Headlines

  • Stuart Sternberg Has Agreed To Sell Rays To Patrick Zalupski, Deal Expected To Be Final By September
  • Nationals Select Eli Willits With First Pick Of 2025 Amateur Draft
  • 2025 MLB Draft, First Round Results
  • Red Sox Place Hunter Dobbins On 15-Day IL Due To ACL Tear
  • Astros Promote Brice Matthews
  • Red Sox Likely To Activate Alex Bregman Tomorrow
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Mets To Sign Austin Jackson

By Steve Adams | July 27, 2018 at 10:10am CDT

The Mets have reached an agreement to sign free-agent outfielder Austin Jackson, reports Fancred’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). Jackson, who is represented by Octagon, was released by the Rangers last week. MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo tweets that Jackson is signing a Major League deal.

Jackson will give New York another outfield option in the wake of Yoenis Cespedes’ season-ending surgery. Because the Rangers are paying his salary after acquiring him from the Giants, though, the Mets only owe Jackson the pro-rated league minimum for any time spent on the MLB roster. Jackson is earning $3MM in both 2018 and 2019, and whatever the Mets pay him this season will be subtracted from the sum the Rangers are paying.

While Jackson has had a dreadful season at the plate, hitting just .242/.309/.295 through 165 PAs, he’s only a season removed from raking at a .318/.387/.482 pace with the 2017 Indians. Jackson also still drew positive grades for his baserunning with the Giants, though he drew poor defensive ratings from Defensive Runs Saved (-10), Ultimate Zone Rating (-7.5) and Outs Above Average (-3) through just under 300 innings in center field this season. That said, Jackson’s defense would likely rate better in a corner slot.

As a bench option who can play center in a pinch and fill in against left-handed pitchers — for all his struggles, he did hit .288 against lefties and post a .360 OBP this season — Jackson could still provide some value to the Mets, especially when considering the minimal price tag. For the time being, he could share time in center field with Matt den Dekker, though it’s also possible that the addition of Jackson will come at den Dekker’s expense.

Share 0 Retweet 11 Send via email0

New York Mets Transactions Austin Jackson

Latest On Matt Harvey, Reds
Main
Trade Chatter: Jones, Kela, Beltre, A’s, Gibson, Phillies
View Comments (36)
Post a Comment

36 Comments

  1. acarneglia

    7 years ago

    He’ll be on the DL by the end of the weekend

    2
    Reply
    • murphy

      7 years ago

      Get something new.

      Reply
      • acarneglia

        7 years ago

        I’ll put you on the DL by the end of the day

        Reply
        • MetsYankeesRedSox

          7 years ago

          Rough crowd sometimes at MLBTR

          Reply
    • MetsYankeesRedSox

      7 years ago

      Hopefully he plays golf!
      Cespedes still needs a partner

      Reply
  2. walls17

    7 years ago

    Season savior

    Reply
  3. redsoxfan2

    7 years ago

    Good for Mets!!

    1
    Reply
  4. bravesandcrewfan

    7 years ago

    Of course the Mets sign him. Not the worst idea though as he can be a valuable backup. As long as he isn’t starting and taking ABs from younger talent.

    Reply
    • pdubs2907

      7 years ago

      Do the Mets have any younger talent to play? Their farm is trash.

      Reply
      • bigkempin

        7 years ago

        Did you miss the part about taking AB’s from younger talent? He didn’t say anything about the farm. Nimmo and Conforto need all the AB’s that they can get.

        Reply
      • hojostache

        7 years ago

        They have 4 prospects ranked in the top 100 for MLB.com’s rankings. northjersey.com/story/sports/mlb/mets/2018/07/27/n…

        They also have some older talent (TJ Rivera, McNeil, etc) who are still under team control for a long time. They still have a long way to go with their farm, but it is far from trash.

        Reply
  5. sureshotschmitty

    7 years ago

    Off the scrap heap and onto the Mets
    Makes perfect sense

    Reply
    • acarneglia

      7 years ago

      See: Reyes, Jose or Gonzalez, Adrian or Bautista, Jose or Vargas, Jason

      1
      Reply
      • jdgoat

        7 years ago

        Vargas wasn’t exactly off the scrap heap. He just turned out awful this year. And have you seen Jose this year? He’s taking and a contender is definitely going to trade for him.

        Reply
        • Bill

          7 years ago

          Right, Bautista has been much better than expected. But if they can’t get anything decent for him, I’m not sure why they’d trade someone making league minimum.

          Reply
        • mb22

          7 years ago

          Vargas did it with smoke and mirrors last year .. technically wasn’t off the scrap heap though.. idid second half was terrible .. shows how meaningless Wins are these days for a P

          Reply
      • bigkempin

        7 years ago

        Vargas had a solid 2017 and the Mets signed him to a minimum of 2/$16M.

        1
        Reply
      • mikeyank55

        7 years ago

        Hey Joey Bats has 8 home runs this season. He’s leading the MLB in best offensive performance for an over the hill player who should have retired.

        1
        Reply
        • jdgoat

          7 years ago

          “Should have retired”

          Why would a player who can still swing a good bat retire?

          Reply
  6. bobbyvwannabe

    7 years ago

    Gosh… can we PLEASE end this miserable Mets season already

    Reply
    • hojostache

      7 years ago

      They are in the running for a top 3 pick…which I’m sure they’ll find a way to screw up too. /bitter mets fan

      Reply
      • Say Hey Now Kid

        7 years ago

        I don’t know the kid they just drafted #6 overall is already on MLB.com Top 100 prospects list

        Reply
  7. peterd

    7 years ago

    “pro-rated league minimum” – music to the Coupons ears

    4
    Reply
    • mikeyank55

      7 years ago

      Hey Peter-it’s really in the hands of Mets fans.

      Either continue to bend over and take it

      Or

      BOYCOTT the Mets

      Do NOT buy anymore tickets
      Click AWAY from SNY

      Post on social media that it’s time for Abbott and Costello, aka Mutt and Jeff, previously known as the Coupons to sell.

      Embarrass them and take dollars out of their pocket.

      Reply
  8. aj_54

    7 years ago

    his obp was higher that his slugging?

    Reply
  9. mike156

    7 years ago

    League minimum is a key portion of the Mets business model. If it turns out he can actually contribute, there’s no harm, but Mets haven’t received much in the way of production from their “clearance sale” pickups.

    Reply
  10. kingcong95

    7 years ago

    One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. But to the Mets, all trash is treasure.

    Reply
    • mikeyank55

      7 years ago

      Abbott and Costello’s business model is to mirror the dump that surrounds Chitifield.

      Reply
    • hojostache

      7 years ago

      To be fair…all LOW COST trash is treasure. The Mets lead the world in signing over the hill guys who only cost league minimum.

      Reply
  11. mcmillankmm

    7 years ago

    Wow the Mets really will sign just about anyone

    Reply
  12. jekporkins

    7 years ago

    Blockbuster.

    Reply
  13. jwr0223

    7 years ago

    Mets love shopping at the Dollar Tree.

    Reply
  14. Armaday

    7 years ago

    Now the Mets will make it to the World Series! Love a career fifth outfielder.

    Reply
  15. Solaris601

    7 years ago

    I’m just glad it wasn’t CLE who signed him.

    Reply
  16. tonysdog01

    7 years ago

    Perfect Mets signing. Over 30 and someone else is paying his salary.

    Reply
  17. tonysdog01

    7 years ago

    Mets have applied to MLB to discontinue baseball activities and start playing in a shuffleboard league at the Rest more Hone for the Elderly.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Stuart Sternberg Has Agreed To Sell Rays To Patrick Zalupski, Deal Expected To Be Final By September

    Nationals Select Eli Willits With First Pick Of 2025 Amateur Draft

    2025 MLB Draft, First Round Results

    Red Sox Place Hunter Dobbins On 15-Day IL Due To ACL Tear

    Astros Promote Brice Matthews

    Red Sox Likely To Activate Alex Bregman Tomorrow

    Phillies Reportedly Targeting Controllable Relievers

    Yankees Prioritizing Pitching, Also Searching For Infield Help

    Orioles Trade Bryan Baker To Rays

    Yankees Release DJ LeMahieu

    Trevor Williams To Undergo UCL Surgery

    Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

    Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff

    Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Bobby Jenks Passes Away

    Braves Release Alex Verdugo

    Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline

    Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim

    Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon

    Royals Interested In Bryan Reynolds

    Recent

    Twins Acquire Noah Davis

    Orioles Outright David Bañuelos

    Stuart Sternberg Has Agreed To Sell Rays To Patrick Zalupski, Deal Expected To Be Final By September

    Adolis Garcia Drawing Trade Interest

    Poll: Who Will Win The 2025 Home Run Derby?

    Royals Place Michael Lorenzen On Injured List

    Yankees Claim Rico Garcia

    Blue Jays, Joe Mantiply Agree To Minor League Deal

    Submit Your Questions For This Week’s Episode Of The MLBTR Podcast

    D-backs Have Listened To Offers On Outfield Depth

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version