White Sox sign Dan Johnson to minor league deal

Former Oakland Athletic and Tampa Bay Ray Dan Johnson will be signing a minor league deal with the White Sox, likely with an invitation to major league camp at spring training. The lefty-hitting first baseman has spent the majority of the last few seasons in AAA and also had a stint in Japan in 2009.

Johnson may be most familiar to fans as the guy who hit the dramatic bottom of the ninth inning, two out home run against the Yankees in the final day of the 2011 regular season that sent that game to extra innings. The Rays eventually won the game and dumped the Red Sox from the playoffs.

With a career line of .235/.334/.405, Johnson is pretty much the definition of a replacement level player. And with Paul Konerko and Adam Dunn inhabiting the roster, barring significant injuries, Johnson is unlikely to see the major league roster.

He appears to be destined to fill the mashing slugger role for the Charlotte Knights, something he has done for Sacramento and Durham over seven seasons resulting in a career AAA line of .301/.413/.543. He should make for a fearsome middle of the order with Dallas McPherson. And, maybe, like McPherson did last season, he'll manage to get a cup of coffee at some point in 2012.