Former Angels prospect the team dumped at 2023 trade deadline killing it with Orioles

Back in 2023, the Los Angeles Angels pushed in a ton of chips at the trade deadline to build out their roster around Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. They traded for Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo López, Mike Moustakas, CJ Cron, Randal Grichuk and Eduardo Escobar, and many fans still lament the team trading away Edgar Quero to the White Sox in the Giolito-López deal. Many of the other prospects Perry Minasian dealt are either out of the league or still struggling to find their way. All of that appeared to be that, and the dust of that disastrous season seemed to be settled. However, one inconsequential trade that pretty much everybody forgot about is starting to look like the second worst deal from that calamity.

Former Angels prospect the team dumped at 2023 trade deadline killing it with Orioles

Does anybody else remember Jeremiah Jackson? What about the fact that Jackson was dealt for Dominic Leone and cash at the 2023 trade deadline? Anyone? Anyone?

Jackson was a top-ten prospect for the Angels at the time he was dealt, but he was seemingly market corrected by Zach Neto and Kyren Paris that season for Double-A Rocket City. Still, trading a promising player for a reliever with a 4.40 ERA is looking like the worst trade made that year. Jackson did not play well in 2024 after a strong 2023 with Double-A Binghamton, and it appeared his career was almost over. He was not added to the Mets' 40-man roster and became a free agent. Jackson signed a minor league contract with the Orioles before this season, and he started to blossom in their pipeline.

While they are having a season from hell, the Orioles might have struck gold with Jackson after trading off many of their MLB players. In the Orioles' most recent game against Boston, Jackson hit second in their batting order -- in between Jackson Holliday and Gunnar Henderson. Of current Orioles players (which excludes Ramón Laureano and Ryan O'Hearn) with 35 or more plate appearances (which excludes Dylan Beavers), Jeremiah Jackson's .811 OPS ranks second on the team to the team's superstar in Henderson.

Jackson always had the looks of a utility player who could provide some pop at the plate, and he is taking his game to a new level with the Orioles. After spending most of his time in Triple-A Norfolk playing middle infield, he's been almost exclusively playing right field with the O's.

Jackson finding his way in the majors out of nowhere is an awesome story, and Angels fans obviously would give anything to have him back on the team.

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