Toronto Blue Jays: Full details on the Edwin Jackson trade

Full details and notes on the Blue Jays’ acquisition of journeyman starter Edwin Jackson in a trade with the Oakland Athletics Saturday.

Blue Jays “looked at” Jackson in April

According to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet in April, the Blue Jays “looked at” signing Edwin Jackson as a free agent before he joined the A’s on a minor-league deal. Jackson agreed to terms with the Athletics on April 12th and was assigned to Triple-A Las Vegas after electing free agency on October 29, 2018. For his career, the native of Neu-Ulm, Germany has racked up 1,456 strikeouts in over 1892.1 innings across over 300 starts.

Jackson’s MiLB deal included an opt-out clause

More from Jays Journal

• Matt Chapman has been exactly what the Blue Jays needed
• Blue Jays: The goalposts are moving in the right direction
• Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays advance to the Championship Series
• Blue Jays: Comparisons for Alek Manoah’s Second Season
• Blue Jays: Adam Cimber, the unlikely decision King

As Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle writes, Jackson’s minor-league deal reportedly had “an opt-out clause that he could exercise at the end of the month”. Slusser also notes that “the A’s typically do not hinder experienced players on minor-league deals when they have chances to contribute at the major-league level elsewhere”.

Cash to cover Jackson’s MiLB time

In a separate thread, Slusser tweets that the cash that the Blue Jays will be sending to Oakland will “more than likely…cover the amount the A’s spent on the minor-league portion of Jackson’s contract”. There is currently no word on just how much that sum is, however. In 9.2 innings at Triple-A Las Vegas, Jackson, 35, allowed nine earned runs on nine hits, walking seven and striking out 10.

Melvin: “We think so much of him”

Athletics manager Bob Melvin told reporters (including Ben Ross of NBC Sports) that the organization “thinks so much” of Jackson and that the team “love[s] him”. Melvin concluded by saying that the trade was “more about him getting a big league job”. Jackson appeared in 17 games for the Athletics in 2018.