Former Toronto Blue Jays Reliever Could Be Fit for Rebuilding Oakland A's

Just a few days ago, former Toronto Blue Jays reliever Jay Jackson elected free agency. The name may not be familiar, but the results he has put up in the big leagues have been solid over some short stints around the league, including a 2.12 ERA ERA with a 0.91 WHIP in 2023 across 29 ^2/3 innings. 

The 36-year-old right-hander doesn't throw particularly hard, sitting 93 with his fastball, but he was at least league average in every facet of the game according to his Baseball Savant page, and league average arms would represent a big upgrade to what the A's had available this past season. The only two areas of his game that were slightly below league average were his extension, which ranked in the 46th percentile, and his fastball velocity, which ranked in the 38th. 

On the flip side of that coin, one of his best traits was being able to limit exit velocity, which sat at an average of 87 miles per hour on 79 batted balls. One other factor that the coaching staff in Oakland would fall in love with is that he keeps it in the zone, with his pitches resulting in strikes 66% of the time, and his walk rate ended up at 7.8%. The A's as a team ended up with a 10.9% walk rate. Jackson would have ranked sixth out of 42 pitchers used by Oakland in that stat, with only Domingo Acevedo, Joey Estes, Tayler Scott, Austin Pruitt, and JP Sears above him. 

The one downside to signing Jackson would be that while bringing in a veteran would be beneficial, it would also mean that opportunities would be limited for another player, most likely someone looking for a chance or needing some innings in the big leagues as part of their development. The A's bullpen has four players that will be out of options entering the 2024 season in Sean Newcomb, who just signed a one-year deal to stick with the A's, lefties Kyle Muller and Anthony Kay, and Tayler Scott. Kay was claimed off waivers from the New York Mets at the end of October, so it stands to reason that the team has a plan for him. 

The A's do have a little flexibility with Adrián Martínez, who has one option remaining, but his spot in the projected bullpen on Roster Resource could end up going to Mason Miller, if the A's decide to transition him to a bullpen role. 

If the A's wanted to add Jackson, it would likely be on a minor-league deal with the understanding that he's a depth option for the club for when injuries arise during the course of the regular season. While that may not seem like the best deal for Jackson, the likelihood of him making it to the Majors and potentially earning more innings than he has in any previous year would be pretty high, too.