October 6: Jackson cleared outright waivers, according to the transaction log at MLB.com. He’ll qualify for free agency at the beginning of the offseason, so it was a lock that he’d go unclaimed.
October 1: The Blue Jays announced this afternoon that the club has designated right-hander Jay Jackson for assignment. In a corresponding move, the club selected the contract of right-hander Wes Parsons. The move brings Jackson’s 2023 season to an end. The 35-year-old hurler signed with Toronto on a one-year deal back in March and was already slated to become a free agent following the 2023 campaign, though the move means that Jackson won’t join the club as they embark on a postseason push this October.
In 25 appearances with the Blue Jays this season, Jackson has posted a 2.12 ERA, good for a whopping 200 ERA+ in 29 2/3 innings of work. The right-hander’s peripherals are less impressive, with a 4.20 FIP and 3.89 SIERA, though even those figures are still better than average. The strong performance in 2023 continues a run of three seasons in the majors where Jackson has been an effective reliever: since returning from Japan prior to the 2021 season, the veteran righty has posted a 2.73 ERA and 4.07 FIP in 50 appearances with the Giants, Braves, and Blue Jays. Jackson is among several solid middle relief options who figure to be a part of the coming free agent class, like fellow righties John Brebbia and Keynan Middleton.
In Jackson’s place, the Blue Jays select Parsons, who last pitched in the majors during the 2019 campaign. He spent the 2021 and 2022 seasons overseas pitching in the KBO, where he combined for a 3.67 ERA in 196 1/3 innings of work despite his career 5.67 ERA at the major league level. Parsons signed a minor league deal with the Blue Jays this past offseason and has made 17 starts at the Triple-A level, recording a 4.52 ERA in 81 2/3 innings of work. Parsons, 31, will start today’s season finale against the Rays and figures to help cover innings as the club prepares for the AL Wild Card series, which begins on Tuesday.
Good to see Parsons get another look.
And he did so well
4 IP. 10 H. 9ER
Lmao…… tell me you want to play the twins without telling me.
Looks like we have a game 162 starter
Jackson specifically signed with the Jays because he wanted to sign with a contender and contribute to a championship run. He stayed with the team even when demoted earlier because he wanted this chance. He’s been all they could have asked for even while dealing with the personal life issues with his prematurely born child. He was away for a brief period but came back and continued his typical form. And after all that, they cut him on the last day of the regular season. I know it’s a business, but that seems a little cutthroat.
He isn’t in the position to decide what team he’s on. Just an interchangeable mid reliever
Unfortunately, because he was optioned 5 times, he couldn’t be again. So the team made the choice to dfa
Read the past stories on his contract. He just gets paid less in the minors, he’s not done for the year, he’s just the only pitcher they could designate with no contact issues.
An overreaction. He gets MLB pay and benefits while in DFA limbo. He wasn’t going to be on the playoff roster or kept on the 40 man anyway. Jackson will be 36 this month. I hope he can turn this year’s good showing into an MLB deal with a team that has a greater need for arms.
He’s 36 and has less than 2 years of big league service time.
They didn’t plan to have him on the playoff roster. Had the jays made a run and needed him, let’s say due to injury or poor performance in the after two rounds he would have been eligible.
After being dfa’d he was still with the team and celebrated making the post season. There was no bad blood from Jackson, it was simply a move based on his pending free agency and lack of spot for the playoffs
Guys. Playoff rosters aren’t finalized, this is a move on paper and Jackson has flexibility in his contract. The Jays didn’t want to use a roster player to start a nothing game. His season isn’t over lol He’ll be back on Tuesday.
It says explicitly in the article he WILL NOT be able to join the post season roster because of the DFA
Not that he’s garbage, he was decent. But there’s a dozen guys ahead of him on the playoff roster.
Even had they not DFAd him, he wouldn’t have been on the post season roster barring an injury today or Monday (someone sliced their finger open for example)
Hope his child is doing well and he goes home to spend time with them.
He’ll get another job next year, hopefully closer to home
Thanks for your time in a Jays uniform Mr Jackson
Does the DFA close the door to him being added for any postseason series? If he chooses to stay with the organization, is there not a mechanism to add him back onto the roster as an injury replacement for another pitcher?
The way I read the rules, the Jays should be able to petition to add a pitcher to the 40 man as a replacement for Cimber or Danner after his 60 days are up. Jackson is on the outside as it is now, but he’s not so far down the depth chart to be seen as out of play.
I’d think any player who was with the organization before 9/1 would be eligible to be selected as an injury replacement after a corresponding move pulling someone off the 40-man. If they release him, that would be cutting ties, but it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.
Yeah. I read that he is with the team in Minnesota as part of a taxi squad so there is a path to him being a part of a postseason roster at some point. I was pretty sure that was the case, but the article made it sound if there wasn’t a means when it stated “though the move means that Jackson won’t join the club as they embark on a postseason push this October.”