Luke Jackson, who helped the Braves win the World Series two years ago, signed a significant contract with the Giants.
Jackson, 31, inked a two-year, $11.5 million deal to join San Francisco’s bullpen. The Giants have a $7 million club option to keep Jackson for a third year, in 2025, or buy him out for $2 million.
Jackson will earn $3 million in 2023 and $6.5 million in 2024, making him SF’s second-highest paid reliever behind lefty Taylor Rogers. Both will likely slot underneath closer Camilo Doval despite each having closing experience.
Jackson’s agreement is finalized now. Zach Klein, an Atlanta-based ABC reporter, was the first to report the righty’s link to San Francisco.
Jackson missed all of 2022 after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April of 2022. Players most commonly bounce back better from the procedure in their second full year removed from going under the knife, which may explain Jackon’s salary bump for 2024.
Jackson registered a career-best 1.98 ERA in 2021 — his most recent season. That year, he made 11 postseason appearances, allowing five earned runs in 8.2 innings. His four-seam fastball averaged 95.8 mph that year.
In his seven-year career, Jackson has posted a 4.24 ERA in 253 appearances. He recorded 18 saves in 2021 and began his career in Texas before going to Atlanta in 2017.
To make room on the 40-man roster for Jackson, the Giants traded right-handed reliever Yunior Marte to the Phillies for left-handed pitching prospect Erik Miller. Miller, who was ranked seventh in Philadelphia’s farm system, was drafted in the fourth round of the 2019 draft. He reached Triple-A last year, indicating he could be close to making his MLB debut. Miller has some starting experience but has mostly come out of the bullpen in the minors.
Marte flashed impressive stuff last year but struggled with command. He’ll likely have a better chance to contribute for Philadelphia than he would with the Giants, given SF has right-handed relievers in Doval, Jackson, John Brebbia, Tyler Rogers, Jakob Junis and Cole Waites.