Edwin Jackson may not be an ace, but he’s the top free agent starter available at this point in the offseason. Agent Scott Boras told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that Jackson is a safer bet than Japanese right-hander Yu Darvish.
“If someone were to say that Yu Darvish would come in, average 200 innings, less than a 4.00 ERA and be a solid two or three starter, they would be elated,” Boras said. “The reality is, that is exactly what Edwin Jackson has done.”
Jackson, 28, posted a 3.79 ERA with 6.7 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 with a 43.8% ground ball rate in 199 2/3 innings for the White Sox and Cardinals this past season. The hard-throwing right-hander has averaged 208 innings per season with a 3.96 ERA since 2009, but has a career ERA of 4.46 with 6.7 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 since he debuted with the Dodgers on his 20th birthday in 2003. Jackson ranked sixth on MLBTR’s list of top free agents entering the offseason, and he’s the top pitcher on the market now that Darvish and C.J. Wilson are unavailable.
Boras suggested the market for Jackson continues to develop as new general managers take in information about potential additions. Boras argued that no Japanese pitchers have averaged 200 innings with an ERA under 4.00 in their first three seasons in MLB, but Hideo Nomo accomplished just that with the Dodgers.
The latest addition to the Boras ridiculous spin saga.
i just don’t like boras, a lot. hope he fails to get fat fielder a long contract.
Stop talking Boras. Oh wait, it’s time to say how amazing Madson and Pena are. Oh, why stop there Scott? Go compare Damon to Jacoby Ellsbury even though he’s 38, you have it in ya.
Didn’t you hear, he’s already got a binder with that exact comparison in it.
Scott Boras is a funny guy!
What do you mean funny? Is he like a clown to you?
sure not funny ha ha
Quit whining about Boras. He’s damn good at his job, and if you had his abilities you would be doing the exact same thing as him.
Amen. He’s an agent… his job is to spin his client in the best way possible and to give him the best possible contract. If anything blame your team for buying into what Boras says. I hate seeing any thread remotely Boras related where half the comments complain about him and what he does.
Exactly. He’s just a crazy good salesman that gets more media attention than most salesman.
Funny. Can you see Boras doing Crazy Eddie used car commercials? I think I just spurted soda out of my nose. LOL^2
still hate him, lying sack of crap
hate the GM’s for being gullible, not him for being a good agent.
Scott Boras. Players love him. Fans hate him. And GMs are still the idiots who overpay and buy his BS.
I’dlike to designate the pile of puke Boras for assignment
amen
The man is doing his job and happens to be pretty damn good at it… Why ridicule him for it?
Right. Don’t blame him. Blame the stupid GMs who are just dying to overpay.
yea, them he cries the fix is in. hes a puke
because i can
not so sure about top free agent starter, I’d rather have Oswalt
oswalt is a one or two year pitcher whereas you can get Jackson under control for four or five years. Plus Oswalt is only going to sign with a true contender
But do you want to?? 4 or 5 years of ed jax?? i like him. i’d take him as my 4th sp. for about 5 mil a year…
Boras is a used car salesman. For being such a detail oriented guy, how could he miss Nomo’s numbers?
Why doesn’t borASS address the reason why EJ has played for 7 teams in 6 yrs
He got traded from the Dodgers as a prospect still so they could get a new setup guy. He got traded from the Rays because they had excess starters. He got traded from the Tigers because it allowed them to get a younger, higher-potential starter in Scherzer. He got traded from the Diamondbacks because they didn’t contend like they were supposed too. He got deal to the Jays so the could flip him, and finally he got dealt to the Cardinals because the Jays didn’t actually want him. None of those reasons are bad for Jackson. It means he was once a decent prospect who has never found a home because he has either been on bad teams, or teams that found him expendable. Jackson is a solid #3 starter, and should earn the money he gets.
If I remember correctly he was a very highly rated prospect w/ the Dodgers that just couldn’t cut it so they dealt him…and to me….a player who gets dealt as many times as he has tells me more about the person….no one is really willing to keep him around despite skill set…but thats just me….
Matt Stairs has played for 12 teams, and Octavio Dotel will be playing for his 13th this year. Does that make them bad people?
Yes.
That must be why Broxton is afraid of Stairs.
him and most fat people
Ordinary players yes. Bad people, no.
Tells me that there were several times during his career when some team was willing to give up good players to acquire him.
Dodgers traded him at age 22 to get Danys Baez, back when Baez was good.
Tigers gave up Matt Joyce to get him.
D-backs gave up Max Scherzer to get him.
White Sox gave up Daniel Hudson to get him.
Cardinals gave up Colby Rasmus to get him from Blue Jays.
He was more than a highly rated prospect, he was a phenom at his debut in 2003 — but he was injured soon after and spent the next two seasons in the minors, pitching poorly. That’s why he was traded. It wasn’t until a couple of years ago that he starting pitching effectively again.
If he was truly worth keeping and a top half of the rotation starter, he wouldn’t be traded for prospects and to facilitate dime a dozen set up guys. Jackson will be remembered as the AJ Burnett of 2011-2012
Top of the rotation starters get traded all the time. Cliff Lee for example. He was traded THREE TIMES within two years. The fact that Jackson got traded for a setup guy has nothing to do with him. That’s all on the GM, and at the time he was a prospect who was recovering from injury, so at that point his stock wouldn’t be very high.
He’s not going to get AJ Burnett money, and his expectations will not be nearly as lofty as Burnett’s. Jackson has been relatively consistent over the last four years or so and hasn’t thrown less than 180 innings over that time, so durability isn’t much of a concern.
Jackson is a number three starter at best, but that’s what level he’s going to get paid to perform at for his contract.
doubt it would happen, but pitching in a place like the oakland colliseum would be a good idea for him to build up value, a la adrian beltre
Boras has time on his hands. No one’s buying what he’s selling. So Rosenthal’s calls get through.
Or maybe it isn’t Rosenthal placing the calls.
TRUTH HURTS DOESNT IT!
Boorassss is a BS artist.
Every agent is. It’s their job. I don’t like Boras, but you have to admit, he is the best agent in professional sports. BS or not, he does a great job.
I think if you are a star player, Boras is a fine choice – though many other agents get their star players huge money. As a role player I think i would rather have someone else who was easier to work with and who didn’t waste time that could cost me an opportunity.
I kinda have a hard time believing that EJ and Madson in particular would not have been signed by now if they had another agent.
But again, it is not all his fault, the only reason you choice Boras as your agent if you are a player is that you are after every last dollar.
yea, he is full of it. like we all know, gm’s are dumb to believe him
Unless Fielder is blocking all free agents, there shouldn’t be anything in the way of Edwin and Madson signing. I get the hitters even though a team like the Rays might want Pena or Damon but will not want Fielder. I don’t get the pitchers though, I figured Edwin would sign quick, especially for a Boras client and Madson was almost the first FA to sign, I believe.
haha. Fielder is really “blocking” all FAs.
It’s funny because he’s fat.
— that guy
Even if Jackson got $15 mil per year for 4-5 years he will be less expensive than the combined cost of Darvish’s contract and posting fee. Other than Hideo Nomo, no Japanese starting pitcher has had more than 2 good seasons in the majors to start their career, and while Jackson hasn’t lived up to his talent, he’s still a very solid major league starter. That said I think something in the $12-13 mil per year range makes more sense, I just don’t know what team ends up signing him.
Jays will. They will get a pitcher but I don’t see them trading the prospects it would take for Garza.
15 million a year for Edwin Jackson is insane to me. Edwin jackson is at best a 3rd starter in any rotation. Jackson is worth more closer to 9 maybe 10 Million max per year. I wouldnt sign him for more than a 4 year 40 million deal.
Hiroki Kuroda anyone? 3.45 and 1.19 WHIP in his first 4 seasons in the MLB
Too old. He won’t get a three of four year deal from anyone. I’d rather have Jackson for three of four years, but I’d rather have Kuroda for one or two. It depends on the cost.
I was more referring to Boras saying no Japanese pitcher has come over and posted and ERA below 4 in his first 3 seasons. Both Nomo and Kuroda have done exactly like that.
But ya, I would take Kuroda over any other pitcher on the market since all he wants is a one year deal for 13 million.
I see. I’m not sure about that. I would probably take Oswalt first, who would take a one year deal, and probably 8-10 million. When he’s healthy, he’s better. He’s also younger and has pitched a lot of important games.
you cant really count on more than 20ish starts from oswalt. I would say a third of a season worth of starts is worth that extra 3-5 mil
Jackson would be a perfect fit in Toronto he is a definite upgrade over anyone in their rotation besides Romero and Morrow and if he can pitch like he did in Detroit he may even be the 2nd best in their rotation behind Romero. If AA can sign him, a few relievers like Qualls, Madson, or Zumaya and then pull a trade off for a 4/5 hitter and maybe another starter and reliever at the right price then the Jays could put themselves right in the mix in the AL East. Especially since the Yankees are aging and there are alot of question marks in the Red Sox lineup.
I agree. Quality one year free agents are the way to go. Maybe Oswalt instead of Jackson..
Yankees aren’t aging as bad as what people are saying. Jeter is close to 40, and hit .300 last year. If A-Rod can stay healthy, he can be very productive. They have a young catcher, a young second baseman, a fairy young outfield and first baseman, a fairly young bullpen and rotation. Also, all teams age. Most teams don’t stay with 22-25 year olds. And the ones who do never compete.
Their starting rotation is a big question mark with their only sure handed starter being Sabathia. They have Burnett and Garcia who are almost at the end of their career, Nova who was great last year but nobody knows how well he is going to perform this year and then Noesi and Hughes who are both at best 4-5 pitchers. So they have CC and then the rest of the rotation is 4-5 type pitchers. Then you have A-Rod, Jeter, Swisher and Granderson who are all going to be on their down swing. They have a 42 year old closer, that is the best of all time but who knows how his body is going to handle another long hard year of baseball. Gardner isn’t as good as advertised seing he had 38 RBIs and only hit in the .250. Thats alot of question marks and a lot of years combined with all those players.
I mostly agree but I think Hughes could still reestablish himself. and I don’t see any reason why Granderson and Swisher can’t repeat their numbers or improve on them. The rest of the team looks like they can repeat their performances as well. A-Rod could probably improve his a decent bit if healthy, and Jeter could still do slightly better offensively. I don’t think they got a ton of ?’s.
Really? So teams like the Rays don’t compete? Or the 2010 WS Champions-The SF Giants?
The Sox got question marks but I think we will be just fine. I expect Ells and Ortiz to put up similar seasons to the ones they just had, and Crawford to bounce back to his career norms. Pedroia is a rock, Youk always produces when healthy, and until I see otherwise Gonzo is a rock (Just no more HR contests). Pitching should be at least solid or better if healthy, and the Pen should be a strong with Bard especially but even without him.
The Sox pen is actually very weak if they move Bard to the rotation. Now if they get Bailey, that changes things a bit of course.
LOL forgive me about the Bailey quote. I didn’t know they got him until just now. I haven’t been on the site since this morning and I was just reading articles top down and commented on this one first.
Not really. People think Albers is some bad pitcher he isn’t.Watched every game and he was heavily leaned on 75% of the season and was dominant, but got over used and slowed down towards the end of the season. Bailey, Melancon, Aceves, Albers, Morales, and jenks are a very solid bullpen when they are all healthy. If Bard is in the pen it makes it a great pen.
Aceves might be a starter, or at least until Dice-K comes back. Jenks is getting older and decling every year. Morales is okay.
I do think Bard should stay in the pen though even though as of now the Red Sox only have 3 SP set for 2012.
Its very doubtful boarderline not possible both guys start so either way the bullpen looks like this.
Bard (9th inning guy) or Aceves (Could set-up on almost any team) Bailey (9th inning guy)
Melancon (Could set-up or close for alot of teams)
Albers (Very solid 7th inning guy)
Morales (Solid with potential for dominance)
Jenks (Lets be honest nobody is leaning on this guy for much, he bounces back great, he doesn’t it doesn’t hurt the pen)
Jenks can be replaced with Doubront, Tazawa, or Miller who are all solid options imo.
So Bard would ideally be in the pen, but if not its still very solid and not a weakness at all.
Bard has no experience as a 9th inning guy yet but I do expet him to do well, however that’s something we can’t guarantee. Aceves best role is a long relief pitcher which is as valuable as a setup man is. I agree about the rest of the stuff you put.
Who pitches the 9th is whatever if Bard is in the pen and he does great if its Bailey great. If he is not we got a lot of guys who can handle important innings in Bailey, Melancon, Aceves (Most likely to be in the pen), Albers, Morales, and maybe Jenks. So I think we are far from weak in the pen.
Whether Bard is a starter or reliever has no effect on the 9th inning. Bailey will definitely be the closer. The only question is if 8-9 is Melancon-Bailey or Bard-Bailey.
I don’t know that its set in stone Bard won’t get a shot at closing. its not like Bailey can refuse to set-up for a all around better relief pitcher.
They could also further bolster it by signing Wheeler. He came back toward seasons end and was solid the rest of the way.
Edwin Jackson has more wins, more innings pitched and a better K/BB rate than Bob Gibson did at the same age.
That’s interesting, but I don’t think he’s gonna be better than Bob Gibson.
I was just doing my best Boras impersonation.
Don’t ya just love Bora’s flawed logic.
Yet through 9 seasons (which Jackson currently stands at) in the Majors Gibson had twice as many wins and hadn’t been given up on by nearly as many teams.
The issue from that I’ve seen of Edwin Jackson aren’t his accumulated numbers at the end of the season. It’s that he appears to have a tendency to be very streaky.
Exactly. Despite the absurd Borasisms attached to this article. Edwin can be dominant in stretches and I wouldn’t mind having him as my 3-4, but until he can provide some stability to his talent he is not a number 2 more like a 3 who pitches like a 4 alot.
The talent seems to be there in flashes, and it’s easy why he’s been coveted. History is littered, though, with pitchers cursed with “potential.” I guess what it would come down to is the money involved. There’s no sense paying on potential.
Sour grapes from Boras to run down a player represented by a different agent. The truth is that Boras would sell his mom to be representing Darvish, but since he isn’t… It’s also true that Darvish is twice the pitcher that Dice K is but you don’t hear Boras running Dice K down.
Boras doesn’t want to represent Darvish right now. He’ll wait for two years from now and try to steal him away from his current agent. Right now, Darvish isn’t a guaranteed commision. If he establishes himself as a quality pitcher in two seasons, then he is.
Darvish seems like someone who would represent himself before giving a piece of human excrement like Boras a dime of his money.
Boras ever since you said that “In America Matsuzaka will be known as fort knox” you lost all credibility with me. Your good at your job I get that, but your still just a glorified car salesman. If Boaras was repping Yu he would probably be saying that “Yu Darvish is the Japanese King Felix” “A once in a lifetime signing, guranteed staff ace”. I bet when Boras is talking nobody even listens, he is sitting at the table selling players snake oil style, while the gm is holding a stat book nodding his head saying “sure”.
As far as the 2012 season goes, Kuroda and Oswalt are both better pitchers than Jackson… but I suppose he might be the top starter overall, as he’ll be around longer…
Yeah, when I read this article I wondered whether Kuroda had signed somewhere and I missed it. Anyhow Boras’ argument is silly and wrong for the reason already stated, and Kuroda also would have pitched very close to 200 innings per year over four seasons if he hadn’t been beaned by a line drive in 2009.
I wouldn’t mind Jackson in the Jays’ rotation. A 3-year deal worth $30MM with a club option for a 4th worth $12.5MM or a $1M buyout? Makes sense for the Jays, Boras and Jackson.
4 WAR inning eaters aren’t exactly a dime-a-dozen.
he sucks. there’s a reason he hasnt signed yet. no thanks on edwin. not at what he’s asking. on a 1 or 2 year deal, i guess
Boras is actually completely right about the Darvish quote
Darvish is an unopened present that still sits under the Christmas tree, filled with nothing but goodness, a GM and fan’s dream. He’s the next Bob Gibson, or Tom Seaver, or Roger Clemens or Greg Maddux. He’s unspoiled, a pitcher with a sub-2.00 ERA, that is until he’s opened and we also get to see his warts. Jackson is a known commodity, we see what’s good, but we also get to see what’s bad. Right now, Darvish has no bad. In reality, Jackson may deliver just as much value as Darvish, maybe more.
Not sure why all of the hate for E Jacks… Realistically he’s been as good as gio gonzalez the last 2 years..
now I fully expect gio to be better the next 4 years, given talent, price and potential, but if the nats had sign Jackson to a 5/65 AND kept their prospects, can anyone truly argue they wouldn’t have been better off?
Is that you, Scott?
Seriously, though, you are correct, and it’s quite possible that Jackson will be better than Gio the next five years.
I didn’t really suggest that… I think Gio will be better..
but I think the difference between the two, doesn’t justify the bounty it took to trade for gio.
I got it, meaning I know what you were suggesting. I was the one simply taking it a step further by suggesting Jackson actually might be better than Gio moving forward. Neither outcome would surprise me. I think Gio is a bit overrated, while I think Jackson is a bit underrated.
Scott Boras = Elmer Gantry
Boras seems like a real sleazeball but if I were a MLB player, I would probably want him representing me. He usually gets his players more than their market value.