Arizona Diamondbacks: Edwin Jackson’s second tour of duty
The Arizona Diamondbacks take a flier on Edwin Jackson with hopes of catching lighting in this 36-year old bottle.
As December turns to January the multi-year contracts are replaced by the one-year deals. As January turns to February those deals turn into minor league pacts with invites to spring training. The Arizona Diamondbacks handed one of those out today when they agreed to a contract with Edwin Jackson.
Jackson has played for 14 teams over the course of 17 big league seasons and actually spent part of 2010 pitching in Arizona where he went 6-10 with a 5.16 earned run average. Since then Jackson has bounced around the league from team to team with futile stops at most places.
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In 2013 with the Chicago Cubs Jackson led the league with 18 losses and the following year he lost 15 games and compiled a 6.33 ERA. Last year between Detroit and Toronto Jackson made 18 starts going 3-10 with a combined 9.58 ERA.
With a track record, this spotted one could wonder why the Diamondbacks are bringing this veteran into camp. A team can never have too much starting pitching, but the Diamondbacks seem to have the top four spots in their rotation set with Madison Baumgartner, Robbie Ray, Mike Leake, and Luke Weaver. Alex Young, Taylor Clarke, and Zach Gallen figure to get a reasonable chance at landing the fifth spot in the rotation.
Where does Edwin Jackson fit in?
At this point in his career, Jackson would figure to sign with a rebuilding team and serve as an innings eater to save the arms of the younger pitchers. The Arizona Diamondbacks finished second in the division last year, albeit twenty-one games out, but could challenge for a wild card spot this year.
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Not exactly a rebuilding team. Jackson hasn’t averaged six innings a start since 2012, so he isn’t much of an innings eater anymore either. Nice of Arizona to kick the tires here, though I’m guessing after a rocky spring Jackson is looking for a new team to latch onto.