Reed Johnson was cut on Sunday by the organization that drafted him nine years ago and brought him to the big leagues in 2003. Johnson, trying to bounce back after an injury-shortened '07 season and win the Blue Jays' leftfield job, lost out to Shannon Stewart, which caused him to be cut and available to the Cubs.

The 31-year-old signed a one-year deal with the Cubs early Tuesday morning, which allowed him to saddle up and appear in the afternoon Cactus League game against the Giants. (Johnson went 2-for-5.)

Ironically, Johnson considers his walk-off home run against the Cubs' Mark Guthrie in June of '03 one of the more memorable moments in his career.

Good thing Guthrie is no longer with the team: it would have been terrible for Johnson's first day as a Cub to have begun with a good ass-kicking by Mark Guthrie.

For more on Johnson, please drop by The Cub Reporter.