While MLB teams were busy negotiating deals at the Winter Meetings in Orlando, Isaiah Jackson was spending his offseason near Florida spring training facilities with his girlfriend. He was in the middle of his afternoon lift, preparing for his first full season of professional baseball.
Suddenly, silence broke his focus.
“My music cut out in my AirPods,” Jackson told 985TheSportsHub.com, “and I was like, ‘Man, who’s calling me? I’m trying to get a good workout in.’”
As soon as Jackson picked up his phone, he realized it was the Los Angeles Angels, the organization that selected him in the eighth round of the 2025 MLB June Amateur Draft. Due to communication rules between teams and prospects during MLB’s dead period, Jackson said he thought he was being added to the Angels’ 40-man roster so he could converse freely with his team.
Instead, he was no long with the team.
“It was kind of like a hype moment in the moment,” Jackson said. “And then [the Angeles] said, ‘Hey, man, you’re getting traded to Boston.’ I was like, ‘Oh, shoot.’ I kind of just went silent. I was just shocked, didn’t really know what was going on, really how that process went, but I think everything is for a reason, so I think it will definitely benefit me in my career.”
The Angels gave up Jackson to acquire infielder Vaughn Grissom from the Red Sox, who created an open spot on their 40-man roster after the move. Jackson received a small dosage of minor league baseball with the Angels’ High-A affiliate in 2025, hitting .219 with four RBIs and a home run in 32 at-bats in 10 games. He started in center field in nine of his 10 appearances, posting a perfect fielding percentage over 81.0 innings.
“Getting traded is a good thing, I think, especially, for a one-for-one trade,” Jackson said. “I think it means a team that wants you definitely values you. So I’m really excited to get rolling with the Sox.”
An Arizona native and alum of Arizona State’s historic baseball program, Jackson was thrust into leadership roles as a three-year starter at center field under Willie Bloomquist, ASU’s current head coach and 14-year big-leaguer. Jackson’s athleticism provided numerous highlight reel-worthy plays, robbing potential home runs by climbing and stretching over the outfield wall to make improbable catches. Those instances quickly became routine for Jackson, who played all three of his collegiate seasons at Tempe – a rarity in the modern transfer portal era of college athletics.
Syndication: Arizona Republic
Posting a .249 batting average as a freshman and a .263 average during his sophomore campaign with 109 strikeouts during that stretch, showed offensive development would be needed if Jackson were to achieve his professional goals. His struggles reached a climax when he failed to showcase offensive prowess with the Bourne Braves, hitting .193 with 20 strikeouts in 78 plate appearances during a Cape Cod league stint in 2024.
That was Jackson’s turning point.
Bloomquist was busy adding to his ASU coaching staff while Jackson was in Cape Cod, naming Jason Ellison as the program’s new hitting coach. When Jackson arrived back to Tempe, he was reenergized to reach his MLB dreams. He said he apologized to Bloomquist and special assistant Mike Goff for failing to fully buy into their methods in his two prior seasons. With Ellison added to the staff and Jackson eager for development, the pieces were beginning to fall into place for improved battles at the plate.
The results were evident immediately for Jackson, who appeared in a career-high 60 games and recorded a .310 batting average in 270 plate appearances with 68 RBIs and 18 homers for the Sun Devils. Before 2025, Jackson had accumulated only 16 home runs and 59 RBIs in his two collegiate seasons. He obliterated those marks during his final year at ASU, posting 18 home runs and 68 RBIs as a junior. Jackson struck out only 43 times in 2025, seven fewer than his sophomore season total and 16 fewer than his freshman campaign.
His offensive production helped the Sun Devils reach a 36-24 overall record and an 18-12 conference mark in their first Big 12 season, leading the way to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2021.
Ellison’s wisdom was on display. And so was Jackson’s progress.
“He just really taught me how to understand my body, understand how to move, what moves are important (and what) moves are not important,” Jackson said. “I think he’s definitely somebody I’ll be in contact with for rest of my career with my swing because he’s just kind of a genius and understands how the body moves really well.
“I changed where my hands were, I changed from a toe tap to a leg lift, like it was just all over. I think once I kind of got the feel for my body and started to get comfortable in those positions, it was just back to playing the game again. I don’t remember last time I was smiling that much toward the end of the season.”
Syndication: Arizona Republic
Throughout Jackson’s life, he has always had a mentor who could help guide him through the challenges of professional baseball. His older brother, right-handed pitcher Andre Jackson, was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 17th round of the 2017 MLB June Amateur Draft. Andre, who is eight years older than Isaiah, is playing for the Yokohama Bay Stars in Japan after stints with the Dodgers and Pirates at the big-league level.
So when Isaiah was informed of his trade to Boston, he knew who to call.
“He’s just really giving me an objective view on what pro ball is and how it’s going to be, even with a girl involved,” Jackson said. “He went to Utah, got drafted his junior year, had a girlfriend involved, so anything from the life standpoint to the baseball part of it, I’ve always just had a good role model with it, and I feel like he’s always done things the right way.”
Measuring success for Jackson has boiled down to a simple process ahead of his first professional season. He said a barometer of an effective year is not correlated to his prospect ranking, or what level he is competing at. Instead, he is focused on increasing his baseball knowledge.
Hence, his eagerness to join the Red Sox.
“I’m just excited to get in front of all the staff and just get to meet people because those relationships are important,” Jackson said. “I think I’m not too worried about where I’m going to be. I’m excited because the Red Sox are definitely known for their development. I think success this year is just learning as much as I can, just bettering myself as a player. So when that day does come, when I get my name called, I can be prepared and ready for a full career.”
Jackson, who said his family in western Massachusetts are big Red Sox fans, said he has fond childhood memories of watching the Red Sox win a World Series in 2018, specifically their outfield of Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Andrew Benintendi. Bradley was listed as Jackson’s favorite defender in center field, perhaps an ideal big-league comparison, given the pair’s natural abilities to make spectacular plays in the outfield.
Maybe one day, Jackson will be showing off his moves in center field at Fenway Park.
“That was just a sick outfield to watch. Them doing the dances at Fenway after a win of a home game,” Jackson said. “I don’t know what kind of baseball fan didn’t love that, maybe besides some Yankees fans, but I just always loved the culture.
“Seeing that kind of stuff just made you want to be an outfielder for the Red Sox. I think it’s so sick. I think they kind of created that dance between the three outfielders after a game, and it’s just kind of become a thing. So that’s like a culture they’ve started, and I think it’s really sick being able to potentially have that in my future.”