What looked to be dead in the water in November became a reality on Thursday afternoon: The Marlins have agreed on a long-term deal with ace Josh Johnson.

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The contract, a four-year deal worth $39 million, locks up Johnson through the 2013 season, taking care of his last two years of arbitration plus his first two years of free agency.

And it gives the 25-year-old right-hander what he's wanted all along.

"My No. 1 goal was to stay here," Johnson said in a phone interview on Thursday. "I wanted to stay here longer than one or two years. This means everything to me, to know that I'm going to be a Marlin, [that] I'm going to be there for the opening of the new stadium."

Back in late November, agent Matt Sosnick had expressed that talks between he and the Marlins on a long-term deal were all but done because Florida declined to guarantee a fourth year in the contract. But the Marlins have seemingly changed their minds, and now Johnson will join star shortstop Hanley Ramirez -- who signed a six-year, $70 million pact in May 2008 -- as players who will be under contract when the team moves into its new ballpark for the 2012 season.

The Marlins have yet to announce the deal, but Johnson has agreed to be paid $3.75 million in 2010, $7.75 million in 2011 and $13.75 million in each of the final two years of the deal.

On the day he signed his extension, Johnson thought back to a couple of conversations he had during the season with Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria, who promised him he would get something done in the offseason to fulfill his desire to remain in South Florida.

"I took him at his word," Johnson said.

And it was that assurance that stayed in his mind throughout the winter months, even when it seemed like a long-term agreement between he and the Marlins would not come to fruition.

Then, when that deal was finally complete, Loria gave Johnson a congratulatory call, and the righty told him, "I knew you would stick to your word."

On Tuesday, the Marlins, the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association issued a joint statement saying they had reached an agreement on the team's "continued compliance" in the use of revenue-sharing money in accordance with the Basic Agreement. In a statement, MLBPA executive director Michael Weiner added that the Marlins "plan to use such proceeds to increase player payroll annually as they move toward the opening of their new ballpark."

Johnson, who turns 26 on Jan. 31, finished the 2009 season 15-5 with a 3.23 ERA in 33 starts, striking out 191 and walking 58 in 209 innings while making the All-Star team for the first time. Since returning from Tommy John surgery in July 2008, the Minnesota native is 22-6.

For his five-year career, Johnson -- a fourth-round Draft pick in 2002 -- is 34-16 with a 3.40 ERA.

Johnson, a solid 6-foot-7 frame who's armed with a dazzling slider, changeup and fastball, projects as one of the best young arms in the game.

According to ESPN.com, his contract is the second largest for a pitcher headed into his second year of salary arbitration, just lower than the four-year, $40 million contract Johan Santana signed with the Twins in 2005.

In late November, Sosnick was all but convinced Johnson would be playing under a one-year contract in 2010 and then be traded after the season because he and the Marlins could not agree on a long-term deal. Sosnick sought a deal within the parameters of the four-year, $38 million contract Zack Greinke signed with the Royals last January. But the Marlins only wanted to offer a reported three-year deal at about $23 million.

Back then, Sosnick told MLB.com, "We're to the point right now where I've kind of moved on."

But negotiations progressed to the point where the two sides began toying with a multiyear contract once more. And hours before the deal was agreed upon, a more-at-ease Sosnick said he was "cautiously optimistic" a long-term contract would get done.

"It happened real quick," Johnson said. "Over the last couple of days, talks went back and forth, and then, boom-boom, it got done."

The reason the deal didn't die had a lot to do with Johnson's desire to stay in South Florida. Apparently, the Marlins felt the same way.

"This means everything," Johnson said. "I now have security for my family, my wife's family and my children's children."

But the Marlins still have questions of their own before they start the season, and it mainly revolves around six arbitration-eligible players -- Cody Ross, Jorge Cantu, Dan Uggla, Renyel Pinto, Leo Nunez and Anibal Sanchez.

The biggest question is Uggla, who could make up to $8 million in arbitration. The 29-year-old power-hitting second baseman has reportedly been shopped this offseason, but the suitors have dwindled. Pinto is another player the Marlins have reportedly been trying to find a trade partner for.

Arbitration-eligible players without a 2010 contract will exchange figures with their respective teams on Tuesday, and hearings before a three-person panel will take place Feb. 1-21. Players can still negotiate with their teams up until their scheduled arbitration hearings, but the Marlins have a knack for not negotiating after the exchange date, making Tuesday a pretty hard deadline.

As of Thursday, the Marlins had not entered contract discussions with Ross and Cantu. But there's still time, and both figure to be part of Florida's plans for the 2010 season.

The Marlins could still seek more relief help and a lefty hitter off the bench after Ross Gload signed with the Phillies



By Alden Gonzalez and Joe Frisaro / MLB.com