9:23am: The Orioles have announced that they’ve selected Jackson’s contract and placed Sanchez on the injured list with a right knee sprain. Jorge Mateo was transferred to the 60-day injured list to create room for Sanchez on the 40-man roster.
8:44am: The Orioles have acquired catcher Alex Jackson in exchange for international signing bonus pool money and a player to be named later or cash considerations, per an announcement from the Yankees. Jackson is not on the 40-man roster, so a corresponding move will not be necessary unless Baltimore selects Jackson to the roster.
The move comes after catcher Gary Sanchez exited yesterday’s Orioles game with what the club described at the time as “right knee pain.” As noted by Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun, interim manager Tony Mansolino did not have a more specific diagnosis available after the game but noted that Sanchez was set to undergo an MRI last night. The results of that MRI are not yet available, but it certainly seems as though a trip to the injured list is on the table. Weyrich was among those to report this morning that catcher David Banuelos had been added to the medical taxi squad following Sanchez’s injury, and now this morning’s acquisition of Jackson adds another potential replacement for Sanchez to the mix.
Jackson, 29, was selected sixth overall in the 2014 draft by the Mariners but didn’t make it to the majors until 2019 as a member of the Braves. He’s notched 124 games in the majors across parts of five big league seasons, with his largest showing coming as a member of the Rays last year. Jackson offers a solid glove behind the plate but virtually no offensive value with a career slash line of just .132/.224/.232. His performance in Tampa was even weaker than that as he hit just .122/.201/.237 in 58 games, leaving him with a 29 wRC+ that was not only 71% worse than league average but the second-worst figure among all players with at least 150 plate appearances in the majors last year.
It’s not exactly an exciting profile, but Jackson still offers the Orioles some depth at a time where additional options are extremely necessary for the club. Starting catcher Adley Rutschman has been sidelined since June 19 by an oblique strain, and since then depth catchers Maverick Handley and Chadwick Tromp were both sidelined by injuries of their own. That’s left backup catcher Gary Sanchez to take the starting role while being backed up by fifth-string backstop Jacob Stallings. With Sanchez now seemingly ticketed for an IL stint of his own, Banuelos or Jackson could be called upon to back up Stallings while the 35-year-old steps into a starting role.
That the Orioles appear likely to lean on a sixth catcher (and acquired a seventh) amid this rash of injuries underscores their refusal to promote top prospect Samuel Basallo to the majors. The 20-year-old is a consensus top 15 prospect in the sport and has torn the cover off the ball in Triple-A this year, slashing .253/.372/.547 with 16 homers in just 58 games and a 15.6% walk rate. While GM Mike Elias has suggested that he “hopes” to see Basallo play in the majors this year, it’s clear at this point that Baltimore doesn’t have much interest in bringing him up to the majors at this point in time. Perhaps he could be called upon late in the season as a September call-up, or there could be a specific aspect of Basallo’s game that the Orioles feel needs to develop further before he can debut. Potent as his bat has been, there’s long been questions about Basallo’s defensive ability behind the plate that may be leading the Orioles to be cautious about bringing him up to the majors as a regular catcher without more seasoning.
I just hope the possible “player to be named later” doesn’t hit Aaron Judge in the face with a ball between innings if they ever get called up.
Oh my goodness… If that’s not a snapshot of the Yankees season, I don’t know what is. The Yankees are so self-deceived.
Boone needs to go….still. He’s terrible at the leadership side of management. His confirmation that they’re not going to be phased by this horrible losing streak (yet again), coupled with his assertion that the Yankees are the best team in the AL, are stark reminders of his lack of accountability and failed internal assessments.
The fact he excuses Volpe’s terrible play is inexcusable and does Volpe no good. His screwing with the lineups every day is creating inconsistency. And, for the love of all things good, can we please stop playing DJ?! Put Jazz back at second where he’s a plus defender.
Yankees internal analytics are “so smart” that they miss what every normal fan sees as clear decisions, and they end up repeating these idiotic mistakes.
This isn’t like the “cold streaks” the team has had every year for the last 4 years. This one is straight up dysfunctional and alarming. I could write an Ernest Hemingway length novel about everything wrong with that franchise right now (Volpe, LeMahieu, Hamilton, Leiter, managerial decisions, injuries, contracts, ect) but I’m having a fairly good Sunday morning thus far. Had a wonderful breakfast with my new fiancé and the weather is great.
Life is good, even though all my favorite sports teams either collapse or embarrass themselves and the fans (Yankees, Jets, Rangers and Knicks).
🙂
The Woes of Kilimanjaro?
The Dangerous Summer?
A Farewell to Arms and Bats?
It’s pretty to think so.
“For Whom the Bell Tolls” essentially lol
This feels very similar to my experience as an Orioles fan over the last couple seasons, fwiw.
Got 3 knocks in a game?
You’re riding the bench the next day!
.122/.201/.237. Let that sit there and germinate some
That looks like my team stat line in World Series Baseball for Sega Genesis after I drink 3 40s of Olde English 800
Let’s hope trading this catcher the Yankees don’t regret like all the others being moved in trades
Yankees will never regret giving away a 29y .125 type hitter….
2021 he had 18H with 73K
2024 he had 17H with 53K
am no expert, but Alex should look into a new field of work
No action Jackson
Just goes to show that if you are a young player that cannot hit, LEARN TO CATCH. Or learn how to pitch with your left hand. Those two positions will always have more jobs than applicants.
He is the Jeff Mathis of Austin Hedges.
The Orioles should just put one of those old pitch back nets behind home plate at this point.
Just bring up basallo already. Everyone else seems to be damn cursed lol
Remember when Alex Jackson was drafted and he was supposedly the best hitter in high school baseball? These mlb ‘scouts’ are a joke
I do remember. He was a man amongst boys in high school. A breaking ball and immaturity are the great equalizers in baseball. As a youth he was the finest player I ever witnessed and was positive he would make the majors. It is a bit shocking that he struggled so mightily.
what are the Orioles thinking here — why give up anything for this player
I don’t remember ever seeing a team with 4 catchers on the IL.
It was either Jackson or 75-year old Glenn Borgmann.
SLOW DOWN !!
“The Orioles have announced that they’ve selected Jackson’s contract and placed Sanchez on the injured list with a right knee sprain. Jorge Mateo was transferred to the 60-day injured list to create room for Sanchez on the 40-man roster.”
Sanchez, who sustained his injury while playing for the Orioles, was already on BOTH the40 man and 26 man rosters. Placing Sanchez on the injured list created a spot on the 26 man roster. Placing Mateo on the 60 day list opened up a spot on the 40 man roster.. That spot on the 40 man roster is used for JACKSON, not Sanchez, who is already on it.
SLOW DOWN
Get it right the first time.
What is of higher importance than ensuring that what we speak and what we write is accurate, as we intended and is able to be comprehended and respected (due to accuracy) by others?
Either bring up the prospect or trade for an established catcher at least as good as Jake Rodgers as an example.
Baltimore would be better off seeing if Crash Davis was available to catch for them
What happened with Baltimore so many great young prospects they got for tanking. I honestly expected more from them.
The only reason Basallo isn’t up today is they must think he has no catching skills. They see him at first which is occupied right now. No DH room either.
But couldn’t the Os scrape together a catcher from AA or something instead of trading for an awful hitting catcher?
I imagine the reason Basallo isn’t up is they want to wait until he can’t lose rookie eligibility by playing so they can chase that extra draft pick they could earn if he wins ROY. Plus, it’s the Os. Of course they want to manipulate his service time.
Service time manipulation. They will pick people from this comments section to catch for them before you see Basallo.
now if we can find someone to take Volpe
let’s not overreact to a single incident. multiple teams would take Volpe.