ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The trade that sent corner infielder Kelly Johnson from Boston to Baltimore on Saturday night, prompted by the Orioles' search for a third baseman to replace the injured Manny Machado, gave Johnson a rare distinction.
By going to the Orioles, Johnson now has played for all five teams in the American League East. After stints with the Braves and Diamondbacks, he was traded to the Blue Jays in late August 2011, then signed as a free agent with the Rays after the 2012 season, then signed as a free agent with the Yankees the past winter, then was traded to the Red Sox at the July 31 deadline for Stephen Drew and now goes to the Orioles as part of a four-player transaction.
It took Johnson just 1,103 days -- three years and a week -- to make the circuit of the division. Johnson, who was on the DL with a strained groin when the Sox acquired him, appeared in just eight games for Boston -- four starts at first base and one at third. He had four hits, including a double, in 25 at-bats.
The Sox sent Johnson and minor-league third baseman Michael Alamanzar to the Orioles for switch-hitting second baseman Jemile Weeks and shortstop Ivan DeJesus Jr. In another odd aspect of the deal, both Almanzar and DeJesus are returning to clubs that dealt for them once before.
Almanzar, 23, was claimed by the Orioles in the Rule 5 draft this past winter but returned to the Red Sox when he did not stick on the big-league roster coming out of camp.
DeJesus, meanwhile, was part of the megatrade with the Dodgers in 2012, went hitless in his eight at-bats with the Sox and then was dealt to the Pirates in the Joel Hanrahan/Brock Holt deal. He signed as a minor-league free agent with the Orioles this past winter and has spent the past two years in the minors.
The switch-hitting Weeks, younger brother of Brewers second baseman Ricky Weeks, has not come close to duplicating the success he enjoyed as a rookie with Oakland in 2011, when he posted a slash line of .303/.340/.421/.761 in 2011. He slumped to .221 the following season, spent most of 2013 in the minors for the Athletics, then was traded to the Orioles for closer Jim Johnson this past winter. He played three games with the Orioles this season and split the balance of the season between Triple-A and Double-A.
Weeks is reporting to the major league club, and DeJesus to Triple-A Pawtucket.