As of this morning, the Arizona Diamondbacks look pretty smart. They traded for third baseman Chris Johnson and what does he do? All he does is hit a grand slam in his first game. It was production from a position has given the team almost nothing.
On the season, the Diamondbacks third basemen have combined to bat only .227, 24 base hits and a paltry OPS of .624.
Johnson, on the season, is hitting .279 with 32 extra base hits and a OPS of .757.Make that 33 after the grand slam.
Now, you might think that after one game it would be a bit of a knee jerk reaction to say that he trade was good. But what the team has been desperately seeking is production from third base.
The team essentially gave up prospects they didn't think had a future for a guy that they have little invested in.
If Johnson at minimum duplicates his play in 2012, that is about 30 points higher in batting and more power.
But the guy he basically replaced was a fan favorite. Ryan Roberts had a flair for the dramatic. He seemed to be the in the middle of every big moment.
Johnson's grand slam gave the D-backs a 7-0 lead and allowed his teammates to reel it in and take it a little easier through the rest of the game.
It was the perfect way to start off an Arizona career, no matter how long or short that will be.
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