Andre Jackson Signs With NPB’s Yokohama BayStars

Andre Jackson has signed with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, the team announced. The move comes a few weeks after he was designated for assignment and released by the Pirates.

Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported at the time that the DFA was a mutual decision to permit him to pursue an NPB opportunity. It wasn’t then clear with what team the 6’3″ righty would be signing. That’ll be a BayStars club that also recently added lefty Anthony Kay.

Jackson, 27, has spent the past seven years in affiliated ball. Drafted by the Dodgers in 2017, the University of Utah product reached the majors in ’21. He logged 39 innings over parts of three seasons with Los Angeles, working to a 4.15 ERA. The Dodgers DFA him and flipped him to the Pirates for cash in late June.

While Jackson had pitched exclusively in relief in L.A., the Pirates used him out of the rotation at times. Jackson started seven of 12 appearances in black and gold. He turned in a 4.33 ERA across 43 2/3 innings. His 23% strikeout rate was solid, but he also walked almost 11% of opponents. Command has been the main question throughout his career. He has walked 12.7% of batters faced while fanning just under 26% of hitters in his minor league tenure.

Jackson is out of minor league options and wasn’t firmly established on the MLB roster. Had he stayed in Pittsburgh, there was a decent chance they’d have tried to run him through outright waivers at some point. Jackson instead locks in a guaranteed salary in NPB, where he might get a full season working from the rotation. He’s certainly young enough to reemerge as an option for MLB teams in future offseasons.