Jeremiah

Jackson

Jackson has yet to reach the big leagues and spent all of last year in the Mets’ system at Double-A Binghamton, posting a lackluster .618 OPS with 19 homers and 11 steals in 482 plate appearances over 121 games. The 24-year-old middle infielder is merely extra organizational depth for the Orioles, who are absolutely loaded with young superstar-caliber infield talent.

The journeyman reliever had a 4.40 ERA in 30 1/3 innings for New York this season while posting a 17.3% K-BB rate, so he’s not an exciting bullpen addition but gives the Angels another competent arm to round out their staff. The Mets are likely happy to get a player with Jackson’s power upside in return.

With the pair of homers, Jackson now has three on the season. It’s worth pointing out that they’ve come in just 15 games, as the shortstop missed significant time with an oblique strain. The 57th pick of the 2018 draft, Jackson has impressive power potential for any position, but the fact that he should be a middle-infielder makes the pop even more intriguing. He’s also an above-average runner, and 15-plus stolen base seasons aren’t out of the question. The questions come as to whether he can stick at shortstop, and whether or not he can hit for a decent average with a middling approach. If the answer is yes to both, Jackson has a chance to be a strong regular. If not, he’s still relatively interesting, but there’s some bitterness to take with the better.

Jackson also scored a pair of runs. The 57th pick of the 2018 draft has doubled 13 times already in 38 games for the 66ers, and that goes along with eight homers and a .514 slugging percentage. Those numbers are accompanied by a .247 average and .317 on-base percentage, so it hasn’t been all good for the 21-year-old. Still, Jackson is a prospect dynasty managers should keep an eye on; he’s a shortstop who has plus power potential and can also steal bases with well above-average speed. There’s work to be done, but Jackson could be a regular for the Angels before the end of 2023.

Jackson has reported to the team’s alternate training site in Long Beach. The 20-year-old middle infielder was selected in the second round of the 2018 MLB Draft and put up a stellar .939 OPS with 23 home runs, 60 RBI, five stolen bases, and 47 runs scored over 65 games last summer in the rookie-level Pioneer League.