Minggu, 29 Januari 2012

Where will Edwin Jackson sign?

This free agent market has had tons of big contracts being signed from Prince Fielder's nine-year deal with the Tigers, to Albert Pujols's ten-year deal with the Angels to Jose Reyes's six-year deal with the Marlins. This offseason has been full of excitement and there is still a very good starting pitcher who can be a 2 or 3 starter in lots of rotations that is available. This pitcher is just hitting hs prime as he is only 28 years old and has tons of experience as he has been in the majors for the last five years. This pitcher give bullpens a night off when he is on the mound as he barely missed out on throwing at least 200 innings for the third straight season by a third of an inning. This pitcher had 12 wins and had an ERA of 3.79 which was better than Milwaukee ace starter and former Cy Young winner Zach Greinke, former Athletics and now D'Backs frontline starter Trevor Cahill, and Rangers starters Derek Holland and Colby Lewis. This pitcher has improved his control over the last few seasons and threw a no-hitter in 2010. You would think that this pitcher has signed a contract by now but he hasn't as it is starting pitcher Edwin Jackson. Edwin Jackson is the best free agent remaining as his agent Scott Boras has been searching for deals for his client. Edwin Jackson was looking for 15 million a year but by now his demands are probably around 3 years 30 to 33 million dollars. Jackson will probably also consider a one year deal and then try to get a bigger deal next offseason. Of course, he probably will not do that unless it is a last resort as next offseason's free agent pitching class includes Phillies ace Cole Hamels, Giants ace Matt Cain, and the previously mentioned  Zach Greinke who I think is a better pitcher then Jackson still though. Jackson has improved his control after working with former Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan. Of course, Jackson does need to improve his strikeout to walk ratio still but Jackson could definitely help a lot of teams. A suitor for the 28-year-old righty is the Baltimore Orioles who have shown interest in Jackson as they are willing to offer him a three-year deal. However, Jackson would make a very crowded Orioles rotation even more crowded as signing Jackson would give the Orioles 7 or 8 starting pitchers. If Jackson does go to Baltimore, then current Oriole ace Jermey Guthrie could become an immediate trade candidate as Dan Duquette could move the veteran to a team like the Red Sox for some young prospects since Guthrie is unlikely to return to the Orioles after the season. At the end of the day, I do not think that the Baltimore Orioles will sign Edwin Jackson because they already have plenty of starters. The next candidate to sign Edwin Jackson is the Boston Red Sox. New Red Sox GM Ben Cherrington is looking for a starting pitcher to put at the back of the rotation and the Red Sox are interested in Jackson along with fellow free agent pitcher Roy Oswalt. Cherrington is only willing to offer Jackson a one-year deal which will not interest Jackson unless that is the only offer and I don't think that will be the only offer as their will be multiyear offers on the table. Red Sox fans, don't get your hopes up about signing Edwin Jackson this offseason. Those two teams have been the most open suitors for Jackson but I think it will be a mystery team that will sign him but the question is: Who is the mystery team that will sign Jackson? The first potential mystery team for Edwin Jackson is the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates have had some pressure to spend from the MLB Players Association and Eric Bedard is not exactly the best place to put your trust in a number one starter due to his injuries. The Pirates have some money to spend and Jackson would make sense now that his price has come down due to nobody wanting to pay in 15 million dollars a year. Jackson could be the ace of the rotation for a couple years in Pittsburgh as he would definitely be able to eat innings also so the bullpen can get some rest as they will probably busy this season with all the young pitchers they have that will be limited. However, this is not the type of signing that the Pirates have made over the last few years and this won't be a change as Jackson will not be a Pirate on opening day. The mystery team that will sign Edwin Jackson this offseason has only shown interest publicly once this offseason which was back in the fall. This team is the a young team on the rise and that team is the Kansas City Royals. The Kansas City Royals have been actively looking for a frontline starter as they tried to trade for Atlanta ace Jair Jurrjens. As previously metioned, they have shown a little bit of interest in Jackson publicly as the Jair Jurrjens trade talks failed. Jackson could form an excellent combination with Jonathan Sanchez at the top of the Royals' rotation as they are close to breaking through to being a contender to make the playoffs in the American League. Jackson would get to play in a pitcher-friendly park in Kauffman Stadium so that would help him even more as his ERA would probably be around 3.5 for the Royals. A move for Jackson could help make the Royals contenders this year as that would be good for KC since they are also hosting the All-Star Game. Jackson and the Royals could definitely agree to a deal in the range of 3 years and 33 million dollars as I think Jackson will sign with the Royals. Scott Boras will once again find a mystery team to sign one of his clients as the Kansas City Royals will sign Edwin Jackson.

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