Orioles Acquire Alex Jackson From Yankees

The Orioles have acquired catcher Alex Jackson in exchange for international signing bonus pool money and a player to be named later or cash considerations, per an announcement from the Yankees. Jackson is not on the 40-man roster, so a corresponding move will not be necessary unless Baltimore selects Jackson to the roster.

The move comes after catcher Gary Sanchez exited yesterday’s Orioles game with what the club described at the time as “right knee pain.” As noted by Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun, interim manager Tony Mansolino did not have a more specific diagnosis available after the game but noted that Sanchez was set to undergo an MRI last night. The results of that MRI are not yet available, but it certainly seems as though a trip to the injured list is on the table. Weyrich was among those to report this morning that catcher David Banuelos had been added to the medical taxi squad following Sanchez’s injury, and now this morning’s acquisition of Jackson adds another potential replacement for Sanchez to the mix.

Jackson, 29, was selected sixth overall in the 2014 draft by the Mariners but didn’t make it to the majors until 2019 as a member of the Braves. He’s notched 124 games in the majors across parts of five big league seasons, with his largest showing coming as a member of the Rays last year. Jackson offers a solid glove behind the plate but virtually no offensive value with a career slash line of just .132/.224/.232. His performance in Tampa was even weaker than that as he hit just .122/.201/.237 in 58 games, leaving him with a 29 wRC+ that was not only 71% worse than league average but the second-worst figure among all players with at least 150 plate appearances in the majors last year.

More to come.