White Sox GM: Johnson likely to replace Samardzija in rotation

The Chicago White Sox are almost assured of losing Jeff Samardzija to free agency, which suits general manager Rick Hahn just fine as he may already have his replacement in Erik Johnson.

In a conference call Wednesday to announce the signing of catcher Alex Avila, Hahn also took a moment to comment on Johnson being the leading choice to replace Samardzija in next season's rotation, according to Scott Merkin of MLB.com.

"So if Opening Day were today, then I think Johnson is penciled in to that spot in the rotation right now," said Hahn. "In all probability, once we get closer to spring, there will be some competition for him to earn that spot.

"But if we were strictly looking at today, then I would think Johnson has the inside track on filling Samardzija's innings."

Johnson had 22 starts in 2015 with the Triple-A Charlotte Knights, going 11-8 with a 2.37 ERA across 132 2/3 innings, en route to being named the International League's pitcher of the year.

The 25-year-old was then called up in September and continued his fine run of form with Chicago, finishing with a 3-1 record in six starts and a 3.34 ERA.