Alex Jackson Clears Waivers Again After Bizarre Twins Roster Run

[JADBP]

On 9/25/2026 at 3:54 PM, old nurse said:

So people would rather have Tristan Gray playing? Any of the prospects that aren’t hitting up sooner. More of the prospects learning to sit at the end of a bench rather than being on the field?

/

No, definitely NOT Gary, but I would have certainly rather brought up Jenkins, Erod and Cullpeper much earlier than they did.  And I would have take the opportunity to give Mendez, Raya a few games.  And I would have even considered bringing up Diaw, Houston and Gabby for a cup of coffee to experience MLB action.  There are a TON of far more deserving players that the Twins should have promoted over wasting bench space with a player you never expect to play!  That's just childish stupidity embarrassing even to a 4-year old.  

[JADBP]

6 hours ago, jaimedude said:

The money and a waste of a roster spot on Alex Jackson is an anamoly from 2026 Twins season I will never understand. When you are limited to 26 people on a roster why waste a resource on a spot where a player didn't even average 1 game a week let alone a plate appearance or pinch running spot. Poor choice to evef add or keep. He Jackson was rarely ever used. If your gonna do that have it be a rotational spit between 3 to 4 AAA guys. 

Right up there with all those pitch hitting opportunities for Manuel Margot.  Pure stupidity.  Thanks Falvey/Zoll!

[old nurse]

1 hour ago, JADBP said:

No, definitely NOT Gary, but I would have certainly rather brought up Jenkins, Erod and Cullpeper much earlier than they did.  And I would have take the opportunity to give Mendez, Raya a few games.  And I would have even considered bringing up Diaw, Houston and Gabby for a cup of coffee to experience MLB action.  There are a TON of far more deserving players that the Twins should have promoted over wasting bench space with a player you never expect to play!  That's just childish stupidity embarrassing even to a 4-year old.  

Some teams want their developmental players to play and not sit on the bench,. A team of outfielders that are developmental stages would leave someone with the same ammount of Pine Time as Jackson or your developmental players are not playing.  

You can have your opinion on cup of coffee to sit and watch. I am not sure how watching helps  out.  Not sure if the Gilberto Celestino/Eddie Bane development plan works  I am not sure how 8 AB helped Gonzales  he went back to St Paul and slumped. In September 

[Riverbrian]

On 9/25/2026 at 5:54 PM, old nurse said:

So people would rather have Tristan Gray playing? Any of the prospects that aren’t hitting up sooner. More of the prospects learning to sit at the end of a bench rather than being on the field?

/

And that's what needs to be fixed. If prospects are sitting at the end of a bench. They are not prospects.  On the other side of the coin. Average performance being treated as irreplaceable keeping prospects on the bench, choosing lesser talent on purpose just so you don't have lineup playing time pressure is poor planning but it's a god send for the tragically average?  

26 man roster waste is just plain impossible to defend.

[Bangkok Twins Fan]

The biggest puzzle to me is why they didn't play Jackson more often. In the limited time that he DID play this season he performed well, certainly better than most thought he would. So why did he spend so much time on the bench when he actually was with the Twins? Another one of this season's mysteries. 

[old nurse]

2 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

And that's what needs to be fixed. If prospects are sitting at the end of a bench. They are not prospects.  On the other side of the coin. Average performance being treated as irreplaceable keeping prospects on the bench, choosing lesser talent on purpose just so you don't have lineup playing time pressure is poor planning but it's a god send for the tragically average?  

26 man roster waste is just plain impossible to defend.

But the less than average outcomes that could have been replaced by Jackson is the problem, not that they did not use him. What could have replaced Jackson’s was not anyone that was going to fix that problem . The Twins after July 1 did not seem interested in fixing that problem 

[HarmonK03]

2 hours ago, Bangkok Twins Fan said:

The biggest puzzle to me is why they didn't play Jackson more often. In the limited time that he DID play this season he performed well, certainly better than most thought he would. So why did he spend so much time on the bench when he actually was with the Twins? Another one of this season's mysteries. 

He was due for regression, nothing in his history said he was going to continue like that.  I think it says something that three times teams had a chance to get him for nothing and no one claimed him.  The Twins may be overrating his ability.

[nicksaviking]

3 minutes ago, HarmonK03 said:

He was due for regression, nothing in his history said he was going to continue like that.  I think it says something that three times teams had a chance to get him for nothing and no one claimed him.  The Twins may be overrating his ability.

Sure, Jackson was DUE for regression, meanwhile, Caratini was already in full-blown regression.

The Twins picked Caratini over Jackson because they were paying Caratini more. 

[Riverbrian]

11 minutes ago, old nurse said:

But the less than average outcomes that could have been replaced by Jackson is the problem, not that they did not use him. What could have replaced Jackson’s was not anyone that was going to fix that problem . The Twins after July 1 did not swim interested in fixing that problem 

The less than average outcomes are indeed the problem. The additional problem and bigger problem and fixable problem is when a team treats average or less than average outcomes as irreplaceable. 

Jackson wasn't going to change that. He was simply a waste of a roster spot... evidenced by his multiple removals from the 40 man and CLEARING.

Not having players that can challenge the less than average or even average outcomes was a problem. 

I agree with you. The Twins did not swim with interest.

People should be interested in swimming to avoid drowning. 

 

 

 

[old nurse]

20 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

The less than average outcomes are indeed the problem. The additional problem and bigger problem and fixable problem is when a team treats average or less than average outcomes as irreplaceable. 

Jackson wasn't going to change that. He was simply a waste of a roster spot... evidenced by his multiple removals from the 40 man and CLEARING.

Not having players that can challenge the less than average or even average outcomes was a problem. 

I agree with you. The Twins did not swim with interest.

People should be interested in swimming to avoid drowning. 

 

 

 

Many a player have been wastes of roster spots on all teams otherwise there wouldn’t be so many DFA across the league. That is why there is a rule on how many times a team can call up a DFA player. 

[Riverbrian]

On 9/29/2026 at 6:46 AM, old nurse said:

Many a player have been wastes of roster spots on all teams otherwise there wouldn’t be so many DFA across the league. That is why there is a rule on how many times a team can call up a DFA player. 

The number is bigger than the assumed number that I assume you are suggesting.

Wasted roster spots is a problem.

Fix that problem. treat each roster spot as gold, roster players that can compete, are allowed to compete and maybe you have a shot of not having to hang on for dear life to less than average outcomes. 

[old nurse]

5 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

The number is bigger than the assumed number that I assume you are suggesting.

Wasted roster spots is a problem.

Fix that problem. treat each roster spot as gold, roster players that can compete, are allowed to compete and maybe you have a shot of not having to hang on for dear life to less than average outcomes. 

The fatal flaw is playing time is directed by the manager.   The assumption made was Jackson was the problem. There is no way of knowing if he would have used someone else, be it Fedko, Arcia, Gray or Sobato more often than he used Jackson. It is also undefinable that it would have led to better outcomes.with different players. 

[Riverbrian]

14 minutes ago, old nurse said:

The fatal flaw is playing time is directed by the manager.   The assumption made was Jackson was the problem. There is no way of knowing if he would have used someone else, be it Fedko, Arcia, Gray or Sobato more often than he used Jackson. It is also undefinable that it would have led to better outcomes.with different players. 

Jackson was not the problem. The problem is that the front office provided the manager with someone that Manager wasn't going to allow to help. Caratini is going to ride his horrific slump onward. Jackson is going to sit behind him because Jackson wasn't capable of .500 OPS I guess so we keep the .461 guy making 7 million.

Waste of roster spot is a natural by-product of full commitment to average or below average.

You and I both have no idea how anything is going to work out. But the waste of roster spots and locking into average didn't work out. 

 

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

On 10/1/2026 at 7:16 AM, Riverbrian said:

The number is bigger than the assumed number that I assume you are suggesting.

Wasted roster spots is a problem.

Fix that problem. treat each roster spot as gold, roster players that can compete, are allowed to compete and maybe you have a shot of not having to hang on for dear life to less than average outcomes. 

Lets be clear - wasted roster spots is a term thrown around a lot that has minimal application.   The 13th man for the hitters is going to have minimal play no matter what.  Jackson - had some speed,  above average contact (although some luck involved),  and some solid defense.  Where we had minimal depth in the season.  The 13th man position has always been intended for a vet that can provide something specific to the team.  Speed, defenses   ect.   For Jackson the calculus was purely insurance.   Any other player called up for him  was never going to get the reps necessary to develop.  

I think more than anything in hindsight, the Twins were extremely afraid what would happen if there was an injury and Jackson was gone.  Whey he was jerked around in August, I think 1 of the catchers got dinged although not reported and then we had the injury which opened up  a spot.   

As to the end of the season,  we will no fairly quickly but I think its money related.   I think they dropped him for a more reasonable salary amount.  Beyond that I am unsure.  I do think the Twins treated Jackson incredibly well during the season, other than potentially taking more time for Caratini but all in all if they want a reunion potentially starting in AAA I think Jackson would do it.  

 

[Riverbrian]

4 hours ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

Lets be clear - wasted roster spots is a term thrown around a lot that has minimal application.   The 13th man for the hitters is going to have minimal play no matter what.  Jackson - had some speed,  above average contact (although some luck involved),  and some solid defense.  Where we had minimal depth in the season.  The 13th man position has always been intended for a vet that can provide something specific to the team.  Speed, defenses   ect.   For Jackson the calculus was purely insurance.   Any other player called up for him  was never going to get the reps necessary to develop.  

I think more than anything in hindsight, the Twins were extremely afraid what would happen if there was an injury and Jackson was gone.  Whey he was jerked around in August, I think 1 of the catchers got dinged although not reported and then we had the injury which opened up  a spot.   

As to the end of the season,  we will no fairly quickly but I think its money related.   I think they dropped him for a more reasonable salary amount.  Beyond that I am unsure.  I do think the Twins treated Jackson incredibly well during the season, other than potentially taking more time for Caratini but all in all if they want a reunion potentially starting in AAA I think Jackson would do it.  

 

I agree with what you are saying. You perfectly explain the context. No argument from anything you posted. 

I'll add to your context. In the case of Jackson specifically. His rostering wasn't going to be a big deal because Shelton had locked in his lineup. Jackson was going to join Ross and Ggon and Kreidler of players who were not going to play in the stretch run. 

I just think it's a mistake to roster specialists period because 13 player utilization is simply better than 9 player utilization. There are going to be failures with 13 player utilization and there are going to be failures when you 9 player utilization. However the failure rate isn't what you focus on. The success rate is what you focus on. 13 players through will produce more success than 9. It's what? 60% more input. That's significant. 

You give up that advantage when your bench (I hate using the term bench) consists of players that are specialists for playing time only during very specific situations. You are choosing lesser players on purpose for roles. When you choose lesser players... you will have lesser players not capable of taking over for a Caratini who has an OPS of Crap and a wasted roster spot.

You waste all 4 of your roster spots on lesser players. You go down with the Royce Lewis ship.