Who Would You Rather Have: Max Scherzer or Edwin Jackson?

by Kurt Mensching on Dec 28, 2009 8:45 PM EST

From out sister site, Fake Teams, the question comes whether you'd rather have Edwin Jackson or Max Scherzer on your team, along with an argument for both.

What say you?

I'm curious what the breakdown of Tigers fans is, but go over there to read their take and weigh in, too.

Poll

Would you rather have Edwin Jackson or Max Scherzer in 2010 and beyond?

Edwin Jackson

218 votes

Max Scherzer

512 votes

730 votes | Poll has closed

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Bless You Boys writing staff.

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Comments

suprising

I looked at the other site just to see the comparison of both sites and was suprised at the margin that everyone is choosing Scherzer over Jackson.

by Rustyj517 on Dec 29, 2009 12:45 AM EST reply actions

Dumb Poll, Retarded Results!!

Proven talent with much upside against a wild two pitch nobody. Who would you have rather had Bob Gibson or Tom Timmerman? Errrrrrr Timmerman because he was a Tiger!

by Marcmargolis on Dec 29, 2009 2:16 AM EST reply actions

Wait...

Who is the wild two pitch nobody? Cause it isn’t Scherzer and I hesitate to call Jackson “wild”…

President, Vice President and Secretary of the Casey Crosby Fanclub.

by David Tokarz on Dec 29, 2009 2:20 AM EST up reply actions

comparing edwin jackson with bob gibson might be a bit over the top

by lobaseballa25 on Dec 29, 2009 10:46 AM EST reply actions

Jackson’s best year was this previous year by far. His best ERA (3.62) since is rookie year in ‘03 when he only pitched 22 innings. But lets look at only the past 3 seasons. Those are the only ones he’s pitched significant innings. His previous best ERA was 4.42 the year before. His Whip last season was 1.26, his previous best 1.51. His K per 9 rate was .75 this past season. So is this a guy that just had a break out year in his 3rd year of significant innings or is this a year spike in his numbers? We’ll have to wait to see.

Age doesn’t seem to be much different as Max is only 1 year younger.

Lets look at Scherzer. Last year was only his 2nd in the majors and his first with significant innings. His ERA was 4.12 and his Whip was 1.34. Not great, not bad. His K per 9 is impressive at 1.02.

So who is better will be tough to tell. I’d venture to guess Jackson will post better numbers in 2010, but I feel Scherzer will be the better pitcher over the long haul.

by vanman on Dec 29, 2009 11:24 AM EST reply actions

My prediction

I think (and the glory is that there’s absolutely NO WAY to ever check my accuracy :) is that Sherzer will have as good of a year in ’10 for the Tigers as Jackson would have had in ’10 for the Tigers.

Were Jackson pitching for the Tigs in 2010, I think you’d see a slight regression in numbers from ‘09, but an ERA still below 4.00 and a WHIP around 1.30. I think that’s what we’ll get from Sherzer next year with natural growth and improvement.

With Jackson moving to the NL, he might very well have better numbers than Sherzer will in 2010, but I think the move will produce the same for the Tigers next year. The team gets cheaper and Sherzer has more upside.

by momotigers on Jan 4, 2010 12:21 PM EST up reply actions

Seems simple

Scherzer outperformed Jackson this year if you take an in-depth look at their numbers. ERA and WHIP don’t tell us enough about these guys. Also, Scherzer is younger and under team control for much longer at a lower cost. It’s a no brainer in my mind.

by baum on Dec 29, 2009 11:54 AM EST reply actions

This.

by crwi on Dec 31, 2009 10:21 AM EST up reply actions

Years

The stats favor Jackson, especially when you factor in that Scherzer played in the NL last year. All contracts equal i would rather have Jackson in 2010 and beyond. That said all contracts are not equal and for me the edge goes to Maxy. When you look at the number of years Scherzer is under team control and the payday that Jackson is looking for in his next contract I think Scherzer gives the team a lot more value relaive to his post 2010 payscale than a resigned Edwin Jackson.

by rif23 on Dec 29, 2009 12:25 PM EST reply actions

A year ago did any of us think the trade FOR Edwin Jackson was good one?

Until 2009 Edwin Jackson was a serviceable, almost journeyman pitcher who had not fulfilled the promise that the Dodgers originally saw. When the Tigers traded for him he was a project at best. I don’t remember reading one writer suggesting that he would become an All Star pitcher. After the numbers he put up in the first half of 09, he was do for a huge raise and with Boras as his agent, it would have been MORE than just an arbitration inflated contract. And after two giant contracts in Detroit, he would have walked away after 2011.

Scherzer has comparable numbers on a team that did not come close to being as sound defensively as Detroit was last year. There will be a pretty good drop in defense with Polanco in Philly, but the left side is still pretty solid. When Everett is in the line up the left side is defensively one of the best in the league. Max will also pitched half of his games last in Phoenix. Comerica Park should be a little friendlier for him.

I do not follow the National League as much as I would like to and when THE TRADE happened my first thought was Max who? But I have realatives in AZ (season ticket holders) and they all said we are probably getting the second best pitcher on the D-backs staff.

I like THE TRADE more and more as I read about Max Scherzer and he other prospects.

by Michigan Jim on Jan 5, 2010 8:47 AM EST reply actions

Actually, I did.

I saw Jackson in the postseason, pored over his stats from ’08 and thought, “Holy hell, we only had to give up Matt Joyce to get him?!”

That being said — and also the fact that I chose EJ’s name in the above poll — I think it’s too early to tell how this will all pan out, in either the short or the long term. Jackson has only had three full seasons to really examine (showing significant improvement in each), and Scherzer’s only had one (and I do like his numbers from ‘09; for some weird reason, I also enjoy the fact that he hit .226 with a pair of doubles), so it’s really really early for such prognostications. Pitchers are such a wildcard to begin with, anyway, right?

by frisbeepilot on Jan 7, 2010 5:48 PM EST up reply actions