Austin Jackson

Austin Jackson

Jackson playing for the Chicago White Sox in 2016
Free agent
Center fielder
Born: (1987-02-01) February 1, 1987
Denton, Texas
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
April 5, 2010, for the Detroit Tigers
MLB statistics
(through 2016 season)
Batting average .272
Hits 971
Home runs 55
Runs batted in 314
Stolen bases 108
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Austin Jarrell Jackson (born February 1, 1987) is an American professional baseball center fielder who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners, Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox.

Early years

In 1999, Baseball America named Jackson the best 12-year-old baseball player in the nation, and the best 15-year-old baseball player three years later.[1]

Jackson attended Billy Ryan High School in Denton, Texas.[2]

In basketball, he was listed as the #10-ranked high school point guard in the country by Athlon Sports after he averaged 22.5 points, five rebounds and three assists per game his junior year in high school. In baseball he hit .423 with five homers and 34 RBI for his class AAAA Texas State runner-up baseball team and was rated the No. 14 draft prospect among high school players in the nation by Baseball America.[3]

Professional career

New York Yankees

Though Jackson committed to play both baseball and basketball for Georgia Tech, the New York Yankees drafted Jackson in the eighth round (259th overall) in the 2005 Major League Baseball draft. To convince him to sign instead of attending Georgia Tech, the Yankees offered Jackson $800,000, a record signing bonus for an eighth round pick.[1]

From 2005 to 2009 Jackson rose up the Yankees organization and after a slow start, he became a top prospect for the Yankees.[4] For the 2009 season he was the Yankees top prospect according to Baseball America.[5]

After the 2009 season, Jackson was added to the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.[6]

Detroit Tigers

On December 9, 2009 Jackson was traded to the Detroit Tigers as part of a three-team trade that brought Curtis Granderson to the Yankees.[7] Jackson entered the 2010 season as the Tigers third-best prospect, according to Baseball America.[8]

Jackson batting for the Detroit Tigers in 2010 spring training

Jackson made his major league debut on April 5, 2010, against the Kansas City Royals, going one for five. He hit his first major league home run on April 25, 2010, off of Colby Lewis of the Texas Rangers.[9] Through the first month of the season Jackson led the majors in hits with 36, and was named the AL Rookie of the Month.[10] On June 2, 2010, against the Cleveland Indians, Jackson made a difficult running catch in the ninth inning of Armando Galarraga's near-perfect game. The perfect game eventually ended with two outs in the ninth after a blown call by umpire Jim Joyce.[11] He was named an outfielder on Baseball America's 2010 All-Rookie Team.[12] He was also named an outfielder on the 2010 Topps Major League Rookie All-Star Team.[13]

On November 15, 2010, Jackson came in second in the 2010 American League Rookie of the Year voting, behind Rangers closer Neftalí Feliz.[14][15] Jackson finished his rookie season by playing 151 games with a .293 batting average, 10 triples, 4 home runs, 41 RBI, and an AL-leading 170 strikeouts.

Jackson was named the American League Player of the Week for the week of August 29 to September 4, 2011. In receiving the award for the first time, Jackson had a .529 batting average (18 for 34) during the week with three doubles, three triples, two home runs, five runs batted in, and 13 runs scored. The Tigers went 5–2 that week to increase their lead in the American League Central Division.[16] He won a Fielding Bible Award in 2011 as the best fielding center fielder in MLB.[17] Jackson played 153 games in 2011 batting .249 with 10 home runs, 45 RBI, an AL-leading 11 triples, and 181 strikeouts. In Game 6 of the 2011 ALCS, Jackson hit his first career postseason home run. The Tigers would however lose the game and the series to the Texas Rangers.

On April 5, 2012, Jackson was the leadoff hitter and played center field on Opening Day for the Tigers, where he went 3-5 with an RBI and a run. Jackson hit a walk-off, bases-loaded single down the third base line to give the Tigers the win over the Red Sox, 3-2.[18] Jackson played 137 games in 2012, batting .300 with 16 home runs, 66 RBI, and an AL-leading 10 triples. Jackson went to the postseason with the Tigers for a second straight season, and he hit a home run in the series-clinching Game 4 against the New York Yankees in the ALCS. But the Tigers eventually got swept in 4 games by the San Francisco Giants in the World Series.

Injuries limited Jackson to 129 games in 2013. Serving as the Tigers leadoff hitter again, he batted .272 with 12 home runs, 49 RBIs, and a career-low 8 stolen bases. On January 17, 2014, Jackson and the Tigers avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year deal for the 2014 season worth $6 million.[19]

Seattle Mariners

Jackson playing for the Seattle Mariners in 2014

On July 31, 2014, the Tigers traded Jackson to the Seattle Mariners in a three-team deal that sent Drew Smyly, Nick Franklin and Willy Adames to the Tampa Bay Rays, and David Price to the Detroit Tigers.[20]

On May 3, 2015, Jackson sprained his ankle in a game against the Houston Astros, and was placed on the 15-day disabled list the following day.[21]

Chicago Cubs

On August 31, 2015, the Mariners traded Jackson to the Chicago Cubs for a player to be named later and an international signing bonus slot.[22]

Jackson ended the 2015 season having played 136 games, stealing 17 bases with a .696 OPS.

Chicago White Sox

On March 6, 2016, Jackson signed a one-year, $5 million deal with the Chicago White Sox.[23] On August 25th, 2016 White Sox GM Rick Hahn told the media that Jackson would miss the rest of the season after being out since June 10th. He had surgery to repair a medical meniscus tear in his left knee. He finished the season playing 54 games with 18 RBI and a .254 Batting average with 12 doubles and 24 runs scored [24]

References

  1. 1 2 Kepner, Tyler (June 1, 2009). "Austin Jackson: A Star Under Construction". Nytimes.com. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
  2. ↑ Dawn Klemish (January 1, 2010). "Minor League Report: Austin Jackson". Newyork.yankees.mlb.com. Retrieved November 16, 2010.
  3. ↑ "Austin Jackson Signs to Play Basketball at Tech". RamblinWreck.com. November 15, 2004. Retrieved July 15, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Jackson Earning His (Pin)stripes in HWB". Hawaiiwinterbaseball.com. Retrieved November 16, 2010.
  5. ↑ Manuel, John (November 10, 2008). "New York Yankees top 10 prospects". Baseballamerica.com. Retrieved November 16, 2010.
  6. ↑ Seven added to 40-man roster/
  7. ↑ Bryan Hoch (January 1, 2010). "Granderson joins Yanks in three-way trade". Newyork.yankees.mlb.com. Retrieved November 16, 2010.
  8. ↑ Glassey, Conor (January 8, 2010). "Detroit Tigers top 10 prospects". Baseballamerica.com. Archived from the original on December 7, 2010. Retrieved November 16, 2010.
  9. ↑ Todd Wills. "Jackson jacks first home run of career". Mlb.mlb.com. Retrieved November 16, 2010.
  10. ↑ Jason Beck. "Jackson is AL Rookie of Month for April". Detroit.tigers.mlb.com. Retrieved November 16, 2010.
  11. ↑ "Austin Jackson's catch draws raves". The Detroit News. Retrieved November 16, 2010.
  12. ↑ Eddy, Matt (October 19, 2010). "Future Big League Stars Highlight All-Rookie Team". Baseball America. Archived from the original on October 25, 2010. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
  13. ↑ "Valencia awarded with rookie honor". Mlb.com. November 29, 2010. Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved December 11, 2010.
  14. ↑ "Feliz wins AL Rookie of the Year Award". MLB.com. Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved November 16, 2010.
  15. ↑ "Buster Posey, Neftali Feliz voted Rookies of the Year – ESPN". Sports.espn.go.com. January 1, 2008. Retrieved November 16, 2010.
  16. ↑ Iott, Chris (September 6, 2011). "Tigers' Austin Jackson earns AL Player of the Week honors for first time". Retrieved September 6, 2011.
  17. ↑ "The 2011 Awards". The Fielding Bible. Archived from the original on November 1, 2011.
  18. ↑ Beck, Jason (April 5, 2012). "Jackson bails out Valverde with walk-off single". MLB.com.
  19. ↑ Tigers Avoid Arbitration With Porcello, Jackson Links, Zach at mlbtraderumors.com on January 17, 2014.
  20. ↑ Johns, Greg (July 31, 2014). "Mariners get Jackson from Tigers in Price deal". MLB. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  21. ↑ "Mariners place CF Austin Jackson (sprained ankle) on 15-day DL". Sports Illustrated. May 4, 2015. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
  22. ↑ http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/cubs-reportedly-acquire-outfielder-austin-jackson
  23. ↑ Axisa, Mike (March 6, 2016). "White Sox sign Austin Jackson to one-year, $5 million deal". CBS Sports. Retrieved March 7, 2016.
  24. ↑ http://www.csnchicago.com/chicago-white-sox/white-sox-rule-austin-jackson-matt-davidson-out-season

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Austin Jackson.
Preceded by
Adrian Gonzalez		 MLB Player of the Week Award
(American League)
August 29 – September 4, 2011 		Succeeded by
C. J. Wilson
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