The Cubs have attempted to deal away starter Edwin Jackson, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com, but initial efforts have not been promising. Jackson, signed before the 2013 season, is playing on a $11MM annual salary this year and is owed the same amount for each of the next two campaigns.
Heyman adds that the Yankees did not seem interested in the 30-year-old righty, who has struggled to a 5.61 ERA through 110 2/3 frames this year. That follows on his poor numbers last year, when he threw 175 1/3 innings of 4.98 ERA ball. Jackson has restored his strikeout totals to the level they were when the Cubs signed him (8.1 K/9), but has struggled with control and has walked four batters per nine.
I’d rather the Yankees keep Whitley in the rotation at this point than bring in Edwin Jackson.
Heck I’d rather them get Ryan Howard than Edwin Jackson.
I might even use Howard to pitch before I’d use Jackson.
He’s got some mean late-tailing action on his throws from 1st to 2nd. It could be nasty to a righty.
As a Cub fan I have to agree with you. He started out this year looking good one game and bad the next. Now it is at least 2 bad games to every quality start.
Whitley pitched fine in his last outing I thought.
Yeah he did, but before that start, he’s been pretty bad lately.
True, but don’t forget he was lights out in his first few starts. I know the league had to adjust to him and more scouting reports would come out but I thought he still had some games left. He’ll probably be the first guy cut though if Pineda or Tanaka returns.
I just deleted my last comment, I thought you were talking about Edwin Jackson LOL.
Mike O’Neill for Edwin. After the Cubs eat a fair portion of his salary obviously.
No way the Cubs do that.
That’s the reason they will be stuck with him.
I’m sure they will get a better offer than a 26 year old outfielder in AA and having to pay a “fair” portion of his salary.
Doesn’t sound like it, and that 26 year old OF led the entire league last year in OBP. Just sayin.
They’re going nowhere and at this point dumping his salary for fringe prospects would be the wise decision. Use the money left over to pay the young guys.
Cubs can eat all of this season’s pay plus maybe the prorated portion of his signing bonus.
As long as that’s all they’re paying, I’d trade him for a bucket of balls just to free up the $11MM/yr salary.
Cubs need to just dump overpaid guys like this and go full youth movement. They will be exciting in a few years.
You have the Cardinals trading for Ryan Howard and Edwin Jackson? Do you want the Cardinals to get worse?
The Cards need a starter who is an innings eater. They need anything in terms of offense that is…..different. Just anything different as their current roster will not have one guy that ends up with 85 rbis at this rate. So, yes for them to get better I say trade pieces that have no future here for guys who fit needs. I’m sure your of the thought that they need David Price and Beltre or something, but I disagree a high priced solution that depletes the farm is the proper course of action.
Why on earth do the cards need an innings eater?
They have 15 of those in the minors.
If they are going to bring in a pitcher, it’s just to bridge until wacha gets back. They don’t need innings eaten…especially by one of the worst pitchers in the game who is owed 22 million the next two years.
I wouldn’t trade O’niell for Jackson. Not because I like O’niell, but because Jackson is a waste of roster space and money.
Read my comments above further and that will answer some of your questions. However, they have no innings eaters in the minors or else they would be using them. Having a guy that can go further than 5 innings would be beneficial. Last time they got Jackson worked out pretty well, and if I recall he wasn’t lighting it up then either.
Maybe they should bring back Jeff Weaver…last time they got him it didn’t work out too bad. That is terrible logic.
I gave pure baseball logic but you didn’t understand it.
And maybe I missed it, but you want them to also get Ryan Howard?
Yes. Read my comments.
If they’re getting an innings eater might as well part with their outfield depth and pitching depth to get Kennedy and Benoit from the Padres. He’s cheaper than Jackson, better than Jackson, and they can knab bullpen help for depth that’s already blocked by youth.
Padres: Ramsey, Petrick, and Stoppelman
Cardinals: Kennedy and Benoit plus a buy low prospect.
Not a crazy suggestion. However, I don’t see it happening with both Petrick and Stoppelman. Maybe a combo of one of them with Ramsey, and then at the most someone like Jeremy Berg.
I’d prefer Xavier Scruggs to Jeremy Berg. He’s having a decent year at AAA and a year younger. Plus he plays 1st which we have questions at.
@jaybuck, E Jax isn’t the innings eater my cubbies thought they were getting. He is barely getting to the 5th inning in most of his outings; but if you want him in St.Louis, hey , enjoy !
Yeah I mean for the amount of money the cubs would have to eat to trade him I say why not. The cards get him pay him 1-2 mil per year and the cubs pay the rest seems like a good pickup.
Ps last time they traded for Edwin that didn’t turn out to bad.
Yes
Can’t imagine many teams wanting send this guy out to the mound at any price. He is a very, very bad pitcher,
Pirates, maybe? I’m trying to think of a team that fits these criteria: could use a SP; sabermetrically inclined enough to notice his 3.95 xFIP and very unlucky .345 BABIP; has a history of buying low on damaged goods in hopes of turning guys around; doesn’t want to deal young talent for their needs. Depends how much money the Cubs would send most likely.
I wouldn’t say his BABIP is unlucky. People hit this guy like a pinata. If he has a.345 BABIP, atleast .300 points of that comes from line drive shots off the wall…
Jackson and Barney and eat 16 of the 22 million for Mark Montgomery
I wouldn’t give up Huff for both, much less Montgomery. Cubs would be lucky to save 1 million owed to Jackson, no team should give them any players whatsoever for him.
We should cut him if he’s still on the roster on August 1st. At this point he’s a sunk cost and it would be better to see what another kid is capable of.
I doubt that they will do that. Already short on AAA pitchers really and might as well keep him rest the season. I can see them being able to trade him in the offseason just because he would have 1 more year left.
Yeah might as well keep him, if he cut down on the walks he would actually be decent. 8.1K/9 is good but the 4BB/9 is unsightly. I don’t see any teams taking him on but he is a change of scenery candidate. Only way the Cubs could trade him might be to take on another bad contract but that’s a bad idea during a rebuild.
2 more years, sad to say
He is actually signed through 2016.
No. No. No. No. He’s part of the plan. The plan to get the #1 pick next year.
That’s something I can get behind (at least for this year). We can trade/cut him this winter.
Yeah. The #1 pick is even more important considering the Astros now have the “free #2”. Pushing everyone, who isn’t first, back one spot… And having less bonus money as well…
I’m really hoping that Aiken chooses the JUCO route, and that we somehow land the 1st pick next year.
I must say that I’m not too familiar with the prospects available in the next draft, but I think it’s safe to say he would be a top 3 pick again.
Yeah. The #1 pick is even more important considering the Astros now have the “free #2”. Pushing everyone, who isn’t first, back one spot… And having less bonus money as well…
Gee, I can’t imagine why no one seems to be interested in Edwin…
I think trading him to the Dodgers for Andre Ethier might make sense for both sides. Yes, Cubs just land another big contract and take more salary, but he’d still be an upgrade over the OF product they have put on the field to this point. Dodgers can’t try out Edwin as a reclamation project and alleviate some salary and playing time concerns in their OF.
Are the Dodgers that hard up for starting pitching? That trade would seem like a steal for the Cubs to me. All the Dodgers would be doing would be transferring salary concerns from the OF to the pitching staff.
Well Haren has been struggling and Beckett is dealing with injury issues and struggling as of late. And Ryu has been pretty mediocre besides his Win-Loss Record. I think Dodgers jump at that because they still alleviate around 7MM per year in salary. That being said, if money isn’t really an issue for them, perhaps they don’t bother. But it seems like a natural way for them to fix their OF logjam.
The cubs don’t want a major league position player right now. They want as many available positions open to move all that young talent up. They may try next year to bring Bryant, Soler, Baez, and maybe Russell depending on weather Bryant can play Right or not. The probably have first and center locked in as Rizzo and Alcantara, and they are gonna have to decide is Castro or Russell would play third in this scenario.
I see your point. However, prospects are still prospects. You are assuming that all of the prospects are going to pan out in the near future. Likely, some of them do, some of them don’t. Personally, I think the Cubs would take a chance on Ethier at essentially 7MM (18MM total) per season for 3 years rather than pay Edwin Jackson 11MM each season to ride the pine.
He’s not going anywhere the way he’s “pitching” tonight. Padres are hitting him around. Even the outs are hard.
Nothing new here for Jackson. How many times will this guy get traded?
Cubs should wait for another year on EJax…….who knows, EJax might be a Cy Young candidate in 2015 …….Billy Beane might give up his best prospect for EJax.
Of course they are. But who is looking to trade for Edwin Jackson?
Edwin Jackson and $20,000,000 for Alex Rodriguez sounds like an even trade!
5.61 ERA in the N.L. Central. Uhh, the thought of that in the A.L.East, with the DH, and in the hitter friendly A.L. East ballparks? Nooooooooooo.
Man, he is terrible.
Somebody.. please take him… we will give you Baez. Please, just take Jackson away…
E Jax needs to move to the bullpen
The stands would be more appropriate.
Underneath the stands seems safer.
The one big head-scratcher of a signing in the Theo/Jed era. I’ll never wrap my head around this whole thing.
I believe it’s because Anibal Sanchez declined their offer and went to Detroit instead and Jed panicked. To be fair E-Jax was still very good with Detroit/White Sox before becoming a free agent so I understand the Cubs signing him.
I think this was the reason, as well. I still think they overpaid and gave an extra year that wasn’t necessary.
One more thing that didn’t quite make sense to me is that all Cubs fans have been hearing is this “rebuilding mode” line over and over but then see 52 million big ones shelled out for a pitcher that really has no place on this team. I’d rather have seen them sign more of the Hammel/Feldman type pitchers just to eat up innings and spread that money around a bit.
lol good luck with this Theo.
and some are looking to win the lottery
The Cubs should give him away for anything they can get. He’ll always be a pitcher that looses many more than he wins. He has no heart or fire in the belly and once he starts going bad in a game he can’t recover. I’d be happy if they would dump him for a mid to low range prospect just to get rid of him. One of the Cubs worst free-agent signings ever, in my opinion.
Will someone take Edwin Jackson?? PLEASE!1