Trading their second pitcher in less than a week, the Pittsburgh Pirates have shipped Jameson Taillon to the New York Yankees in exchange for four prospects.
Pirates beat writer Jason Mackey reported the deal was complete after a couple days of speculation that the Yankees were the front runners for Taillon’s services.
Jeff Passan says the four prospects heading to the Pirates are: RHP Miguel Yajure (No. 15 in the Yankees system according to MLB Pipeline), RHP Roansy Contreras (No. 19), outfielder Canaan Smith (No. 21) and Maikol Escotto – an 18-year-old shortstop from the Domincan Republic signed by the Yankees in 2018.
Taillon adds some depth to a Yankees rotation that has lost J.A. Happ to free agency, and may lose James Paxton and Masahiro Tanaka as well. He will slot into rotation highlighted by Gerrit Cole, along with Corey Kluber, Luis Severino, Jordan Montgomery, and Deivi Garcia.
The 29-year-old missed the 2020 season (and most of 2019) due to Tommy John surgery. It’s the second UCL surgery he’s had in his career. He had his most recent surgery in August 2019, so he’s expected to be ready to go come spring training in 2021.
When healthy, Taillon has a 112 ERA+, 3.55 FIP, and 21.5 K% over 82 starts. The pitcher will make $2.25 million in 2021 and has one more year of arbitration in 2022 before entering free agency.
