Dodger Thoughts:Edwin Jackson: What if?

As I researched this piece, I read several reviews of Jackson, and there is a common theme: No one disputes his physical tools, but almost every criticism ends up with his mental approach and confidence.  Baseball Prospectus still had words like “frustrated,” “struggles” and the dreaded “potential” in its 2009 review of Jackson.  I don’t know where I saw it, but I know Jackson himself said in an interview that he does not blame the Dodgers or Rays for moving him, as he knew better than anyone how his career had evolved to this point.

I close this piece by saying that if the question was, “Could the Dodgers have kept Edwin Jackson on the 25-man roster from 2007 to the present?,” from a pure roster management issue, I would say yes. Enough flotsam existed on the roster during that time to make me think they could have done that, and whatever damage Jackson brought on to the team during his growth period would probably not have been too different than every other bad pitcher during the last 2½ seasons. 

But from what I think what would have happened, only if had he been able to speed up his growth to where he is today could Jackson have survived the 2007 season as a Dodger out of options.  And we’ll never know if Jackson would be the pitcher he is today without those two years in Tampa, where he got 62 starts to work out whatever issues he had.