LSU baseball pitching coach Wes Johnson, who was hired Monday evening, has signed his three-year contract worth $1.14 million. The term sheet has a $380,000 annual base salary through June 2025.
Leaving the Minnesota Twins, who reportedly had Johnson on a salary near $400,000, he now has the chance to eclipse that figure with postseason incentives. What makes this interesting is Johnson leaving a Twins team, who is first in the AL Central, for relatively the same money. Clearly he believes he can maximize this opportunity to the best of his ability.
The Tigers had their sights set on Johnson, willing to sway him away from Twins and pay him significantly more than previous pitching coach, Jason Kelly.
Kelly was on three-year, $900,000 deal with LSU before departing for a head coaching position with the University of Washington.
Now, the Tigers have their guy in Johnson, who head coach Jay Johnson firmly believes is the best pitching coach in the country.
“I couldn’t be more excited to announce Wes Johnson as our pitching coach at LSU,” Jay Johnson said. “We have hired, in my opinion, the best pitching coach in the country at any level. The success he has had at the highest level of baseball speaks to Wes’ ability to communicate, teach, develop and motivate. Our current and future pitchers have a coach in Wes that will get the best out of them and help them develop into one of the best pitching staffs in college baseball on an annual basis.”
“I believe Wes will help us recruit and develop a large number of future Major League pitchers at LSU and form them into a dominant staff for years to come. This is a huge day for LSU Baseball.”
Johnson’s first task will be to lure the Tigers 2022 signees who are in MLB Draft consideration to Baton Rouge. With a number of signees going through draft preparation, this LSU coaching staff will have their hands full keeping them committed to the university.
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