Theo Epstein will play Brett Jackson, right? I mean, a new GM can toss out the used-up-and-spit-out pieces he inherits, right? It’s like when a new boss comes into a flailing company and all the employees start quaking in their boots that they’re gonna get fired because they’re unproductive. Alfonso Soriano, Marlon Byrd and Tyler Colvin should be worried about their parking spots. Soriano, “Hey, there’s a Segway in my spot.” Epstein, “Bowden was liquidating. There’s parking on Waveland for $35 a day.” Last year at the age of 23, Jackson had 20 homers and 20 steals with a .274 average splitting time between Double and Triple-A. These numbers are right in line with his previous minor league years. So what can we expect of Brett Jackson for 2012 fantasy baseball?
His walks are solid, but he gets in trouble with strikeouts. Last year in Double-A, he had a strikeout percentage of 24.9 and 29.8 in Triple-A. That’s like Ryan Howard/Adam Dunn type levels and those guys were obviously doing that in the bigs with major dongs. (BTW, anyone who found us by Googling “in the bigs with major dongs” you’re at the wrong type of fantasy site, sorry.) Some may point out Jackson’s walks to counterbalance the K-razy other numbers. Sure, but how about I point out that he still strikes out a lot? Right now, his comp for 20/20 and strikeouts would be Mike Cameron. Um, eh. That dampens my enthusiasm a bit. This is a pretty inexact science when comparing players, but Cameron’s age 24 season in 1997 saw him go 14/23 with a .259 average in 116 games. I’d be more than happy if I got that from Jackson in 2012. That’s borderline in mixed leagues, but a great line for NL-Only. Since I think he will get to show his skills from the jump in 2012, I’d definitely look at him as a late flyer with upside in mixed leagues, but I could see you tossing him aside come mid-April when someone else comes out of nowhere. For 2012, I’d give Jackson a line of 60/15/70/.260/17 in a full season.
