The Toronto Blue Jays are taking on a reclamation project.
Toronto announced over social media on Sunday that they have traded for veteran pitcher Jameson Taillon. The Blue Jays are acquiring Taillon and cash considerations from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations.
Taillon, 34, is a righty starter who is in his 10th career MLB season. He used to be a Blue Jays enemy, pitching in the AL East for the rival New York Yankees from 2021-22.
The best career season for Taillon came even before that though when he was still with the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 2018, Taillon went 14-10 with a 3.20 ERA and a career-high 179 strikeouts over 32 total starts.
While Taillon missed the entire 2020 campaign due to a second Tommy John surgery, he recovered to post multiple positive-WAR seasons for the Yankees and the Cubs (after joining Chicago as a free agent before the 2023 season). But unfortunately for Taillon, 2026 has been an abject nightmare for him up to this point.
Over 15 starts this season for the Cubs, Taillon posted a 2-6 record with a 5.92 ERA and 1.36 WHIP. His struggles got so bad that Chicago designated him for assignment late last month.
Now Taillon is getting a new lease on life with the Blue Jays, who are an AL East-worst 52-60 this season but still a doable four games out of a Wild Card spot. But that might not necessarily preclude Toronto from selling ahead of Monday’s trade deadline as Taillon certainly could be a cheap replacement for this big-name trade candidate.
