There's nothing quite like being a journeyman around Major League Baseball.
One of those journeymen is catcher Alex Jackson. Jackson has bounced around the majors since making his debut with the Atlanta Braves in 2021. Jackson has been a part of several releases and trades, and that trend continued Friday morning.
According to a post on X from the official Baltimore Orioles team account, Jackson has been traded to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for minor league infielder Payton Eeles.
Jackson's 36 games with Baltimore last season may have been the best 36-game stretch of his career. The slash line of.220/.290/.473 doesn't exactly jump off the page, but he slugged five of his 11 career home runs as well as posting an OPS+ of 111, well ahead of his career average of 46.
With no real backup catcher in Minnesota behind Christian Vasquez and a surplus of catcher for the Orioles, Jackson has the potential to be an excellent backup catcher in his new home.
Eeles, a 2024 draft pick, has done excellent work so far in his minor league career. A slash line of.285/.410/.827 in 724 at-bats is an excellent sample size so far in his young career. The problem, though, is the Orioles have a surplus of young infielders that they don't plan on letting go of anytime soon. Eeles finding major league playing time soon may be hard to come by without a major shakeup to Baltimore's roster.