Giants ink Luke Jackson, who missed '22 with TJ, to 2-year deal
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The Giants bolstered their bullpen on Monday by signing veteran right-hander Luke Jackson to a two-year, $11.5 million contract that includes a club option for the 2025 season.
Jackson, 31, missed the 2022 campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery last April, but he enjoyed a career-best season for the World Series champion Braves in 2021, logging a 1.98 ERA with 70 strikeouts over 63 2/3 innings.
Jackson will earn $3 million in 2023 and $6.5 million in '24; his 2025 club option is worth $7 million. If the Giants choose not to exercise the option, Jackson will receive a $2 million buyout.
To clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Jackson, the Giants traded Yunior Marte, another right-handed reliever, to the Phillies in exchange for left-handed pitching prospect Erik Miller.
Miller, 24, was the Phillies’ fourth-round Draft pick out of Stanford in 2019, and he recorded a 3.54 ERA in 32 appearances between Double-A Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley in 2022. He was ranked as the Phillies’ No. 7 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.
Jackson likely won’t be available for the start of the regular season as he continues to rehab, but he should bring plenty of back-end experience to the Giants’ bullpen once healthy. A former first-round Draft pick of the Rangers in 2010, Jackson served as the Braves’ primary setup man in 2021, when he held opponents scoreless in nine of his 11 postseason appearances and surrendered just one hit in three outings (3 1/3 innings) during the World Series triumph over the Astros.
Despite struggling to a 6.84 ERA during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Jackson also found success during a brief stint as Atlanta’s closer in 2019, racking up 18 saves while posting a 3.84 ERA over 70 appearances. His primary pitch is his slider, which he threw 53.3% of the time in 2021, though he also features a mid-90s fastball and a curveball.
Jackson is the second major bullpen addition the Giants have made this offseason, following left-hander Taylor Rogers, who signed a three-year, $33 million deal in December. Jackson and Rogers are projected to join holdovers Camilo Doval, John Brebbia, Tyler Rogers, Scott Alexander and Jakob Junis in San Francisco’s bullpen, which ranked 20th in the Majors with a 4.08 ERA in 2022.