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Carson Jacobs
Right-Handed Relief Pitcher
6´9´´
215 pounds
Age: 26
2025 South Side Sox Top 100 Prospect Ranking71
2026 South Side Sox Top Prospect Ranking 86
2026 High Level Birmingham (AA)
Age relative to high level -0.6 years
SSS rank among all right-handed relievers in the system 15
Overall 2026 season stats 2-2 ⚾️ 32 games (7 finishes) ⚾️ 43 2/3 IP ⚾️ 3.71.ERA ⚾️ 62 K ⚾️ 43 BB ⚾️ 1.695 WHIP ⚾️ 0.7 WAR

If you’re jumping center against 6´9´´behemoth Carson Jacobs, you know what you’re in for. Facing him in the batter’s box, against a reach that releases the ball close enough to tickle your chin, is another matter entirely.

Jacobs has used his height to great advantage in his year-and-change in the White Sox system. The White Sox ignored his stats at the baseball hotbed of North Dakota State University in 2023 (2-5, 34 innings, 6.62 ERA) and snapped him up immediately after the draft as a UDFA. With no inhibitions, the club put the tall righty right to work, and its confidence paid off handsomely, as Jacobs busted out 6 1⁄3 innings while allowing just one earned run.

Despite that small sample size greatness, it’s only fair the White Sox packed Jacobs back up for a repeat ACL tour to start 2024 — and it was only fair Jacobs murdered ACL batters once more (3.22 ERA in 22 1⁄3 innings, plus his first pro save). From there, Jacobs did time in both Kannapolis and Winston-Salem, ending the year with a sparkling 2.37 ERA over 31 games. With 19 of those games being finishes, it’s clear the White Sox want to slot Jacobs in as a setup/closer short man.

While Jacobs had been killing it through his first two summers with the Sox, 2025 turned out to be another matter entirely. The righty’s peripherals held steady, except for one key spot: Hitters caught up to him, with a dramatic increase in hits per nine (5.7 H/9 in 2024, up to 8.4). That’s a worrying sign, as Jacobs was age-appropriate for High-A, where he pitched all but two of his games.

One bright spot for the reliever is that the White Sox thought highly enough of him in spite of a rough 2025 to send him on an audition to the Arizona Fall League. There, Jacobs saw action in eight games to a 4.50 ERA — and he was lucky to get away with just that, having walked 11 batters for a 16.5 BB/9.

Jacobs tasted Double-A for two games in 2025, and jumped right back to Double-A for 2026. And, back with the Barons, he was used somewhat sparingly. He never spent time on the IL, at least officially, but didn’t even make his season debut until the end of April. And in spite of relieving all year, his rest between appearances often more closely resembled a rotation arm, sitting for upwards of a week between games.

When he was on the mound, Jacobs was stingier with contact, but offset that with a wild streak that raised his overall WHIP. Bottom line, though, Jacobs improved his ERA, with run prevention that should see him get time in Charlotte in 2027, if not when camp breaks then soon after.

Full 2027 South Side Sox Top 100 White Sox ProspectsStorystream

LAS VEGAS — Marcus Semien’s self-motivation is his biggest asset in trying to improve on his underwhelming first season in Queens.

That was the assessment of president of baseball operations David Stearns on Tuesday when asked about the Mets’ plans at second base for next season.

The 36-year-old Semien will have an opportunity to play “a lot of” second base next season, according to Stearns.

“This is an extremely motivated player,” Stearns said at the general managers meetings. “This is someone who works as hard as anyone, who believes in his own ability, and who I know is going to get everything out of what he has.”

Brett Baty remains an option at the position, but the Mets also have prospects such as Jefferson Rojas, Émilien Pitre and Mitch Voit who could be ready at some point next season.

Semien posted a .620 OPS and struggled defensively, finishing at minus-9 outs above average, according to Statcast, which ranked in MLB’s fifth percentile.

He still has $46 million remaining on his contract over the next two seasons.

“[Semien] didn’t have the type of year that he wanted to last year,” Stearns said. “He didn’t have the type of year we believe he’s capable of. We also think we have got a lot of options, both guys who played in the big leagues last year for us and guys who are knocking on the door of the big leagues that we feel good about that position.”

Though Bo Bichette has flexibility to play other infield positions, Stearns said the plan is to keep him at third base. Bichette switched to the position from shortstop last season upon joining the Mets.

Bichette is returning after opting in to a contract that will pay him $42 million next season.

“I was happy about it,” Stearns said. “We expect Bo to have a really good year next year. We saw what he’s capable of doing over the last three or four months of the season, and I think he is excited to come back. He’s comfortable with our group, he’s emerging as a leader in our clubhouse. I am very excited to have him back.”

Last year at the general managers meetings, Stearns placed Carson Benge in the conversation for a starting job by saying the top prospect would head to spring training with an opportunity to win a major league job.

Stearns isn’t prepared this offseason to make such a pronouncement on a prospect.

“That could change by the time we get to spring training or Opening Day,” Stearns said. “But sitting here right now there’s not a name that I am going to put out there like that.”

LAS VEGAS — After a season plagued by elbow issues, Max Fried has gotten an offseason cleanup.

The left-hander underwent surgery to remove a bone spur from his left elbow, Brian Cashman said Tuesday, though it should not affect his readiness for the 2027 season — whenever it actually begins, with a lockout looming.

The procedure — which was not originally on the docket when Cashman and Aaron Boone last spoke to reporters in late October — comes with six weeks of rest and rehab before Fried can begin a throwing program around the second week of December.

“He should be ready for spring training,” Cashman said during the general managers meetings at the Aria Resort and Casino.

In the second year of an eight-year, $218 million contract, Fried missed two-plus months with a left elbow bone bruise and then went back on the injured list for two weeks in August with the same issue.

In the 20 starts he did make, he was mostly terrific, pitching to a 2.80 ERA across 112 ²/₃ innings.

Aaron Judge recently had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Gregory Pearl — the specialist with whom the Yankees consulted on theircaptain’s broken rib last season — which essentially cleared him moving forward.

“He’s currently in a good place,” Cashman said. “So no new added features to his circumstance outside of, take the winter to continue to rest up and he’ll be ready to go. But there’s no new procedures or anything there with Aaron Judge.”

While pitching coach Matt Blake’s contract extension was previously reported, Cashman revealed that assistant pitching coach Desi Druschel and bullpen coach Preston Claiborne are also coming back, as are third base coach Luis Rojas and first base coach Dan Fiorito.

Bench coach Brad Ausmus, meanwhile, is still waiting to hear back from the Astros after he interviewed for both their GM job (which went to Randy Flores) and manager job (which remains open).

Cashman on the Yankees not renewing the contracts of special advisers and former GMs Brian Sabean and Omar Minaya: “I was thankful that ownership allowed me to onboard those guys four years ago. As costs continue to stretch here, I had to make some tough decisions. We’re not going to replace or not going to duplicate those positions or replace them as we move forward. Unfortunately, there was some give that had to take place. They’re really excellent baseball people that I think will add value somewhere if somebody’s got an opportunity.”

LAS VEGAS — During an offseason in which many former players and coaches have beaten up on the Yankees, Brian Cashman has tried to speak with all of them to hear them out. 

That now includes Jorge Posada, who recently said on The Post’s baseball podcast, “The Show with Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman,” that he does not believe the Yankees want him around and he does not “feel welcome.” 

Cashman said Tuesday he was surprised to hear those comments but that he has since spoken with Posada, the four-time World Series-winning catcher. 

“He is welcome,” Cashman said during the general managers meetings at the Aria Resort and Casino. “I did obviously have those conversations with him. But I think also in the world we live in today, which is a different world than obviously when Jorge played, everybody’s got a platform. There’s a lot more podcasts, social media, a lot of things are existing now in this world that didn’t exist then. So, a lot more opinions can be projected. That comes with the territory. 

“Jorge wants us to be great. We want us to be great. Unfortunately, we have been good but we haven’t been great, and that’s the trick of trying to figure out how to get from good to great.” 

Posada was the latest ex-Yankee to pile on in the aftermath of the club’s ALDS loss to the Rays, marking another year gone by since its last championship in 2009 (which Posada was a part of). The criticism also came from CC Sabathia, Anthony Rizzo and Joe Girardi, ranging from citing a lack of accountability to the current players no longer understanding what the standard of the Yankees is. 

Cashman previously indicated that none of the issues Sabathia, Rizzo or Girardi brought up were the main reason for their early playoff exit. 

“Winning is hard,” Cashman said. “I try to also remind people how difficult it is. There are a lot of great teams we have put together that we were all a part of that fell short. I remind any of the former players who are looking at when we are letting our fans down by not playing up to our capabilities or falling short of our dream or our hopes, it might not look good or it might look like we’re not checking all the boxes. That’s what losing looks like. It’s as simple as that. It’s not because the care factor isn’t there or because the work’s not going on behind the scenes.” 

“If somebody has got some good, constructive suggestions of how to get there, then I’m open minded. I’m not shy.” 

Aaron Boone has consistently invited Posada and other former players to camp every spring, but when the former catcher was asked about potentially helping the Yankees, that is when he brought up not feeling wanted. 

“We value our present, but we also value our past,” Cashman said. “That’s why, in Jorge’s case, he’s invited every spring. He’s invited to Old-Timers’ Day. He did my daughter’s show … ‘Story of My Number,’ which I appreciated him doing.”

LAS VEGAS – The Los Angeles Dodgers shrug their shoulders hearing that the New York Mets have a meeting scheduled next week in California with prized free-agent starter Tarik Skubal.

They are amused that the San Diego Padres are flirting with the idea of adding Skubal to give them three players earning in excess of $300 million.

They smirk when mystery teams are floated in the air for Skubal at the GM meetings.

They also know the bottom line: If the Dodgers want Skubal, they can have him, providing no one absolutely blows them out of the water with an offer they don’t want to match.

And, let’s face it, nobody has done that in nearly a decade.

The Dodgers wanted Shohei Ohtani three years ago, they got him at the same 10-year, $700 million price offered to the Los Angeles Angels, Toronto Blue Jays and San Francisco Giants.

The Dodgers wanted Yoshiobu Yamamoto, they got him at $325 million, even though the Mets and Philadelphia Phillies were willing to go higher.

They got closer Edwin Diaz with a three-year, $69 million contract last winter, not even giving the Mets a chance to counter.

They signed first baseman Freddie Freeman away from Atlanta in 2022 with a six-year, $162 million contract.

They made sure Mookie Betts wasn’t returning to Boston in 2020 with a 12-year, $365 million extension.

Whatever the Dodgers want, they always get.

Now, despite the federal investigation into owner Mark Walter’s insurance empire, there is zero indication the Dodgers don’t want him back.

Oh sure, they’d love to dump a salary or two to make it more feasible.

They’ve got outfielder Teoscar Hernandez and his remaining $21 million salary on the trade block. If someone asks, Tyler Glasnow can be theirs, too, freeing up the $30 million he’s owed in 2027 with a $21.5 million player option in 2028. Just like that, $72.5 million could be coming off the books, plenty to squeeze in the two-time Cy Young winner who’ll command at least $350 million in the free-agent market.

So, when Dodgers GM Brandon Gomes was asked Tuesday if they had a meeting set up with Skubal, too, he said, “at some point soon.’’

“We know we love the player, we love the human,’’ Gomes said. “And you kind of have to let things play out to understand what that looks like, and if it’s something that we’re going to ultimately execute.”

Why wouldn’t they?

Skubal fit in perfectly after joining the Dodgers in August after being acquired from the Detroit Tigers. He was their co-ace with Yamamoto. He went 5-2 with a 2.61 ERA, and was exactly the pitcher they envisioned, and more.

“He was awesome to get to know,’’ Gomes said. “He fit in great into the clubhouse. Obviously, we know what kind of pitcher he is.

“So, for us, it’s understanding what this all looks like, as far as what does our team need? What does the contract look like? Where does he end up? I don’t know.’’

Well, considering Skubal is a native of Kingman, Arizona, a 318-mile drive to Dodger Stadium, with his parents and entire family living in Arizona, his wife’s family living in Arizona, and the Dodgers’ spring training complex a 25-minute drive from their Scottsdale, Arizona, home, there’s no reason in the world he won’t end up back in Los Angeles.

Money hasn’t stopped the Dodgers from getting everything they’ve desired since their championship run in 2020.

Why let a little investigation into finances stop them now?

“It is always easy to say, at this point in time, what is best for the team,” Gomes said. “But then as you look at the construction of your roster, it’s about making sure you’re balancing and not setting yourself up to potentially hit a slow point, or making sure you’re not doing things that disrupt what could potentially be.

“We want a very long window, and making sure that stays open.”

The Dodgers, with or without Skubal, still have a rotation featuring Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Shohei Ohtani, Glasnow and depth in Roki Sasaki, Justin Wrobleski, Emmet Sheehan and Gavin Stone.

“We do,’’ Gomes said, “have a good amount of depth in our pitching.’’

Why not make it unstoppable, making sure that the Dodgers’ early postseason departure, being swept by the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS, never happens again in the near future? It made no difference to them that they were eliminated by the eventual World Series champions. The pain was so unbearable that Gomes couldn’t even watch the entire World Series with the Brewers beating the Tampa Bay Rays in five games.

“No, it doesn’t take any sting away,’’ Gomes said. “You just don’t feel good if you don’t win. So, you’re in this stage of like, 'Man, that kind of stinks.'

“I tried to watch the first couple of games, and then after that, I was like, 'This is painful. It’s too painful. I think I’ll just check the box score for it.'"

The Dodgers haven’t endured the pain of losing a free agent they coveted since making a last-ditch bid for Bryce Harper in 2019. They offered a four-year, $180 million contract before being out-bid by the Phillies with a 13-year, $330 million deal.

There’s no reason to believe it will happen again.

The Dodgers want the man.

Skubal wants to return to the Dodgers.

When the flirting ends, and the bids stop, Skubal should be in a Dodgers uniform.

Right where he belongs.

Follow Bob Nightengale on X @Bnightengale.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dodgers want Tarik Skubal. Skubal wants the Dodgers. So why won't it happen?

Standing outside of a packed conference room, half a day into General Managers meetings, Dodgers GM Brandon Gomes said none of his conversations leading up to or since arriving in Las Vegas had painted a clear picture of how the free agent or trade markets would play out over this month.

The Dodgers are going to take a “business as usual” approach to the offseason, prepared to react whenever those markets reveal themselves. But even if Gomes and president of baseball operations Andrew Freidman aren’t ready to predict how threat of a lockout — expected to go into effect when the current CBA expires on Dec. 1 — will affect their offseason, it will surely color this transaction window.

The Dodgers don’t have any gaping holes to fill this winter, but they still need to fortify their roster if they hope to reclaim their spot at the top of the league.

The Dodgers have already hired former Marlins hitting coach Pedro Guerrero to fill the only opening on their coaching staff, and made their first offseason acquisition, claiming infielder Christian Cairo off waivers from the Mets on Monday.

Read more:Dodgers hire former Marlins coach Pedro Guerrero as new hitting instructor

Their most pressing needs are their bullpen and bench, areas that often draw less fanfare. But the Dodgers also have a track record of splashy offseason moves.

Here are takeaways from Gomes’ media availability Tuesday:

Dodgers engaged with Tarik Skubal’s camp

As Freidman said they would, the Dodgers have remained in contact with southpaw Tarik Skubal’s camp, Gomes confirmed Tuesday. And they expect to have a meeting “at some point,” Gomes said.

Skubal is the top free agent available this offseason and is sure to garner interest from all the heavy hitters. The Mets have a meeting scheduled with him next week, according to multiple reports.

The Dodgers’ pitch started when they acquired him at the trade deadline this year. But it’s unclear just how aggressive they will be in pursuit of a reunion.

“I think a lot of it is continuing to see what this all looks like,” Gomes said. “He was awesome getting to know. He fit in great into the clubhouse. Obviously, we know what kind of pitcher he is. So for us, it’s understanding what this all looks like, as far as what does our team need? What does the contract look like? Where does he end up? I don’t know.

“We know we love the player, we love the human, and you kind of have to let things play out to understand what that looks like, and if it’s something that we’re gonna ultimately execute.”

Japanese phenom Shoki Oda on the Dodgers’ radar

Oda, 18, plans to go straight from high school baseball to the United States, foregoing a stint in Nippon Professional Baseball. He’s begun meeting with major-league teams.

“He’s super talented, really projectable, fun to watch him throw,” Gomes said. “I know our international guys have watched him closely, and you know, I’m not sure how that all shakes out exactly. But we think really highly of him.”

Asked if he’d had a visit with the Dodgers, Gomes said with a smile: “Potentially.”

Dodgers looking for Miguel Rojas replacement

Rojas has already begun the transition into his player development role with the Dodgers, working with Dodgers prospects in the Arizona Fall League. But now the Dodgers have to fill the hole his retirement left on the roster.

New-addition Cairo adds depth to the infield group and like Rojas is a right-handed hitter.

“He has really good bat-to-ball (skills), good defensively in a bunch of different spots,” Gomes said. “Our scouts have flagged him as somebody that they really liked, and makeup was really strong.”

Veteran utility player Kiké Hernández also entered free agency. But in a similar situation last year, the Dodgers brought him back on a one-year deal.

“Kiké’s been such a huge part of what we’ve done in the past, and we’ll continue to have those conversations,” Gomes said. “But what that looks like right now, I have no idea.”

At the beginning of the season, with switch-hitting utility player Tommy Edman on the IL, the Dodgers had two young second basemen competing for the left-handed-hitting side of the platoon. Alex Freeland won the job, and Hyeseong Kim, in his second year of a three-year contract worth $12.5 million, made nearly three quarters of his plate appearances in Triple-A.

“Comet did not have the year that he was expecting offensively, but he has so many skills that fit us well,” Gomes said. “Diving in this offseason, to continue to chip away at the potential swing changes, and he worked on some stuff at the end of the year that he felt pretty good about after presenting a plan. He’ll continue to work through those things and hopefully he’ll take a step forward on the swing mechanics and get him into a really good place offensively.”

Important offseason for Josue De Paula

De Paula not only proved that his offensive skills were major-league ready last season, but also earned a spot on the postseason roster with a mature approach in high-pressure situations.

For him to claim a regular role next year, however, he’ll have to continue to progress on defense.

“He is dead set on proving that he’s going to be a really good defender,” Gomes said. “And he has a good setup in the off season with people around him that he’s going to go out and you know really get after it. And we have full confidence that he’s going to put the work in to really continue to take those steps forward and be the complete player that we all know he can be.”

The lockout will add another wrinkle. Because he’s on the 40-man roster, the Dodgers won’t be able to communicate with him during the lockout, as he works through his offseason program.

“We’re going to make sure that we’re set up in a way over this next month to continue to communicate with guys like we we normally do,” Gomes said. “And if things shake out in a way that we can’t, we’ll make sure that those conversations on the front end are had to kind of everybody put everybody on the same page moving forward.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.