On moving Jackson, who was a catcher as an amateur, back behind the plate: “We felt he had the requisite tools to seek out this opportunity. Alex has a terrific arm, good actions, and, perhaps most importantly, he seems motivated to make the most of this opportunity. Alex has been working with Jeff Datz, who has overseen many catching conversions and worked with many All-Star catchers.
“We discussed it internally, but part of that discussion was also the understanding that Alex may not want to catch and that we would have to be satisfied with him if that were the case. However, the fact that Alex was willing to trust us, and himself, in this process makes us really excited.”
On approaching Jackson about a position switch: “We met with Alex and spoke about it with him and with his agent, Scott Boras. All of us felt like it was an opportunity worth pursuing. Catching is the biggest long-term need in our organization, so if we feel Alex’s bat can play as a corner outfielder, imagine how well it would play as a catcher.
“Dave Trembley and Jonathan Schuerholz flew out to Alex less than 48 hours after we made the trade. It’s a credit to those two men that they were able to drop everything and make Alex the top priority.”