Cubs Step Up To Add Taillon Despite Booming Market, Broad Interest

When Jameson Taillon was 24, he wrapped up his rookie season by beating Jake Arrieta and a Cubs team that was bound for glory. He’ll base out of the home clubhouse the next time he’s at Wrigley Field, as General Manager Jed Hoyer used the financial flexibility provided by Tom Ricketts to win a bidding war for his services.

There will be more excitement if they can land the big fish they have been chasing. The Cubs are among the teams working to sign Carlos Correa or one of the other two top shortstops on the market, Xander Bogaerts and Dansby Swanson. But it will have been a productive trip to the Winter Meetings even if they do no more business in San Diego.

Six years, 46 wins and one Tommy John surgery after his rookie season in 2016, Taillon turned down offers from multiple teams — reportedly the Mets, Giants, Yankees, Rays and Blue Jays — to agree to a four-year deal with the Cubs on Tuesday night.

It is reportedly worth $68 million, giving him a $17 million average annual value that ranks behind only Marcus Stroman and Seiya Suzuki on the team’s payroll. It projects to about $152 million including a $12.5 million salary in 2023 for center fielder Cody Bellinger, who agreed to a deal for one year with an option for ’24 earlier Tuesday.

It’s telling that four of the five highest salaried players have been signed as free agents over the last year. The team that won with a mix of homegrown players and free agents was torn down following a run of disappointing finishes after beating Cleveland in the World Series, with the Cubs finishing a combined 43 games out of first in the NL Central the last two seasons.

The addition of Taillon can be viewed as a sign the Cubs are regaining some of the stature they lost by losing Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Kyle Schwarber and Willson Contreras through trades or free agency. Taillon had plenty of options — seemingly more than Stroman or Suzuki a year ago — and chose to entrust the second half of his career to the organization that helped unlock the potential of Arrieta and Kyle Hendricks.

The Cubs knew they would have to pay heavily to get Taillon, and they met the escalating price for starting pitching. The pitching market exploded after Texas signed Jacob deGrom for $185 million over five years.

Taillon’s deal came shortly after the Phillies paid $72 million over four years to take Taijuan Walker away from the Mets. The Rays previously had given former Phillies Zach Eflin a three-year, $40-million.

While Taillon has failed to achieve the success that was projected when Pittsburgh took him with the second pick of the 2010 draft — after Washington selected Bryce Harper — his career and immediate outlook compares favorably to Walker and Eflin.

Taillon was 14-5 with a 3.91 earned run average for the Yankees last season. He started Game One of the ALCS against Houston, allowing one run in 4 1/3 innings.

He’ll line up alongside Stroman and lefty Justin Steele in a starting rotation that could be without Hendricks, who is recovering from a capsule tear in his shoulder. The Cubs have investigated Japanese right-hander Koudai Senga and may add more pitching through free agency, particularly if they come up short in their pursuit of the market’s top shortstops.

Taillon had surgery to repair torn ligaments in his elbow in 2014 and ’19. Taillon vowed to rebuild his mechanics after his second Tommy John procedure, and the Yankees acquired him in a trade before the 2021 season.

It appears his mechanical overhaul was successful. He threw a career-high 144 1/3 innings in ’21 and topped that mark last season, working 181 2/3 innings between the regular season and the postseason.

Taillon’s fastball averaged 95.5 miles per hour after his first Tommy John and now sits at 94.1. It is part of a six-pitch mix, per Statcast, including a new cut fastball. He consistently throws strikes, walking only 1.6 per nine innings last season.

There’s a lot to like about Taillon. For the Cubs, that includes the message he sends by signing.