It took right up until the wire, but the Boston Red Sox were able to increase their depth by adding Conor Jackson and cash from the Oakland A’s. The Athletics received pitching prospect Jason Rice in return for Jackson.
As the waiver trade deadline approached last night, Red Sox GM Theo Epstein announced that he didn’t believe he would be able to strike a deal. Things changed just before midnight and Boston was able to add Jackson in an effort to strengthen their bench.
After spending several years with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Jackson was acquired by the A’s for right handed reliever Sam Demel last June.
Jackson hadn’t been overly impressive this season for Oakland, posting a line of .249/.315/.342 with 22 extra base hits and 38 RBI’s in 102 games played.
Still, Jackson does have some solid attributes that the Red Sox coveted for their bench. Over his 7 year major league career, Jackson has maintained a batting average of .272 to go along with his above average .352 OBP.
Jackson’s not awful against right-handers, but he is definitely better versus southpaws, making him a nice option off the bench. The 29 year old has never posted overwhelming power numbers, but isn’t exactly carrying a wet noodle to the plate either. From 2006-2008 with the Diamondbacks, Jackson averaged 14 home runs and just over 28 doubles a year.
Rice is a 25 year old right-handed reliever who’s spent the past 3 seasons in Boston’s farm system. Rice reached Triple-A this year and has maintained an ERA of 3.69 while striking out 89 batters in 85.1 innings.
While his career ERA is 3.91, Rice has been better than that since joining the Sox. In 2009-10 as a member of Boston’s Single and Double-A affiliates, Rice posted ERA’s of 2.44 and 2.85 with a K/9 ratio of 11 over that span.
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