Mets sign former Braves' World Series champion to free agent contract

Apr 4, 2026 - 19:30

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Mets sign former Braves' World Series champion to free agent contract originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The New York Mets added some extra pitching depth in a new signing on Saturday.

He might be a familiar name, too -- he won a World Series ring with the Atlanta Braves.

The signing is Luke Jackson, with the deal reported by The Athletic's Will Sammon on Saturday. It's a minor league contract.

Jackson is a 34-year old right-handed reliever originally from Fort Lauderdale. He was a first-round pick way back in the 2010 MLB Draft by the Texas Rangers out of high school.

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He has pitched in parts of 10 MLB seasons between the Rangers, Braves, Giants, Mariners and Tigers.

He has a career 4.22 ERA at the MLB level.

Jackson had a 1.98 ERA in 71 appearances in that 2021 World Series season for the Braves.

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In 2025, he split the season between three teams. He had a 4.11 ERA in 39 outings with the Rangers, a 7.71 ERA in three outings for the Tigers, and then a 2.38 ERA in 10 appearances for the Mariners. It was a 4.06 ERA in 52 outings across the entire 2025 season for Jackson with just 6.7 strikeouts per nine compared to 4.9 walks per nine.

The Mets will need Jackson to improve on those ratios or he won't be much help this season.

But the reality is that Jackson has a lot of MLB experience, including on winning teams, and so at some point, the Mets could call on him to fill a role for them.