One of the underrated aspects of the St. Louis Cardinals improbable post-season run was the acquisition and performance of starting pitcher Edwin Jackson. Jackson came over to the Cardinals in the Colby Rasmus trade. The same trade that also brought over Octavio Dotel and Marc Rzepcynski.
Dotel and Rzepcynski got most of the headlines as their post-season performances were absolutely vital in the Cardinals claiming their 11th World Series Championship in franchise history. But Edwin Jackson was not bad either, especially in September during the Cardinals final post-season push.
Jackson is now a free agent, in search of a place to pitch next season and it is unlikely the Cardinals will be able to bring him back. With the return of Adam Wainwright, the Cardinals rotation is pretty much set.
Chris Carpenter, Jamie Garcia, Kyle Lohse, and Jake Westbrook fill out the rest of the staff as guys like Kyle McClellan, Lance Lynn, and even high prized prospect Shelby Miller would seem to be on speed-dial if one of the starters were to go down to injury in 2012. There just is not any room for Jackson with the Cardinals, unless a major trade is made.
So where will Jackson go? Who will be vying for his services?
So far, the market for Jackson has been murky at best, which is strange for a 28 year old who has a mid 90's fastball and stellar slider to turn to. Jackson is the type of pitcher most teams covet; somebody who can win you a game via the strikeout and if nothing else, provide you with a lot of innings over the course of a grueling 162 game season.
Joe Sheehan of SI.com recently argued that Jackson could be a better option than the recently signed C.J. Wilson, who got a five year, $77.5 million contract from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
But even with his 12-9 record, a 3.79 ERA, and 199.2 innings pitched in 2011, nobody seems to be biting on Jackson at this point. At some point, somebody will call Scott Boras, Jackson's agent, to buy his services. But who? Here are three places Edwin Jackson could end up.
1. New York Yankees - Yes it is cliche to suggest that a starting pitcher looking for a pay day would land with the team willing to pay the most money. But the Yankees could use somebody like Jackson to support the back-end of their rotation.
Jackson has proven in the past that he can pitch in the tough A.L. East as well. Jackson won 14 games as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008. The Yankees should certainly be interested in the durable Edwin Jackson.
2. Chicago Cubs - The Cubs have Ryan Dempster and Matt Garza at the top of their rotation. But after that, then who? They certainly will not be counting on Carlos Zambrano for much. Jackson may make sense for the Cubbies, who always can use more pitching due to the home run environment that is Wrigley Field.
3. Minnesota Twins - The Twins are generally a very frugal franchise and are not normally in the market for high priced free agent starting pitchers. That being said, the Twins will need to do something to put together a credible starting rotation in 2012. Jackson could be a respectable third or fourth starter in their rotation and the Twins have been rumored to have interest in Jackson earlier this month.
Nobody is sure why it is taking so long for a market to materialize for Edwin Jackson, but these are three teams that could look at him for 2012.
Sources:
Dotel and Rzepcynski got most of the headlines as their post-season performances were absolutely vital in the Cardinals claiming their 11th World Series Championship in franchise history. But Edwin Jackson was not bad either, especially in September during the Cardinals final post-season push.
Jackson is now a free agent, in search of a place to pitch next season and it is unlikely the Cardinals will be able to bring him back. With the return of Adam Wainwright, the Cardinals rotation is pretty much set.
Chris Carpenter, Jamie Garcia, Kyle Lohse, and Jake Westbrook fill out the rest of the staff as guys like Kyle McClellan, Lance Lynn, and even high prized prospect Shelby Miller would seem to be on speed-dial if one of the starters were to go down to injury in 2012. There just is not any room for Jackson with the Cardinals, unless a major trade is made.
So where will Jackson go? Who will be vying for his services?
So far, the market for Jackson has been murky at best, which is strange for a 28 year old who has a mid 90's fastball and stellar slider to turn to. Jackson is the type of pitcher most teams covet; somebody who can win you a game via the strikeout and if nothing else, provide you with a lot of innings over the course of a grueling 162 game season.
Joe Sheehan of SI.com recently argued that Jackson could be a better option than the recently signed C.J. Wilson, who got a five year, $77.5 million contract from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
But even with his 12-9 record, a 3.79 ERA, and 199.2 innings pitched in 2011, nobody seems to be biting on Jackson at this point. At some point, somebody will call Scott Boras, Jackson's agent, to buy his services. But who? Here are three places Edwin Jackson could end up.
1. New York Yankees - Yes it is cliche to suggest that a starting pitcher looking for a pay day would land with the team willing to pay the most money. But the Yankees could use somebody like Jackson to support the back-end of their rotation.
Jackson has proven in the past that he can pitch in the tough A.L. East as well. Jackson won 14 games as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008. The Yankees should certainly be interested in the durable Edwin Jackson.
2. Chicago Cubs - The Cubs have Ryan Dempster and Matt Garza at the top of their rotation. But after that, then who? They certainly will not be counting on Carlos Zambrano for much. Jackson may make sense for the Cubbies, who always can use more pitching due to the home run environment that is Wrigley Field.
3. Minnesota Twins - The Twins are generally a very frugal franchise and are not normally in the market for high priced free agent starting pitchers. That being said, the Twins will need to do something to put together a credible starting rotation in 2012. Jackson could be a respectable third or fourth starter in their rotation and the Twins have been rumored to have interest in Jackson earlier this month.
Nobody is sure why it is taking so long for a market to materialize for Edwin Jackson, but these are three teams that could look at him for 2012.
Sources:
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