Cubs trade Brett Jackson to Diamondbacks for Blake Cooper
By Dan Zinski
Brett Jackson was supposed to be one of those great young prospects who helped the Cubs turn around their losing ways, but after five years in the organization he was still not making strides, so on Friday the Cubs traded the former first-round pick to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
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The Cubs get back RHP Blake Cooper, who has a 3.27 ERA in 192 relief appearances in five years in the Diamondbacks system. Jackson was hitting just .210 with five home runs in triple-A Iowa this season.
As the Cubs begin calling up their stud prospects, it’s worth remembering Jackson who in his one brief stint with the big club in 2012 hit just .175 with 59 Ks in 120 ABs. People used to be almost as excited about Jackson as they now are about Javy Baez and Kris Bryant, but Jackson didn’t pan out despite all the enthusiasm about his future.
The lesson? Sometimes these highly touted first-round picks never figure it out. Jackson may still get it turned around of course but the Cubs won’t get the benefit. They cut their losses by picking up a spare part relief pitcher. That’s what Brett Jackson turns into after five years in the system. He turns into a right-handed reliever with a 3.27 lifetime ERA in the minors.
A cautionary tale if ever I heard one. But, don’t worry about all those Javy Baez strikeouts. He’ll be fine once he learns the strike zone.
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