By Thom Henninger
The Arizona Diamondbacks dealt away two promising pitchers to acquire two others in last week’s Curtis Granderson trade. In the three-team deal, the Diamondbacks added Edwin Jackson from Detroit and Ian Kennedy from New York, and traded away Max Scherzer and Daniel Schlereth to get them.
In Jackson, the Diamondbacks believe they get a solid No. 3 starter to follow Brandon Webb and Dan Haren. With the Tigers in 2009, the 26-year-old right-hander was 13-9 with a career-low 3.62 ERA as a starter. One question mark about Jackson going into 2010 was his second-half decline.
Edwin Jackson by Month, 2009
| W-L | ERA | GS | BB | K | OBA | OOPS | ||
| April | 1-1 | 2.25 | 5 | 8 | 21 | .208 | .616 | |
| May | 4-2 | 2.34 | 6 | 10 | 36 | .222 | .584 | |
| June | 1-1 | 2.91 | 5 | 11 | 27 | .208 | .623 | |
| July | 1-1 | 3.16 | 5 | 16 | 25 | .252 | .823 | |
| Aug | 3-1 | 4.45 | 5 | 11 | 22 | .292 | .844 | |
| Sep-Oct | 3-3 | 6.14 | 7 | 14 | 30 | .289 | .845 |
Although Jackson has struggled mightily in September in three seasons as a major league starter, his monthly performance in those three years combined doesn’t follow the downward second-half trend of his 2009 campaign.
And despite the post-break fade, Jackson continued to show steady overall improvement statistically in 2009. He posted his best single-season numbers yet in Year 3, with his 214 innings pitched, 3.62 ERA, .247 OBA, .725 opponent OPS, 161-70 K-BB ratio, and his walk rate of 2.92 walks per nine innings. Still, the big right-hander will want to show his new employer that the first-half Jackson was a sign of things to come, not the second-half version.
There are Diamondbacks fans who simply don’t believe in swapping Scherzer for Jackson in the 2010 rotation — and only time will tell who emerges as the better pitcher. There’s a chance Scherzer will end up a reliever, but he is still young and will get every chance to show he can excel as a starter. Another consideration is that Jackson leaves behind a spacious home park in Detroit for a hitter-friendly environment in Phoenix. Scherzer now pitches in the more forgiving building.
The key for Arizona, however, is getting another promising starter in Kennedy, who reached the Triple-A level and then New York at age 22 in 2007. He’s struggled with injuries the last two summers, including an aneurysm in his throwing shoulder, which required surgery. He returned late last season and pitched brilliantly for Triple-A Scranton and held his own in the Arizona Fall League. Kennedy struggled in a Yankee uniform during an extended look in 2008.
Schlereth is a 2008 first-round pick who has already reached the majors, and he will find a role in Detroit’s bullpen next season. Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks are looking for Kennedy to follow Webb, Haren and Jackson in the rotation, and it’s Kennedy who could make this trade a big winner for Arizona — even if Scherzer blossoms with Detroit.
