Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Jay Jackson

Blue Jays Re-Sign Jay Jackson

By | at

March 29: The Blue Jays announced the signing of Jackson to a one-year, Major League contract. He will indeed head to Triple-A Buffalo for now. Righty Chad Green, who’s still on the mend from Tommy John surgery, was moved to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster.

March 28: The Blue Jays and righty Jay Jackson have agreed to a new split contract following the reliever’s release a few days ago, reports Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet (Twitter thread). Jackson, a client of Nello Gamberdino, will earn a $1.5MM salary at the MLB level.

The 35-year-old Jackson originally inked a minor league deal with the Jays over the winter. He enjoyed a strong spring, yielding only a pair of unearned runs on seven hits and two walks while punching out 13 hitters over the course of 9 1/3 frames.

That excellent spring effort in many ways marked a continuation of a strong run that Jackson enjoyed with the Braves organization in 2022. He tossed just 1 1/3 scoreless innings with the big league club in Atlanta, though his lack of opportunity was largely due to a stacked MLB bullpen. Jackson posted a 2.29 ERA with a 31.3% strikeout rate and 5% walk rate in 19 Triple-A appearances as well.

Jackson spent the 2021 season with the Giants organization, pitching to a 3.74 ERA with a 31.1% strikeout rate and 13.3% walk rate in 21 2/3 big league innings. He’s also spent parts of four seasons in Japan, split between the Hiroshima Carp and Chiba Lotte Marines, with a combined 2.16 ERA, 27.4% strikeout rate and 9.5% walk rate in 183 innings there. It’s far from a typical career arc, but Jackson has had plenty of success from his late 20s into his mid-30s, and he could get a chance to continue that trend with the Blue Jays before long.

Blue Jays Release Jay Jackson

By | at

The Blue Jays released right-hander Jay Jackson from his minor league deal with the team, Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith reports (Twitter link).  Jackson’s deal included a clause requiring the Jays to release him today if he wasn’t going to make the Major League roster.

The 35-year-old Jackson is a veteran of four MLB seasons, as well as four seasons pitching in Nippon Professional Baseball.  Since returning to North America during the 2020 season, Jackson has been a member of four different organizations, and seen time at the big league level with the Giants and Braves.  After tossing 21 2/3 innings with San Francisco in 2021, Jackson appeared in just two games with Atlanta last year, mostly due to a lat strain that kept him on the injured list for almost half the season.  It marked the second straight injury-riddled year for Jackson, as a hamstring tear kept him on the shelf for a big chunk of the 2021 campaign.

According to Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling, five other teams besides Toronto had interest in Jackson as a free agent last year, so it is quite possible he could land elsewhere in pretty quick fashion.  Between his strong numbers in Japan and at the Triple-A level when healthy, Jackson would certainly seem to have something left to offer interested suitors, especially after a big Spring Training.

With a flawless 0.00 ERA in 9 1/3 innings and 13 strikeouts in 37 batters faced this spring, one would imagine the Jays would’ve been able to find room for Jackson had they not already had a bullpen full of pretty established relief options.  Jackson took something of a different approach to his free agency this offseason, as he told Zwelling that he wants to pitch for a winning team, even if that means a more difficult route to winning a bullpen job.

Blue Jays, Jay Jackson Agree To Minor League Deal

By | at

The Blue Jays are signing reliever Jay Jackson to a minor league contract, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post (Twitter link). He’ll be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee.

The 35-year-old has seen some big league action in four seasons, including each of the last couple years. He only pitched twice at the highest level for the Braves last season, working 1 1/3 scoreless frames. He was held out of action for the first couple months by a lat strain and spent the bulk of the year on optional assignment to Triple-A Gwinnett.

Jackson pitched very well for the Stripers, allowing only five runs over 19 2/3 innings. He struck out 25 of the 80 hitters he faced (a 31.3% clip) while walking just four. Despite that quality work, Jackson couldn’t seize a spot in an Atlanta bullpen that was one of the sport’s deepest. The Braves ran him through outright waivers in September and he reached minor league free agency at season’s end.

The veteran hurler logged more extensive MLB action with the Giants during the 2021 campaign. He threw 21 2/3 innings through 23 outings for San Francisco, posting a 3.74 ERA while punching out 31.1% of batters faced. He missed plenty of bats but struggled with wobbly control, doling out free passes to more than 13% of opponents.

Jackson will be in camp and vie for a spot in a Toronto bullpen that could have a few openings in the middle innings. Jordan Romano, Erik Swanson, Anthony Bass, Yimi García and Tim Mayza should have spots secured. Adam Cimber and out-of-options hurlers Trevor Richards and Mitch White could have the inside track at the remaining jobs but don’t seem as firmly penciled in. Jackson has one minor league option year remaining.

Braves Outright Jay Jackson

By | at

In an unsurprising move, Atlanta Braves’ relief pitcher Jay Jackson has passed through waivers unclaimed, as reported in MLB’s Transactions Log. Jackson was not on the active roster prior to his DFA, but was on the Braves’ 40-man while with Gwinnett. An early offseason addition for the defending champs, the 34-year-old Jackson was DFA’d by the San Francisco Giants and traded to the Braves. However, his start to the 2022 season was delayed by a right lat strain that forced him to the injured list. Once active, he was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett where he posted a 1.53 ERA in 17 2/3 innings with 20 strikeouts with a strong 29.4 K% and 4.4 BB%. Jackson finally made his season debut on August 29th, pitching one-third of an inning before following that up by pitching another inning on August 31st. In total, he pitched 1 1/3 innings, giving up one hit and striking out a single batter.

Jackson has bounced around in his career prior to his latest DFA, having been a part of 7 Major League organizations in his 15-year career. Most recently, he spent the 2021 season with the Giants, pitching to a 3.74 ERA in 21 2/3 innings with a high 31.3 K%. Nevertheless, Jackson walked a fair share of batters posting a 13.3% BB%. Prior to his stint with the Giants, Jackson was with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in Japan’s NPB from 2016-2018, coming back to the majors in 2019 with the Milwaukee Brewers, before returning to NPB with the Chiba Lotte Marines briefly in 2020.

As noted in a previous MLBTR article, Jackson was owed the balance of a $1.5MM major league salary, is not playoff-eligible for a new team,  and is a free agent after the season. By remaining in Triple-A he will receive the rest of his salary and be a depth option for the Braves. Regardless he will be a free agent after this season and will likely garner plenty of minor league interest, having had a strong showing in Gwinnett, with the Giants in 2021, and in NPB.

Braves Activate Ozzie Albies, Designate Jay Jackson For Assignment

By | at

The Braves announced Friday that second baseman Ozzie Albies has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Fellow infielder Ehire Adrianza was placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained quadriceps to open a spot on the active roster, while righty Jay Jackson was designated for assignment in order to clear a 40-man spot for Albies.

Albies, still just 25 years old, hasn’t appeared in a game since June 13 thanks to a broken left foot that ultimately required surgery. The Braves, at one point, were hopeful of a mid-August return for the two-time All-Star and Silver Slugger winner, but Albies’ recovery took a bit longer than that best-case scenario. Even without Albies’ all-around excellence, however, the Braves have been one of MLB’s hottest teams. Since his injury, Atlanta has played at a sweltering 52-28 pace, surging to just one game back of the NL East lead.

Inserting Albies back into the lineup will only make the Braves all the more dangerous. He is, after all, a .270/.321/.470 career hitter whose most recent full-season, 2021, was also the first 30-homer campaign of his impressive young career.

In Albies’ absence, the Braves have cycled through several options at the keystone. None of Orlando Arcia, Phil Gosselin or the aforementioned Adrianza hit particularly well in limited action at the position, however, and the organization eventually made the decision to call top prospect Vaughn Grissom up directly from Double-A in an effort to get more production from second base. Grissom has flashed all the tools that make him such a ballyhooed prospect in his initial look at the MLB level, but his bat has also cooled after a blistering start to the his career. Grissom slashed .420/.463/.660 through his first 14 games (54 plate appearances), but he’s batting just .210/.269/.333 in 17 games since and is has only one hit in his past five games.

For now, Grissom will stay on the big league roster despite the fact that Albies will step back into a full-time role at second base. There’s been talk of giving Grissom some time in left field, where neither Eddie Rosario nor Marcell Ozuna has provided much value to the lineup this season. There are also DH at-bats to go around, of course, so it’s possible for both Albies and Grissom to be in the lineup — which would come at the expense of playing time for some combination of Rosario, Ozuna and deadline acquisition Robbie Grossman.

The 34-year-old Jackson wasn’t on the active roster prior to today’s move but had been occupying a 40-man spot while pitching with Triple-A Gwinnett. He’s handled himself quite nicely there, to put things mildly; in 17 2/3 frames with Gwinnett, Jackson allowed just three runs on 13 hits and three walks with 20 strikeouts — good for a 1.53 ERA.

Jackson’s DFA is largely a case of poor timing and unfortunate (for him) circumstances. He missed the first several months of the season due to a lat strain and never really got much of a look in Atlanta thanks to an already loaded bullpen. The Braves are deep in quality veteran options, with Kenley Jansen, Raisel Iglesias, A.J. Minter, Tyler Matzek, Collin McHugh and Kirby Yates all under contract and pitching well. Rookie left-hander Dylan Lee has quietly been dominant for Atlanta, and the only other spot in the bullpen is currently occupied by out-of-options righty Jackson Stephens, who has pitched to a solid 3.74 ERA in a multi-inning role there.

The Braves could’ve opted to jettison Stephens and go with Jackson, but doing so would have required them to place Stephens on waivers, given his lack of minor league options. Jackson, who returned to the Majors in 2021 after spending the 2020 season in Japan, can become a free agent at season’s end under the terms of the contract he inked, MLBTR has confirmed. As such, the choice effectively boils down to four more years of Stephens versus a few more weeks of Jackson.

Given that Jackson is still owed the balance of a $1.5MM Major League salary, wouldn’t be playoff-eligible for a new team and is a free agent after the season, there’s a good chance he’ll clear waivers even in spite of his big showing in Gwinnett. If that’s the case, he could remain on hand as a depth option who could be summoned in the event of a late injury. Either way, he’ll reach the open market again this winter on the heels of a solid 2021-22  showing in Triple-A and having posted a combined 3.52 ERA with a 30.5% strikeout rate and 12.6% walk rate in 23 big league innings between San Francisco (21 2/3) and Atlanta (1 1/3) over the past two seasons.

Braves Place Jackson Stephens On 7-Day IL, Recall Jay Jackson

By | at

The Braves placed right-hander Jackson Stephens on the 7-day concussion IL and recalled fellow righty Jay Jackson, the team announced today. Per Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Stephens has been diagnosed with a mild concussion. He suffered the injury when a Brendan Donovan liner ricocheted off his forehead in the ninth inning of the Braves’ blowout win over the Cardinals last night.

Should Jackson find his way into a game, it’ll be his first action with the Braves, though his recall marks his second stint with the big-league club this year. He had previously been called up when Max Fried went on the concussion IL earlier this month but did not enter a game.

In 56 1/3 innings in the majors across parts of three seasons with the Padres, Brewers, and Giants, the 34-year-old — who also spent three years pitching in Japan for the Hiroshima Carp — owns a 4.31 ERA (4.22 FIP) as well as a stellar 32.6% strikeout rate and a not-so-stellar 12.8% walk rate. He’s performed admirably in limited action for Triple-A Gwinnett this year, posting a 1.72 ERA in 15 2/3 innings with a 29.5% strikeout rate and a much more palatable 4.9% walk rate.

Stephens, who hadn’t appeared in a major league game since a 2018 stint with the Reds heading into the season, had been something of a revelation at the back end of a top-notch Braves bullpen. While bad luck against the Cardinals last night marred his season numbers somewhat, he still owns a 3.89 ERA (3.56 FIP) in 44 innings across 32 appearances. In a bullpen that also includes Kenley Jansen, A.J. Minter, Tyler Matzek, Colin McHugh, and Raisel Iglesias (who essentially took the place of Will Smith), Stephens has mostly pitched in low-leverage situations, though not exclusively.

It isn’t yet clear how long Stephens will be out, but he’s probably a safe bet for the Braves’ postseason roster, presuming he’s back and ready to pitch by then. Jackson may benefit from the forthcoming expansion of rosters on the first of September, though the Braves have a pair of pitchers nearing return (Darren O’Day and Mike Soroka, who’s slated to make his third rehab start today as he works his way back from a pair of achilles tears) that could well create a roster crunch sooner than later, even with an extra spot available in the bullpen.

Braves Place Max Fried On Concussion-Related Injured List

By | at

The Braves placed left-hander Max Fried on the seven-day injured list for concussion-related injuries.  Righty Jay Jackson was called up from Triple-A to take Fried’s spot on the active roster.

Fried’s placement is backdated to August 8, two days after the southpaw took an awkward fall while attempting a fielding play in Atlanta’s 6-2 loss to the Mets.  Fried was holding his head in the aftermath of the play but remained in the game and tossed three more innings.

After a few days of further evaluation, it appears as though the Braves have decided that Fried needs some more time to recover.  He’ll miss his next start but hopefully no more, though it is hard to predict when concussion symptoms could fully dissipate.

Fried is in the midst of another excellent season, with a 2.60 ERA/3.36 SIERA over 22 starts and 138 1/3 innings.  Despite a middling strikeout rate, Fried has been excellent at inducing grounders (50.5% groundball rate) and soft contact, and his 4.5% walk rate is among the best in the game.  The 28-year-old has emerged as a front-of-the-rotation ace, and his health is key to Atlanta’s chance of repeating as World Series champions.

Since today is an off-day for the Braves, the team has a bit of flexibility in aligning its rotation in Fried’s absence.  The left-hander was scheduled to start against the Marlins on Friday, but Atlanta could simply bump the other starters up one day and hope that Fried is able to return before his next turn in the rotation.  The recently-optioned Ian Anderson is likely the first choice for a spot start should Fried have to miss more time.

Braves Designate Touki Toussaint For Assignment

By | at

The Braves announced that right-hander Jay Jackson has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett. To make room on the 40-man roster fellow righty Touki Toussaint has been designated for assignment.

Toussaint, 26, was the 16th overall selection of the 2014 draft, taken by the Diamondbacks. He was traded to Atlanta in 2015 along with Bronson Arroyo for Phil Gosselin. In the years following that deal, Toussaint was viewed as one of the better prospects in Atlanta’s system and across the game as a whole. Baseball America had him on their list of Top 100 prospects in all of baseball in 2015, 2016 and 2019.

However, he has struggled with injuries and underperformance since then. He saw scattered major league action over the four seasons from 2018 to 2021, logging 145 total innings over those campaigns with a 5.46 ERA. His 23.6% strikeout rate is a bit above average, though it’s also come with an unfortunate 12.9% walk rate.

This season, his final option year, he’s gotten all his action with Triple-A Gwinnett thus far. (He was briefly recalled to the big league club in April but was optioned again before getting into a game.) He’s made eight starts for the Stripers and five relief appearances, throwing 41 2/3 frames in total. Despite a robust 27.5% strikeout rate, control has again been an issue, with his 13% walk rate helping his ERA balloon up to 6.26 on the year. It seems that the club has finally run out of patience with hoping he can right the ship and make good on his potential.

Despite those unfortunate results so far this year, Toussaint is still just 26 years old and only a few years removed from being considered one of the best young pitchers in the sport. He’s sure to garner interest for teams in need of pitching depth, especially considering he can be stashed in Triple-A for the remainder of the year. He will be out of options next year, however, meaning he will need to stick on a team’s active roster all season or else be sent into DFA limbo yet again. He currently has between two and three years of MLB service time and isn’t likely to reach the three-year plateau this season. Atlanta will have one week to work out a trade or put him through waivers.

Braves Sign Kenley Jansen

By and | at

The Braves have a new closer, as they announced agreement Friday evening with Kenley Jansen on a one-year, $16MM contract. (Atlanta discloses their own contract terms). The Wasserman client had spent his entire career with the Dodgers, but he’s headed to one of the National League’s other powerhouses this season. In order to clear space on the 40-man roster, Atlanta placed reliever Jay Jackson on the 60-day injured list to a right lat strain.

A three-time All-Star and two-time Hoffman Award winner (as the National League’s top reliever), Jansen is one of the best late-game arms in recent memory. The consistently excellent closer has never posted an ERA above 3.75 in his 12-year big league career, and he’s put up an ERA below 3.00 in eight separate seasons.

Jansen remained great last season, pitching to a 2.22 mark in 69 outings. He saved 38 games and struck out a stellar 30.9% of batters faced. That wasn’t quite at the level of his peak — when Jansen was punching out more than two-fifths of opponents while allowing fewer than two earned runs per nine — but it was nevertheless among the league’s best production. Among the 138 relievers with 50+ innings pitched, Jansen checked in 15th in ERA and 29th in strikeout percentage. He generated swinging strikes on 15.2% of his pitches, the 22nd-highest mark among that same group.

In addition to his ability to miss bats, Jansen has consistently excelled at limiting hard contact. Possessing an excellent cutter that stays off barrels, he consistently ranks among the league’s best in terms of checking opponents’ exit velocities and rates of solid contact. That continued last season, with opponents making hard contact (defined as a batted ball with an exit speed of 95 MPH or higher) on only 26.1% of balls in play against him. That’s nearly ten points lower than the 35.4% league average, although it’s par for the course for Jansen.

If there was anything to nitpick in Jansen’s performance, it’s that his once-stellar control got a bit wobbly. He walked 12.9% of opponents last year, his highest rate since his 2010 rookie season. That marked the fourth consecutive year in which Jansen’s walk percentage climbed relative to the year prior, and it was his first season in a decade walking more batters than the average reliever did. That didn’t prevent him from having plenty of bottom-line success, though, and the Braves aren’t locking themselves into a long-term investment.

The 34-year-old reliever signs a one-year deal, shy of MLBTR’s two-year, $26MM projection entering the offseason. The deal brings the Braves payroll to an estimated $185MM, according to Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. That’s uncharted territory for the organization, but Atlanta brass has maintained throughout the winter they’d push their spending upwards on the heels of a World Series run. Their luxury tax ledger, meanwhile, sits around $208MM — about $22MM shy of the base threshold.

Jansen’s signing is the most important step in what has been something of a bullpen makeover in Atlanta. The Braves also added Collin McHugh and Tyler Thornburg, both of whom can step into immediate work. McHugh, coming off an excellent season, seems likely to take on high-leverage innings for manager Brian Snitker. Former closer Will Smith now steps into that mix as well, as Jansen’s signing bumps him from the ninth inning. Speaking with reporters (including Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) this evening, president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos confirmed Smith was willing to cede the ninth inning in order to strengthen the overall roster. Smith, McHugh, Tyler Matzek, Luke Jackson and A.J. Minter form the core of what could be a very difficult late-innings mix to crack for opposing lineups.

That’s before even considering the presence of former All-Star closer Kirby Yates, whom the Braves signed before the lockout. The righty is still on the mend from a March 2021 Tommy John surgery, but he’s expected to factor into the mix down the stretch. Atlanta no doubt envisions playing meaningful games into September and October as they reload for what they hope will be another title run.

Along the way, they very well may come up against the Dodgers. There’d be plenty of intrigue if the clubs meet again in the playoffs, as they’ve now poached franchise icons from one another in recent days. Atlanta brass certainly didn’t allow the Dodgers’ finalization of a six-year deal with Freddie Freeman this afternoon to influence their pursuit of Jansen, but the fanbase and some in the organization probably feel some amount of satisfaction in poaching a marquee player from L.A. There was already going to be plenty of intrigue every time the two teams met this season. Jansen heading to Atlanta will only take that up another notch.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Braves Acquire Jay Jackson, Designate Yoan Lopez

By | at

The Giants have traded right-handed reliever Jay Jackson to the Braves in exchange for cash or a player to be named later, per a pair of team announcements. San Francisco designated Jackson for assignment on Friday while setting their 40-man roster prior to the Rule 5 protection deadline. Fellow right-hander Yoan Lopez was designated for assignment in a corresponding move, per the Braves.

Jackson, 34, has found new life in the big leagues after a strong four-year run with the Hiroshima Carp in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He’s been with the Brewers and the Giants since returning, most recently pitching to a 3.74 ERA with an impressive 31.3% strikeout rate in 21 1/3 innings for San Francisco last season. Jackson also averaged 94.8 mph on his heater, pairing that with a sizable 13.3% swinging-strike rate. Those numbers are impressive, to be sure, but Jackson has also struggled with his command at times, walking 13.5% of his opponents since his return from NPB.

Command issues notwithstanding, Jackson makes for a solid, low-cost pickup for the reigning World Series champs. In addition to a good run with the Giants’ big league club last year, he also posted a 1.29 ERA with a gaudy 24-to-1 K/BB ratio in 14 Triple-A frames in 2021. And, despite the fact that he’s 34 years old, Jackson still has a minor league option remaining, so he can give the Braves a good bit of flexibility in the bullpen.

The 28-year-old Lopez was traded from Arizona to Atlanta in a late-May deal that sent minor league outfielder Deivi Estrada to Arizona. Lopez had a solid run in Triple-A Gwinnett, tallying 32 2/3 innings of 3.03 ERA ball with a 26.7% strikeout rate and an 8.4% walk rate in that time.

Once a high-profile international signing by the D-backs, Lopez has only tallied 101 2/3 innings in the big leagues to this point. He carries a 4.25 ERA with a solid 7.7% walk rate but a below-average 19.1% strikeout rate. The Braves will have a week to trade Lopez, place him on outright waivers or release him.

Show all

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

hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top