Jackson signed a minor-league contract with the Reds on Friday.
Although Jackson managed to record a career-high 155 plate appearances with the Rays in 2024, he continued to struggle at the plate, slashing just .122/.201/.237 with 12 RBI. However, his OPS jumped up to .855 at Triple-A Durham, so the Reds will take a flier on him and likely send him to Triple-A Louisville to begin the 2025 campaign.
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Alex Jackson: Elects free agency
Rotowire
Jackson has elected free agency, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Jackson initially remained in the Rays' organization after being outrighted off their 40-man roster last month, but he's now exercised his right to free agency. The catcher has a career .456 OPS over parts of five major-league seasons.
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Rays' Alex Jackson: Passes through waivers
Rotowire
Jackson cleared waivers Saturday and was outrighted to Triple-A Durham.
Jackson has served as the Rays' No. 2 catcher for much of the season and was one of baseball's least-productive hitters during his time in the big leagues. Among the 393 players who have logged at least 150 plate appearances in 2024, Jackson's 29 wRC+ placed him 392nd. Since the Rays elected to drop Jackson from their 40-man roster, Logan Driscoll has taken over as the top backup to Ben Rortvedt.
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Rays' Alex Jackson: DFA'd by Tampa Bay
Rotowire
The Rays designated Jackson for assignment Thursday, Tricia Whitaker of Bally Sports Sun reports.
Jackson has slashed only .122/.201/.237 in 58 games this season. The Rays will now use Logan Driscoll as their backup catcher behind Ben Rortvedt.
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Rays' Alex Jackson: Retreating to bench Wednesday
Rotowire
Jackson is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Athletics.
Jackson will give way to Rob Brantly behind the dish as the Rays wrap up their series in Oakland. Ben Rortvedt (personal) is likely to return from the paternity list this weekend in Los Angeles, so Jackson's brief run as the Rays' No. 1 backstop should soon come to an end. Jackson owns a lowly .434 OPS over 144 plate appearances on the season, but he's shown some improvement since the All-Star break with a .200/.294/.378 slash line across 18 games.
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Rays' Alex Jackson: Pops second homer
Rotowire
Jackson went 1-for-3 with a walk, a three-run home run and two runs scored Saturday against the Yankees.
Jackson was in the lineup to give Ben Rortvedt a day off and delivered his second home run of the season. He'll continue to play sparingly as the backup catcher and has just a .361 OPS and .091 average for the campaign.
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Rays' Alex Jackson: Starting in place of resting Rortvedt
Rotowire
Jackson will start at catcher and bat ninth in Wednesday's game against the Mariners, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Jackson will get a turn behind the plate while top backstop Ben Rortvedt rests for the day game after a night game. Since his call-up from Triple-A Durham on May 3, Jackson is hitting a lowly .081/.159/.161 with 31 strikeouts in 70 plate appearances.
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Rays' Alex Jackson: Returns to bench
Rotowire
Jackson is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game in Boston.
Jackson had started at catcher in five of the past six games, but he went hitless with 11 strikeouts and one walk across 14 plate appearances during that stretch. Despite his hefty workload of late, Jackson still looks to be the No. 2 option at catcher behind Ben Rortvedt, who is back in the lineup Wednesday.
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Rays' Alex Jackson: Returning to bench Sunday
Rotowire
Jackson is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Yankees, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Jackson had started behind the plate in each of the past three games, but he struck out in all six of his at-bats during that stretch while drawing a walk in his lone other plate appearance. One of his starts came against a lefty and another came versus a righty (Chris Flexen) with reverse splits, so the right-handed-hitting Jackson still looks to be in the short side of a platoon at catcher with the lefty-hitting Ben Rortvedt, who rejoins the lineup Sunday.
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Rays' Alex Jackson: Has contract selected
Rotowire
Jackson had his contract selected by the Rays on Friday, Tricia Whitaker of Bally Sports Sun reports.
After slashing .282/.344/.612 with seven homers across 93 plate appearances with Triple-A Durham, Jackson was called up to the bigs, where he'll look to see his first MLB action since 2022 with the Brewers. Jackson replaces Rene Pinto -- who was optioned to Triple-A -- and should serve as Ben Rortvedt's backup but could see extra work against left-handed pitching.
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Rays' Alex Jackson: Misses out on Opening Day roster
Rotowire
The Rays will reassign Jackson to the minors prior to Thursday's season opener versus the Blue Jays, Steve Carney of StPeteNine.com reports.
Among the internal options the Rays had at spring training, Jackson appeared well positioned to make the Opening Day roster as the No. 2 catcher behind Rene Pinto, but Jackson dropped a spot on the organizational depth chart after Tampa Bay acquired Ben Rortvedt from the Yankees on Wednesday. Unless he opts out of his minor-league deal, Jackson is expected to open the season as the primary backstop for Triple-A Durham.
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Rays' Alex Jackson: Looks to have made roster
Rotowire
Jackson is in line to begin the regular season as the Rays' backup catcher, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
The Rays informed Rob Brantly and Francisco Mejia that they didn't make the Opening Day roster, leaving Jackson as the choice to back up Rene Pinto. Jackson has had a poor spring training, striking out 35.5 percent of the time with only one extra-base hit across 31 plate appearances. Nevertheless, he's in line to get his first taste of the majors since 2022.
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Rays' Alex Jackson: Struggling in exhibition action
Rotowire
Jackson has a .325 OPS while striking out seven times across 19 plate appearances in Grapefruit League action.
Jackson entered spring training as the favorite to win the backup catcher job, though his performance to this point hasn't helped his cause. The team has also since added Francisco Mejia on a minor-league deal, so Jackson may no longer be in the picture for a roster spot to begin the regular season.
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Rays' Alex Jackson: Healthy for spring training
Rotowire
Jackson (shoulder) will start at catcher and bat seventh in Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Blue Jays, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Jackson will pick up his second start behind the dish this spring after he went 1-for-2 with a base hit while catching four innings against the Tigers on Sunday. After being acquired in a trade from the Brewers on Aug. 1, Jackson appeared in 14 games at Triple-A Durham before being shut down for the final month of the season due to a right shoulder injury. Now healthy again and attending big-league camp as a non-roster invitee, Jackson will look to win a spot on the Rays' Opening Day roster as a reserve backstop.
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Rays' Alex Jackson: Re-signs with Rays
Rotowire
The Rays re-signed Jackson (shoulder) to a minor-league contract Wednesday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
The deal presumably includes an invitation to spring training. Jackson hit four homers in 14 games with Triple-A Durham this season after being acquired from the Brewers but missed the last several weeks of the season with a right shoulder injury. If healthy, he gives the Rays an option to pair with Rene Pinto at catcher.
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Rays' Alex Jackson: Dealt to Tampa Bay
Rotowire
Jackson was traded from the Brewers to the Rays on Tuesday in exchange for Evan McKendry, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
A 27-year-old catcher who has settled in as an emergency option, at least while with the Brewers, Jackson has been at Triple-A Nashville all season and is slashing .286/.360/.554 with 12 home runs in 45 games. At this point, Jackson doesn't look to be much more than a Quad-A hitter who's capable of defending his position.
Jackson was reassigned Monday to minor-league camp, Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
Jackson spent five games with the Brewers in 2022 and went 3-for-12 with seven strikeouts at the dish. He'll more than likely begin the 2023 campaign at Triple-A Nashville and serve as organizational depth in case either William Contreras or Victor Caratini goes down.
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Brewers' Alex Jackson: Outrighted to Triple-A
Rotowire
Jackson was sent outright to Triple-A Nashville on Friday, Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
Jackson will still be invited to spring training by Milwaukee, but he will now have to fight to reclaim his spot on the 40-man roster. The 26-year-old backstop spent most of last season in Triple-A, recording a .701 OPS through 119 plate appearances.
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Brewers' Alex Jackson: Back on 40-man roster
Rotowire
The Brewers reinstated Jackson (wrist) from the 60-day injured list Wednesday, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports.
The transaction makes Jackson one of three catchers on the 40-man roster, joining Victor Caratini and Mario Feliciano. With Omar Narvaez ticketed for free agency, Milwaukee will likely look to re-sign him or add another experienced option behind the plate, so Jackson is far from a lock to break camp with Milwaukee in 2023. Before he was shut down in late August with left wrist inflammation, Jackson appeared in just five games for Milwaukee and instead saw most of his action at Triple-A Nashville, where he posted a .701 OPS over 119 plate appearances.
