The Giants today signed Luke Jackson RHP to a 2 yr/$11.5 M contract with a club option for 2025. Jackson was a big part of the Braves World Series Championship run of 2021 but missed all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery which he underwent in April 2022. Jackson will likely open the season on the IL and hopefully will be an addition to the bullpen by midseason.
Jackson's best pitch is a hard slider(87-88 MPH) that he throws about 40% of the time and a mid-90's FB which he also throws about 40% of the time. A low 80's curveball rounds out his arsenal.
To make room for Jackson on the 40-man roster, the Giants traded Yunior Marte RHP to the Phillies for Erik Miller LHP. Miller is a big, hard-throwing lefty drafted out of Stanford who has had injury issues himself in the form or a rotator cuff strain, but appeared to be healthy all last season.
So let me get this straight: The Giants just traded a kid with an electric fastball and zero injury history for a guy with a recent history of rotator cuff issues to make room on the 40-man roster for a guy who is still rehabbing from Tommy John surgery! OK, I'm only half kidding. There is a better than even chance Jackson is a solid setup man for the next 2-3 seasons and while Marte is intriguing, he was a fringe member of the bullpen last season only because the Giants did not have enough guys like Luke Jackson.
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The Brandon Belt Era is over in San Francisco. We will likely see continued skirmishes in the Belt Wars but the bulk of the fighting is done. Who won? We may never know! He reportedly agreed to terms with the Toronto Blue Jays, for 1 year/$9.3 M. The Brandon Belt story is way too long to tell in this post but he was a key member of two championship squads and will be missed. Oh, and FZ must really, really believe in Lamonte Wade Jr.!
Wish we could have found a way to keep Belt, I think he has another good year in him and prefer him over Wade. Not sure what FZ sees in Wade really, seems like an opportunity to upgrade and have to believe that Belt, even not at 100%, would be that. Bummer. Good luck Captain!
ReplyDeleteBilly Baseball
In fairness, LMWJ is much more versatile defensively than Belt and has hit 26 HR in 632 PA with the Giants. 2021 is the only season in which Belt hit more than 20 HR.
DeleteIn more comparable numbers, LMWJ has a HR every 24 PA's in his Giants career while Belt has a HR every 29 PA in his.
DeleteIm glad Belt is gone, I do not need a red hot month and the rest of the season meh or injured. BUT I am thankful for his contributions to the team.
ReplyDelete....and the fighting continues!
DeleteI will miss his defense. As the team has said that improving D is one of the goals this offseason, I can only look back fondly at the infield D, in the not too distant past, of Longoria, Crawford, Belt and Posey.
DeleteWe may never know who won the Belt Wars? Do we not know who beat Hitler in WWII?
ReplyDeleteYes, yes we do know who beat Hitler. Unfortunately Hitler may be beaten and dead but he is not far away.
DeletePro Belt won. When the park was fixed to become a neutral park even the haters could see what he could do. The rest of us easily saw his 30+ power based on his road stats. Some even showed how HRs a year Belt was robbed by plotting each deep fly ball would have been a HR at most parks in the MLB only to be fly-out or triple at home.
ReplyDeleteInteresting set of moves. I'm not convinced the bullpen is set yet-- the left handed relief corps is Alexander, Szapucki, and Taylor Rogers, with Erik Miller likely for AAA depth? I do wonder if trades are conditional upon a physical exam by both teams.
ReplyDeleteBrandon Belt when healthy has my vote of approval. Unfortunately, my guess is that we can only expect about 50-60% of prior results due to the passage of time. The current Manager and Prez will likely play the platoon game around the diamond unless a big name free agent is able to sign.
I have to say I am skeptical of Belt's knee. You don't cure degenerative arthritis with an arthroscopy. Feeling great after rehab is one thing. Feeling great after a MLB game or two is quite another.
DeleteHonestly, what surprised me is that Belt went to Toronto. He's a Texas native, so I thought he'd stay closer to home.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he wanted to go to Texas but Texas didn't want him?
DeleteMany Giants fans loved Belt more than anyone.
DeleteNot all Giants fan loved Belt.
Will Canadians love Belt?
Stay tuned...