Drew who?

Alex said they'd probably get a look in September.

Hutchison

A quick Google search suggests that Hutchison is a name of Scottish origins and Hutchinson is a name of Northern English origins. Nations have separated over smaller things than an "n"...

North Of The Border blog has a transcript of an A.A. media scrum. As Josh Johnson is one bad Start from losing his Spot, Sean Nolin and/or Marcus Stroman will be up. He really doesn't have many options.

Is Dawson a legit prospect?  A 17th round pick out of Alberta in 2012, a 19 year old lefty, the kid has 85 strikeouts in 67 minor league innings and has been dominating in his first two appearances in Vancouver. 

I think i squeezed dawson onto my top10 jays pitching prospects a few weeks back here. He's not a big guy and his fastball is only 90ish, but a lefty putting up those kinds of numbers at his age and level has to be legit imo.

The Jays are using Dawson as a starter which means they think highly of him. They promoted him to Vancouver which means they think he can handle it. He is racking up the strikeouts which is a very good sign.

I asked Dane Johnson about him in my recent interview and his fastball is a little over 90 which seems good enough.

It will be interesting to hear scouts reports at the end of the year but I do think he will be on the prospect lists at the end of the season.

Makes sense. The staff (starting staff) has had so many issues and come September there is no where else to play them. So build up innings in September (team isn't going anywhere anyways)  and see if they might be good in 2014.

Given AA's comments I wouldn't be shocked at this point to see Johnson released or let leave on waivers if someone makes a claim.

Who would make a claim? What would be the point?

I'm sure some club who thinks Johnson has something, or thinks they see an issue the Jays haven't, would grab him for the cash left on his deal for this year.  He was a Cy Young contender not that long ago and while he has worn out his welcome here a club in contention who has a hard time finding a solid #5 guy would grab him. The Jays could, if claimed, try to get a C level prospect and failing that just say 'screw it lets save a bit of cash' as I cannot imagine anything short of a couple of no-hitters causing him to look like he is worth $14 mil in 2014.

I'm sure some club who thinks Johnson has something, or thinks they see an issue the Jays haven't, would grab him for the cash left on his deal for this year.

I'm not sure I could see anyone coughing up 4.5MM (the balance of his 2013 contract) for the ghost of Josh Johnson. Perhaps a team or two could decide to kick the tires on him were he released, costing them only a proration of the league minimum. But even then, only to perhaps establish a relationship with him with the idea of offering a lowball one-year contract in the off-season. It's not clear to me that any halfway competitive team would risk dropping Johnson into the back end of their rotation for his remaining 10 starts or so, even for free.

Hmm.  I wonder...
Atlanta: massive lead, 2 very good starters (120+ ERA+), another two solid (98-101 ERA+) and a 'hrm' in Paul Maholm with his 88 ERA+ but as a 5 guy who cares - no match.

Pittsburgh: tight race, 3 wow's (130+ ERA+), 2 OK's (around 100), plus an 88.  But Wandy Rodriguez is on the DL (an OK but out indefinitely), as is one of their backups (James McDonald), but Brandon Cumpton came up and did well still was sent back down it seems (weird), Jeanmar Gomez was given a shot but didn't do well, while Jonathan Sanchez and Phil Irwin had their butts handed back to them by ML hitters. So they have their 5 but with Wandy DL'ed their #6 is Cumpton who they don't seem to have much confidence in (yo-yo between minors and majors it seems). Not a strong match unless someone else goes down.

St Louis: Solid top 4 (141-128-106-98 ERA+) but #5 Garcia is DL'ed for the year, Tyler Lyons sucked in his attempt (69 ERA+), while Michael Wacha and John Gast* were not acceptable (82 and under).  Joe Kelly was recently moved from the pen to the rotation and has taken to it well (last 4 games are starts, 1.90 ERA). No match.

Dodgers: 4 very solid (over 100 ERA+) plus Chris Capuano* in the mid 80's and Ricky Nolasco in the low 100's. Quite deep and strong.

Cincinnati: Everyone with more than 1 game started has an ERA+ of 109 or better. Must be nice.

Arizona: 4 1/2 out of playoffs (closest to it), only 3 guys who have started for them have an ERA+ above 83.  Now here is a team that is desperate. They also traded one of their regular starters (Ian Kennedy).  Heck, they just signed Shawn Camp for their bullpen. They are a big target for the Jays if any pitchers get through waivers.

AL...
Oakland: Colon and a team of sub-100's. But also super-cheap so would wait for Johnson to clear.

Texas: kept sending Justin Grimm out there despite a 66 ERA+ until mid-July, but big 3 of Holland, Darvish, Ogando with 130+'s, Perez at 108 while just 22, plus Matt Garza just added means no match.

Detroit: Top 5 have ERA+'s of 98 or better, only one other guy started, 4 games, ERA+ of 84. No match.

Cleveland: 5 guys between 91 and 113 for ERA+, then scary after that. Dancing on the edge, but no match unless someone goes down, plus they are cheap.

Kansas City: on outer fringe, but using 2 guys with ERA+'s sub 80 with Bruce Chen their next in line (yikes - having a good year, but yikes). If they are willing to waste more cash...

Boston: Nah. They have issues, but the Jays would rather eat the cash than give them Johnson

Tampa: mix cheap with division and you have 'no way'.

Baltimore: Small chance, but very small. 3 strong starters, 6 guys with 5+ starts and sub 90 ERA+'s.  They could use him, but division issue appears again.

Yankees: Division stuff, otherwise they'd probably take him (not getting under luxury tax this year, need help of all kinds).

So best bets are...
1) KC: trying to pull off a miracle, just 4 1/2 out of it right now, scary rotation.
2) Yankees: never hesitate to waste money, limited time situation so probably willing to try anything.
3) Arizona: nightmare rotation but still on fringe of playoff contention so might take a shot
4) Baltimore: dreaming of playoffs again, have cash if needed, probably would try to cut a deal though (pay less than full price).

The Jays best shot is to eat some/most of his salary and try to get a low level prospect that Jay scouts are high on but the other teams are not. KC seems the best target, with the Yankees a possible waiver wire claimer.

At this point, I see no harm in keeping JJ in the rotation all the way. A salary dump is when you trade an overpaid better than average guy just to save some money. They Jays would have to pay someone to take JJ, nevermind getting something in exchange.

Maybe he clears waiver, the Jays send him to AAA. He declares himself a free agent and someone might take a chance on him. At worse, he plays AAA somewhere else...

I'm sure some club who thinks Johnson has something, or thinks they see an issue the Jays haven't, would grab him for the cash left on his deal for this year

I'll take the other side of this wager. I don't see a likelihood that a team in contention would take a chance on Josh Johnson based on what he's shown so far this year.

I wonder....
Johnson's K/9 is the highest it has ever been at 9.2, his BB/9 is higher than normal at 3.3 but his career is at 3.0 so not horrible. But his HR/9 is the killer, 1.8 HR/9 vs 0.7 lifetime.  So, why is he giving up home runs at such a pace when all else looks reasonable?  That is the $100 million question.

If I were the manager of a contending club with a good defence and a good catcher, and I could get Josh Johnson for a low-level prospect, I would do it.  Stick him in middle relief for a couple of outings to get his confidence back and then, if all goes well, back to the rotation. 

Well that K/9 is a bit misleading, since his K% is actually lower than his 2009, 2010 and 2011 seasons. The K/9 is only at a career high because he's let so many more guys get on base. But yeah, his problem is that he's been like a home run derby pitcher, which generally doesn't work out well.

It's not only the HRs.  His opposition BABIP is .360 this year, and his record with no one on is pretty good.  The club has turned the grand total of 2 double plays behind him this year, despite all the baserunners. Last year, the Marlins (who didn't exactly have a stellar infield defence) turned 16 behind him.

If you look at his record, his swinging strike rate is about the same.  Batters are swinging at more pitches outside the zone and making more contact on pitches outside the zone.  Johnson is throwing fewer pitches in the zone. His velocity has, after a slow start in the cold weather, returned. My diagnosis is that he could got burned on balls in play early on and his confidence suffered. 

One ought to have expected him to have an ERA of maybe 3.6 in the AL East with a decent defence behind him.  I still think that if you put him in Tampa, he would do that and probably a little better.