Cleveland Indians: Austin Jackson is the latest player to sign elsewhere

Cleveland Indians fans have seen another player from the 2017 roster sign elsewhere, as Austin Jackson has agreed to a deal with the San Francisco Giants.

The Cleveland Indians have lost some key talent this offseason, but the constant narrative has been that everything is just fine because the core of the team is returning for another title run.

I have been under this belief too, but that doesn’t mean some news from yesterday didn’t frustrate me a bit.

Sources: Austin Jackson to giants. 6M, 2 Years. Elevators coukd take it to 8.5M.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 23, 2018

Austin Jackson only appeared in 85 games for the Indians last year, but he made a real impact in a reserve role.

But the most frustrating thing isn’t just the fact that Jackson is gone. It’s the fact he is gone for so cheap.

It was understandable for the Indians to pass on Jay Bruce, Carlos Santana and Bryan Shaw, but the front office must really undervalue Jackson’s potential for success in 2018. That, or ownership has declared a stop to all spending.

This departure certainly makes it seem like the Indians are indeed banking on Melvin Upton Jr. potentially playing a Jackson-like role in 2018, although the team could have just given Jackson the money and kept things simple. Oh well.

I can’t say I’m angry about Jackson leaving but this is a departure that is odd given how cheap it would have been to re-sign the veteran who was one of the better players on the team a season ago relative to how often he played.

ICYMI

Cleveland Indians Roundtable: Remaining moves to make

Missed an opportunity to sign Addison Reed?

Can Corey Kluber repeat as the AL Cy Young winner?

A tweet that didn’t age well

Every tweet can’t be a winner.

The crashing market (for players)

Austin Jackson was a two-win player last year. That's worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $15M in value for one season. He got a total of $6M guaranteed for two seasons. The bottoming out of this market is staggering, and what's scary is that this is just the beginning. https://t.co/5VTE4am20v
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 23, 2018

Remaining optimistic of a move yet to be made

The Indians don’t necessarily have to make another move this offseason, but it seems like something is to be done given the fact money wasn’t given to Jackson.

Next: Cleveland Indians Roundtable: Remaining moves to make

But this may just mean the front office didn’t believe in Jackson’s abilities. It may end up being the offseason of Yonder Alonso. Oh, and Michael Martinez.

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