Blue Jays re-sign Jay Jackson to an interesting new contract

After Jay Jackson, a longtime veteran in the game of baseball, was released by the Toronto Blue Jays, it seemed that his excellent Spring Training performance was going to land him a contract in another team's organization.

Instead, it's the Blue Jays who are signing him, this time to a unique contract. Jackson's latest trip through free agency lasted just a few days but the Jays were on him from the start, aiming to get him back in the organization on a heftier contract than he would've earned the first time.

Per Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet, Jackson's deal with the Jays is what's called a "split contract", meaning he will make a different salary in the major and minor leagues. He will be paid roughly $1.4M if he makes it up to the big leagues, which seems likely thanks to the strong spring showing he had for the club.

Of particular note is Jackson's one minor league option. Even if the Jays don't keep him in the big leagues, he can still be sent down for one more year before he will need to be placed on waivers first. The easiest plan to see coming to fruition is for the Jays to stash him in the minors, at least to start the season.

The 35-year-old dominated in Spring Training for the Blue Jays. In eight appearances and 9.1 innings on the mound, he struck out 13 batters and walked only two, surrendering two unearned runs and just seven base hits. He is projected by ZiPS to have a better ERA and higher WAR than any reliever on the entire roster of the Oakland A's or Washington Nationals.

Jackson regularly sat in the 94-96mph range with his fastball and displayed a hard slider that hitters seemed to have all sorts of troubles getting a grip on. This strong repertoire is what has kept him around the game so long and should be what gets him a shot in The Show in 2023.