I have discussed Edwin Jackson numerous times over the past several months – dating all the way back to June – and have made no effort to hide that I would be in support of the New York Yankees acquiring him. I like Edwin Jackson’s stuff – if not his inconsistency – and I think he offers enough upside to emerge as an upgrade for the New York Yankees’ rotation. The problem – as usual – is the price tag. Seeing as Scott Boras is handling the negotiations, the price figures to be pretty damn steep.
At the beginning of the off-season, Boras and Jackson were seeking a deal similar to the ones that John Lackey and A.J. Burnett received. Apparently the price has come down recently, but the duo still seeks a five year contractual commitment. I’m down for the Yankees throwing some money and up to three years at Jackson, but five? Ehh, I can’t really get on board with that. At least on a three year deal the Yankees are not in a terrible spot if Jackson fails to reach anymore of his ceiling. If it came down to it, Jackson would be easier to trade and even if that didn’t work out it would be much less painful to let him play out his contract. A five year contract for a pitcher feels like a marriage.
Hopefully the contract demands continue to come down because I would like to see the New York Yankees add Edwin Jackson to the middle of their rotation. I’m just not excited to see them commit a ton of money or years to a guy who may have settled in as a middle-of-the-rotation starter.
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The only good thing about the team holding the line on payroll is that we won’t have to watch them throw money at overrated players like Jackson. A player whose KO to BB ratio last year was 2.38 is nothing more than back of the rotation material. For his career it’s BELOW 2.00. Burnett had a 2.18 last year and Hughes was about 2.1, and they sucked. Also Jackson’s numbers came in the non-DH league and in a division that is not as tough as the AL East. An erratic pitcher like this is not worth a multi year deal of any kind, let alone the kind of numbers they’re looking for. Also, 9 years and 6 teams. What exactly has caused 6 teams to give up on this guy? Pass, start thinking about Matt Cain and Cole Hamels because they’re the type of pitchers we should be looking at, not #4 starters looking for #2 money.
We’re definitely in agreement that the Yanks have no need to spend legit No. 2 starter money for someone who has only looked like a mid-rotation starter in his career. His best numbers came over the past three seasons so I don’t necessarily like to look at his career totals to project future success. You bring up a good point with all the trades. I have no idea why someone who is still considered to have a lot of talent has been swapped as many times as he has. The one thing that I wholeheartedly disagree with is this popular idea that the Yankees should start focusing on the 2013 free agent class. The likelihood of Cain or Hamels even making it to free agency are slim and that isn’t the basket the Yankees should be putting their eggs into. Not to mention, I’d prefer Zack Greinke to Cain.
Have to keep the way clear for betances and banuelos, they already have edwin jackson on their roster his name is aj burnett. funny how aj’s two best years came in contract years with marlins and jays and edwin seems to be the same guy basically. plus w/boras how much cheaper is this guy going to realistically get, there is a reason he’s still out there. one or both of the b’s might be ready this year, don’t want him holding up progress, let’s get rid of the current albatross(aj) before we sign the next one!
I can definitely see where you are coming from in terms of adding another starting pitcher. The last thing the Yankees want to do is force a Major League ready Banuelos or Betances to stay in the minors and stagnate. We don’t have to worry about that though. Not only is neither one ready for the bigs at this moment, but there is a very good chance that neither one will be ready for a full-time spot at all in 2012. As far as 2013, I think we’ll see at least two spots open up. Freddy Garcia will be a FA and I would bet that he won’t be back in the Bronx. A.J. Burnett will be on the final year of his contract and I think it will be easy (at least easier) to dump him on someone. One thing to remember though is that you can never have too much quality pitching. If the Yankees eventually came to the conclusion that Edwin Jackson was a sound investment and he flourished in the Bronx, that just means the rotation will be stronger because of the competition. If/when Betances and/or Banuelos represent a top five option for the pitching staff, they’ll get their shot.