 He was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in 4th round (123rd overall) of the 2004 Major League Baseball Draft.Following a breakout season, Seattle Mariners General Manager Bill Bavasi promoted Johnson to the Triple-A level Tacoma Rainiers at the start of the .After the free agent signing of Japanese baseball star catcher Kenji Johjima and the selection of USC slugging catcher Jeff Clement, Johnson moved down the Mariners organizational depth chart.