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Austin Jackson

Austin Jackson Open To MLB Return

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Long-time MLB outfielder Austin Jackson is open to offers to get back on the field, MLB.com’s Jon Morosi reports on Twitter. He says he has remained in playing shape and is interested in a potential return.

Jackson only recently turned 33, so he’s not that long in the tooth. But he didn’t appear in the professional ranks in 2019 after nine consecutive MLB campaigns.

As he contemplates a comeback, Jackson says he’s looking for the “right situation” — not just any opportunity, evidently. There’s obviously no chance he’d command a big-league contract at this point, so he’d surely be looking for a minors arrangement of some kind.

It’s somewhat odd to see this news now, in the midst of a pandemic-driven hiatus, given that Spring Training had nearly wrapped up when the season was paused. But Jackson could ultimately hold appeal if a 2020 season is launched. He’s a known commodity and teams could end up needing added depth to facilitate a compressed schedule and unusual situation.

Jackson struggled badly in his last action in the majors, turning in a collective .245/.299/.326 output over 375 plate appearances with the Giants and Mets. But he was quite productive in 2017, when he slashed .318/.387/.482 for the Indians.

Mets To Sign Austin Jackson

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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.

Heyman’s Latest: Mets, Wheeler, deGrom, Syndergaard, Jackson, Phils, Braves

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“About a half-dozen teams” have some interest in Mets right-hander Zack Wheeler, FanCred Sports’ Jon Heyman tweets.  Wheeler’s name has been mentioned in trade rumors for a few weeks now, with such teams as the Reds, Yankees, and Diamondbacks all reportedly linked to the 28-year-old.  With the Mets firmly in sell mode as the deadline approaches, Wheeler certainly still appears to be the likeliest of New York’s starting pitchers to be moved in the coming days.  In other tweets,, Heyman notes that though the Mets are doing their due diligence on current offers for Jacob deGrom or Noah Syndergaard, it’s more probably the team would wait until the offseason to deal either ace.  Waiting until the winter opens up a wider array of potential suitors for trades, and thus would increase the Mets’ chances of landing their desired return of MLB-ready talent.  Of course, the chances of Syndergaard being now seem “infinitesimal” since the righty is now on the 10-day DL after contracting hand, foot, and mouth disease.

Here’s some more transactions buzz from Heyman’s Twitter account…

  • The Red Sox and Giants are among the teams who are showing interest in veteran outfielder Austin Jackson.  San Francisco, of course, just traded Jackson to the Rangers as part of a salary dump, and Jackson is now available in free agency (for the prorated MLB minimum salary) after Texas released him.  Jackson has hit only .242/.309/.295 in 165 PA this season, though he could provide several teams with veteran outfield depth.  He is more natural backup outfield fit, for instance, than current Red Sox roster members Steve Pearce or Brock Holt.  The Giants have a pretty crowded outfield mix already, though Jackson is more experienced than the likes of Austin Slater or Steven Duggar.
  • The Braves and Phillies have been linked to several major names this summer, and Heyman says the two NL East rivals have indeed been “involved in most/all the big stuff” on the trade front.  According to some, however, Atlanta and Philadelphia have also seemed less likely than other contenders to move their top prospects.  This jibes with recent comments from Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos, who was looking to make upgrades but expressed wariness about dealing top prospects, particularly for rental players.  Both the Braves and Phils are somewhat in the same boat as teams who are somewhat unexpected contenders coming out of a lengthy rebuild, and since both are looking to begin some sustained success, they aren’t necessarily looking to make a big all-in push this year.

Rangers Activate Martin Perez, Release Austin Jackson

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The Rangers announced that they’ve activated left-hander Martin Perez from the 60-day DL and released outfielder Austin Jackson. Additionally, they placed reliever Alex Claudio on the 10-day DL because of a left ankle sprain.

Perez will start against the Orioles on Saturday, which will be his first major league outing since April 29. The 27-year-old missed nearly three months with right (non-throwing) elbow problems. Prior to that, Perez got off to a terrible start with a 9.67 ERA, 5.24 K/9 and 4.84 BB/9 in 22 1/3 innings.

This disastrous season aside, Perez has been passable since debuting in 2012, evidenced by a 4.60 ERA/4.40 FIP across 698 1/3 career innings. He also tossed at least 185 frames in each of the previous two seasons. Given Texas’ need for starters, Perez’s track record could influence the team to pick up his $7.5MM option for 2019 when the offseason rolls around. Otherwise, it could try to trade Perez or buy him out for $750K.

As for Jackson, his release comes three days after the Rangers designated him for assignment and ends a very short tenure with the organization for the native Texan. In a trade with San Francisco last weekend, the Rangers agreed to take on Jackson (and his $3MM annual salary through next season) to help clear payroll for the Giants and acquire pitching prospect Jason Bahr.

The Rangers never had any intention of using Jackson, who hit just .242/.309/.295 in 165 plate appearances as a Giant, and weren’t able to flip him elsewhere. Now, thanks to his woeful season thus far, the 31-year-old Jackson may either have to take a minor league deal (if a team offers one) or sit out the rest of 2018.

Rangers Designate Austin Jackson

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The Rangers have designated outfielder Austin Jackson for assignment, per a club announcement. He had been acquired recently from the Giants but never reported to his new team, at its request.

As Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News explained at the time, the swap that brought Jackson and reliever Cory Gearrin to Texas was designed from the outset as a prospect purchase. “Our primary motivation was acquiring Jason Bahr,” GM Jon Daniels said of the deal. The Giants, who are just barely south of the $197MM luxury tax threshold, were willing to give up the young hurler in order to clear over $5MM in salary from their books as part of their own deadline maneuvering.

Jackson, 31, struggled badly at the plate this year in San Francisco. Over 165 plate appearances, he carries a meager .242/.309/.295 batting line. That power outage came along with a 35.8% strikeout rate that is far higher than the ~20% level Jackson has maintained in recent seasons.

It’s still possible, of course, that the Rangers will try to line up a trade involving the veteran outfielder. He did have a productive 2017 campaign, leading the Giants to give him a two-year, $6MM contract over the winter. But it seems unlikely that there will be much of a market for his services at the moment. Certainly, no other teams will have interest in taking on the salary, if any are even willing to give him a MLB roster spot.

Rangers Acquire Austin Jackson, Cory Gearrin; Could Trade Jackson

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12:47pm: Jackson may never even play for the Rangers, per Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News. General manager Jon Daniels told the outfielder “to hold off on reporting,” Fraley writes. It seems they’ll try to trade him.

12:05pm: The Rangers have acquired outfielder Austin Jackson, reliever Cory Gearrin and right-hander Jason Bahr from the Giants in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations, according to Texas’ executive vice president of communications, John Blake. To clear room on their 40-man roster, the Rangers moved relievers Matt Bush and Tony Barnette to the 60-day disabled list. Meanwhile, the Giants will select both outfielder Steven Duggar and righty Ray Black from Triple-A, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets.

This trade amounts to a cost-cutting move for the Giants, who were narrowly under the $197MM competitive-balance tax threshold entering Sunday. Now, with the Rangers taking on the salaries of both Jackson and Gearrin (per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic), the Giants are seemingly in better position to make some moves around the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline as they try to hang in the NL West race.

San Francisco added Jackson on a two-year, $6MM free-agent contract last winter on the heels of a season in which the veteran was a key role player for the Indians. The 31-year-old Jackson has gone backward this season, though, as he took 165 plate appearances with the Giants and hit just .242/.309/.295 with no home runs, 14 unintentional walks and 59 strikeouts. He’ll now attempt to revive his season in his native Texas.

The Giants tried to get rid of Gearrin via outright waivers last month, but no one claimed him. The 32-year-old’s on an affordable $1.675MM salary in his penultimate season of team control, though he has seen his ERA increase from 1.99 in 2017 to 4.20 in 2018. Overall this year, Gearrin has tossed 30 innings and managed 9.3 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9.

Along with helping the Giants get out from under the salaries of Jackson and Gearrin, the out-of-contention Rangers also added Bahr – who ranked as San Francisco’s 27th-best prospect at MLB.com. Bahr, 23, joined the Giants just last year as a fifth-round pick. He has since pitched solely at the Single-A level, including 84 2/3 innings of 2.55 ERA ball this season.

With the Jackson experiment having failed for the Giants, they’ll introduce the well-regarded Duggar to their outfield mix. The 24-year-old Duggar, a 2015 third-round pick and MLB.com’s third-ranked Giants prospect, owns a .272/.354/.421 line in 356 Triple-A plate appearances this season. He’ll join a San Francisco outfield that hasn’t gotten average or better offensive production from anyone but Andrew McCutchen, Gorkys Hernandez and Austin Slater this year.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

West Notes: Mariners, A’s, Duensing, AJax, Giants

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Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto told Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times and other reporters this week that the club’s largely content with the work it has done this winter to improve its roster. While the Mariners haven’t addressed their rotation in any noteworthy way, Dipoto’s confident their starters are at least on par with most AL rotations, “with the exception of last year’s playoff teams — the Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Houston Astros.” Whether Felix Hernandez will be able to amass 25-plus starts, as opposed to the 16 he made last year, will go a long way toward deciding how Seattle will fare in 2018, Dipoto believes.

With a couple months left until the start of the season, the Mariners could still complement Hernandez & Co. with more starting help – payroll’s “not an issue,” according to CEO John Stanton. However, if we’re to take Dipoto’s word, it doesn’t seem likely. “We are doing the best we can to develop our system, not to clog it,” Dipoto said. “Could we go out and sign a free agent that would be better than our current fifth starter? Absolutely. Would that be the best thing for the present of the Mariners? Maybe. Would it be the best thing through the wider lens for the present and future of the Mariners? Probably not. We’ll be able to address those needs as we go. Because the one thing we’ve not had to deal with here is a lack of resources.”

More on a couple other West Coast clubs:

  • In search of left-handed relief help, the Athletics “made some offers to some guys; we just weren’t able to get them here,” manager Bob Melvin informed Jane Lee of MLB.com and other reporters Saturday (Twitter link). One offer went to Brian Duensing, who turned down a deal worth $3MM more than the two-year, $7MM pact he took to re-up with the Cubs, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The A’s also attempted to pick up outfielder Austin Jackson on a one-year deal, but the Giants reeled him in with a two-year, $6MM contract. Now, Oakland’s not discussing any “significant free agents,” Slusser writes.
  • Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic has an excellent, free-to-read piece on new Giants hitting coach Alonzo Powell, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer Jan. 2 and will undergo prostate removal surgery on Tuesday. Powell’s support system includes his wife, Jana, as well as both the San Francisco and Houston organizations (he was the Astros’ assistant hitting coach from 2015-17), which Baggarly details. The Giants have been invaluable to Powell, as they took over his medical care after scans showed his cancer had spread to his bones. Had that been accurate, surgery would not have been an option for Powell, who would have instead had to go through a year of chemotherapy and radiation. But the Giants’ chief internist, Dr. Robert Murray, was skeptical of those results, and he had Powell undergo another bone scan that ultimately returned good news. After his surgery, Powell will need “daily radiation treatments for several weeks,” Baggarly writes, but the hope is he’ll be with the Giants when their pitchers and catchers report to spring training Feb. 13. We join those around the game in rooting for Powell to achieve that goal.

Giants Still Monitoring Outfield Market, Don’t Plan To Exceed Luxury Tax Barrier

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The Giants shored up their outfield mix with yesterday’s addition of Austin Jackson on a two-year, $6MM contract — threading the luxury tax needle by adding a veteran that serves as an upgrade while still squeezing in just south of the $197MM barrier. That doesn’t leave much room for further upgrades, but executive vice president of baseball ops Brian Sabean and GM Bobby Evans tell reporters that the Giants are still open to supplementing their outfield (links via Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area and John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle).

Notably, Sabean suggests that Jackson was “probably not” signed to be the team’s everyday center fielder. “I don’t know that in his recent history he’s been able to go out there in that fashion,” Sabean says of Jackson. San Francisco is still exploring some low-salary trade options, and prospect Steven Duggar remains a candidate to win the job (if not in Spring Training, certainly later in the season). Duggar, though, has just 232 minor league games under his belt, with only 60 of those coming in Double-A and just 13 in Triple-A.

San Francisco remains confident in its ability to acquire an additional outfielder via trade, Pavlovic writes. That’ll likely require prying loose a pre-arbitration player making near the league minimum, as the Giants are now within about $2.1MM of the luxury threshold (per Cot’s Contracts). Such assets are the types with which teams are typically loath to part, though the Brewers have reportedly been exploring trade scenarios involving their potential outfield surplus, with names like Keon Broxton and Brett Phillips circulating on the rumor mill.

The waiver circuit could present another option for the Giants as rosters are shuffled leading up to Spring Training; numerous players with some degree of big league experience figure to become available in coming weeks as teams clear roster space for veteran additions. That was the manner by which the Tigers plucked Mikie Mahtook from the Rays last year, acquiring him for a player to be named later and enjoying a fairly productive year out of the former first-rounder. (Speculatively speaking, Mahtook himself could be an option for the Giants, as the rebuilding Tigers will likely be willing to listen on virtually any player.)

If the Giants don’t succeed in landing another option to take over in center field, it seems that Jackson, Duggar, Austin Slater and Gorkys Hernandez will vie for time in center field to open the season. At the very least, it wouldn’t come as much of a surprise to the Giants add a left-handed-hitting veteran on a minor league deal. Jackson, Hernandez, Hunter Pence and Andrew McCutchen all swing from the right side of the dish, so adding a lefty to create more matchup flexibility in the event that the left-handed-hitting Duggar opens the season in the minors seems logical.

Giants Sign Austin Jackson

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Jan. 23: Heyman tweets that Jackson will earn $3MM in each year of the deal. His 2019 base salary can rise by $1MM based on the number of plate appearances he tallies in 2018, and his 2019 salary can rise by $1.5MM based on that season’s plate appearance total.

Jan. 22: The Giants have announced the signing of outfielder Austin Jackson, as Jon Heyman of Fan Rag first reported (via Twitter). It’s said to be a two-year, $6MM guarantee, but the Octagon client can also escalate his 2019 salary by as much as $2.5MM if he meets certain plate appearance-based targets, as Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic explains on Twitter.

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Jackson, who’ll soon turn 31, turned in a nice bounceback campaign in 2017 after three straight seasons of subpar offensive production. Over 318 plate appearances with the Indians, he posted a .318/.387/.482 batting line with seven home runs and three steals.

Though there’s obviously some promise in that output, it comes with a few caveats. On offense, Jackson benefited from a .385 batting average on ball in play that isn’t likely to be repeated. And his is wOBA of .378 widely outpaced his Statcast-based xwOBA of .335. (For what it’s worth, too, he mostly succeeded by dominating left-handed pitching. He has typically carried reverse splits, so it’s somewhat unclear how that ought to be interpreted.)

Importantly, too, Jackson is no longer a top-end asset in the field and on the bases. He has floated in range of average in both areas in recent years, but generally has graded as a slightly below-average fielder for the past several campaigns. It seems reasonable to believe he can still handle center, at least on a part-time basis, but he’ll surely be put to the test at the spacious AT&T Park.

[RELATED: Updated Giants Depth Chart]

There’s plenty of reason to wonder whether Jackson will be capable of coming close to repeating his output from 2017. But the contract seems to be a reasonable one for a player who has had success in both the recent and the more distant past. Certainly, the price is right for the Giants. This move dovetails with the team’s reported preference to fill out a roster without going past the luxury line.

As things stand, Jackson arguably sits atop the San Francisco depth chart in center field. That said, Giants GM Bobby Evans says that Jackson will “provide additional depth at all three outfield positions,” suggesting that the club does not expect to hand him the reins to the regular job in center. (Via John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle, on Twitter).

The question, then, turns to what other options the Giants have to round out their outfield mix. Internally, right-handed hitters include Gorkys Hernandez, Austin Slater, and Mac Williamson. While the first two of those players are capable of  seeing time in center, they wouldn’t add much functionality beyond what Jackson provides, particularly since the team’s veteran corner outfielders — Hunter Pence and Andrew McCutchen — both hit from the right side. The lefty-swinging, out-of-options Jarrett Parker is another option, up the middle, though his recent output does not inspire much confidence.

So, what options remain for the Giants? If a golden opportunity arises to add a higher-end player, particularly a left-handed hitter, then perhaps a move past the luxury tax line could still occur. Alternatively, as Baggarly notes on Twitter, the club could chase a pre-arb player while staying just shy of the tax, though that’d presumably mean either taking a risk on a less-than-certain asset or giving up good value in return. Free agents like Ben Revere could still be pursued, but anyone achievable at a bargain rate likely won’t be a good enough performer to bump Jackson into reserve duties. Of course, the team also surely hopes that left-handed-hitting prospect Steven Duggar will prove himself ready for a MLB trial in relatively short order. If the team truly believes in him but also wants a more established player to open the season without bypassing the luxury line, it’ll have to get rather creative.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

AL Central Notes: Royals, Boone, Jackson, Tribe, Tigers

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With Eric Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain, and Mike Moustakas all hitting free agency, there has been wide speculation that the Royals could be entering a rebuild phase.  This is the general consensus around the league, Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star writes, even if Hosmer is re-signed.  The club itself is unsure about its contention plans for the immediate future, as the exact level of the rebuild is still in question — “club officials see rebuilding scenarios that include” Hosmer on the roster, Dodd writes.  This would seemingly put K.C. in an awkward decision this winter, as spending nine figures to re-sign Hosmer doesn’t seem to make much sense for a team that already has an eye towards reloading its farm system, though GM Dayton Moore is reportedly not keen on the idea of a full teardown.

Here’s more from the AL Central…

  • The Twins and Aaron Boone recently had mutual interest in a front office role before Boone was hired to be the Yankees’ new manager, according to Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (hat tip to 1500ESPN.com’s Darren Wolfson).
  • The Indians are interested in a reunion with Austin Jackson “but at the right price,” according to Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.  Jackson proved to be a big bargain for the Tribe in 2017, as he signed a minor league deal and then hit an outstanding .318/.387/.482 over 318 plate appearances while seeing time at all three outfield positions.  Jackson would bring a right-handed presence to a projected Cleveland outfield that currently features three left-handed hitters (Michael Brantley, Bradley Zimmer, Lonnie Chisenhall), though there’s certainly question as to whether Jackson can sustain his production, given his .385 BABIP from last season and his recent history of subpar offensive numbers.
  • The Tigers figure to add multiple starting pitchers this winter, though as The Athletic’s Katie Strang notes, those arms will come in the form of inexpensive MLB and minor league signings and possibly a Rule 5 Draft pick.  Names like Clay Buchholz, Drew Smyly or Nick Burdi could fit, though the latter two are recovering from Tommy John surgery and could be tough fits on the 40-man roster.
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