Toronto Blue Jays sign RHP Jay Jackson to a minor league contract

Major League Baseball organizations can never have enough minor league depth and lately, the Toronto Blue Jays have been taking that to heart.

Not only has the club signed each of Casey Lawrence, Drew Hutchison, Paul Fry, Rob Brantly and Julian Fernández over the course of the past week, but yet another name is reportedly being brought into the picture.

MLB insider Jon Heyman took to Twitter Wednesday evening to announce that the Jays have signed right-handed reliever Jay Jackson to a minor league contract. He will reportedly have an invite to big league Spring Training as well.

Jackson represents another small move that could pay off nicely for both player and club. His addition to what will likely be the Triple-A bullpen will give the Jays' highest level of minor league play yet another veteran presence.

Should Jackson find early success, it's not out of the question for him to get a look in the big leagues. The 35-year-old spent last season in the Braves organization, making 19 appearances for Triple-A Gwinnett and posting an impressive 2.29 ERA. He even made two scoreless appearances out of the big league squad's 'pen.

Jackson has only received brief cameos in the bigs spread out over the past seven years or so. He made six appearances for the Padres in 2015 and then did not resurface until 2019 when he made 28 appearances for the Brewers.

A strong 23-game showing for the Giants in 2021 was enough for the Braves to show interest. He continued to excel in their organization.

In Jackson's repertoire, he relies on a mid-80s slider as his main pitch. In 2021, he threw this one 66 percent of the time according to PitcherList and sat at a cool 63 percent strike rate with the pitch.

Alongside the sharp slider, he uses a mid-90s fastball that comfortably sits around 95 but has gotten up to the 96-98mph range at times over the course of his career.

Sure, there's a chance we never see Jackson on a big league mound for the Blue Jays. However, his recent performances in both the major and minor leagues is enough to pique my interest and I hope he sticks around for a bit.