chone Figgins) and making trades (Cliff Lee, Casey Kotchman, Milton Bradley), and consider Hernandez the building block of their franchise.

I have a hard time seeing Felix play anywhere but Seattle. Mariners GM Jack Z is a shrewd fellow, and I am sure that he recognizes that a player of Hernandez’ caliber does not come around very often. Seattle is not a small market club, and should be able to afford Felix, who can certainly be the pitching star for that franchise for a long, long time. Seattle clearly wants to contend for the next few seasons, and keeping their ace is an important element of that plan. I am sorry, Yankee fans, but it seems like King Felix is staying in Seattle.

Photo: Hernandez- Getty Images, Johnson- SI.com

UPDATE-There have been multiple reports of the Marlins backtracking from yesterday’s John Perotto Tweet that they were “very willing” to deal the star Right hander. First came John Frisaro’s Tweet (see below) from last night, then Buster Onley’s story this morning saying he spoke to multiple GMs and nobody confirmed the story.

Now Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has the most definitive squashing of the report. In the piece he says that he’s heard from two sources who he says are close to the situation that the Marlins have no intention whatsoever of dealing their star pitcher before Opening Day 2010. It makes sense, Johnson is still not making much money and they’re heading into a new ballpark.

Just came down on John Perotto’s Twitter, the Florida Marlins Right hander is officially on the trade market. He writes:

Keep hearing #Marlins are very willing to trade Josh Johnson right now for the right package.

This could impact the Halladay sweepstakes, with another much younger high-upside arm being available at the same time. The loser of the Halladay sweepstakes could be the lead horse for Johnson, depending on what Florida needs. Johnson has 2 more years of team control before hitting free agency.

Lets go a step further with this, on the heels of today’s Halladay news. Lets say Montero+ package gets you Halladay, but a Montero+Joba/Hughes is needed to land Johnson. Which one you go for?

EDIT-Now Joe Frisaro has Tweeted that he’s not hearing the same things that Perotto is. Here’s his quote:

There is going to be plenty of speculation about Josh Johnson being trade bait. From what I’m hearing, don’t buy into it.

Could be the first report is erroneous, or that the Marlins don’t want to look too anxious to deal him. Decide for yourself, but my guess is he’s still on the market.

Roy may be wearing a new red cap

Is anyone else not all that worried if the Red Sox get Roy Halladay?

To be clear, I don’t think it will happen with them for the same reason it won’t happen with us. Despite their recent statements to the contrary, the Blue Jays really don’t want to deal him in division if at all possible. They’ll use both teams to drive the price up and then trade him for the next best package that comes from out of their division. They don’t want to see him in the visitors dugout 19 games next year, possibly pitching 4-5 games against them. The fact that he’s so popular in Toronto makes it an even tougher pill for fans up there to swallow. For most of the past few seasons, having the best pitcher on either team was all that Blue Jays fans had to hang their hat on when facing the Yanks or Sox. Trading him is bad enough, trading him to their rival would really be rubbing it in.

But I just can’t get all worked up if the Sox unload their farm system AND give a 100+ mil extension for a 33 year old (next season) pitcher. I think it’s bad move, if you look at the entire deal and not just the first few seasons. It’s the kind of move bad, desperate teams make and moves like this are a big part of why some teams are bad more often than not. Halladay makes sense for the Phillies, and where they are on the win curve. He’s that one piece that can put them over the top. For the Yanks or the Sox, trading away a Joba/Hughes/Buccholtz plus another top bat to get him, you’re trading away more productivity than you will receive in all likelihood. You’re worse off as a franchise long term, and tomorrow does come around sooner than you think.

Yes, he’s one of the best pitchers around right now. But that’s past performance. The team that signs him will be paying him for what he did with the Blue Jays, and the overwhelming likelihood is that he will not be the same pitcher over the course of his next contract. He’s already been banged up a bit in recent years, and the guys who continue dominate in their late 30’s (especially in the tough AL East) are few and far between. The one guy who we all thought was the exception to the rule was Randy Johnson and he went from dominating the NL West at age 40 (ERA+ 177) to becoming a very ordinary pitcher the very next season in the AL East with the Yankees (ERA+ 112) and even worse the following season (ERA+ 90) with the Bombers.

If I’m going to give up a huge package of prospects, I want it to be for someone who is entering their prime years. Someone who I can project should put up his best seasons here, not have already had them elsewhere. The Red Sox deal for Josh Beckett comes to mind. A trade for King Felix or Josh Johnson would fit the bill. Those I guys I’d break the bank for. For Halladay, I’d only give up one of our young studs. A package of Joba+ a B-prospect? Fine. A Hughes+ filler deal? I’ll live w/it. But not multiple studs who I’ll be watching enter their prime as I watch Roy age. The ‘trade in your division’ stuff cuts both ways for me. Watching Montero hit 40 HR’s while a 36 year old Halladay spends 2 months on the DL will drive me batty,and I’m sure many other Yankee fans as well.

So while a 2010 BoSox rotation of Halladay/Beckett/Lester would be scary, and undoubtedly the best in Baseball on paper, I’ll still take my chances with the young guns we have now. Let Boston have 23 mil per year of dead weight on their books in the out years of the deal, it will affect them more than the Yanks. The Yanks are just exiting a period when they had old, unproductive dead weight on their books year after year and I don’t want to go back there anytime soon. I don’t make this deal for the same reason we didn’t make the Santana deal. I don’t want to pay twice for a pitcher who’s already showing signs of slipping (health-wise) and I think we’re better off in the long run if we stand pat.