Cubs, Edwin Jackson Agree to Deal

According to Patrick Mooney of CSNChicago, the Chicago Cubs have reached an agreement to sign free agent right hander Edwin Jackson.

Sep 9, 2012; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Edwin Jackson (33) throws in the first inning against the Miami Marlins at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

The deal, according to reports, is to be a four-year pact that is valued at $52 million and is pending a physical. The deal does not include no-trade protection, according to Jon Heyman.

Jackson has been extremely well-traveled over the course of his career, so being able to land a multi-year deal was something that probably appealed to him more than it would most players. Jackson has played for seven different major league teams in his ten seasons and that doesn’t even include the Blue Jays, with whom he was a member for part of one day in July of 2011.

Jackson was 10-11 for the Nationals last season with an ERA of 4.03. He also struck out eight batters per nine innings. Over the past five years, the 29-year-old has averaged 199 innings per season and pitched to a 4.06 ERA while working for six different clubs.

The Cubs are assembling a starting staff that will have the capability of competing in the National League. Whether they can score enough runs is another story, but the additions of Carlos Villanueva, Scott Baker, Jackson, and Scott Feldman give the Cubs an establised starter in every slot of their rotation.

The Cubs don’t figure to compete in 2013, but Jackson is still young enough to remain an effective starter through the end of his new deal and, hopefully, be a lynchpin of the next Cubs playoffs team.