(670 The Score) The Red Sox and Yankees have shown the most interest in trading for Cubs right-hander Jameson Taillon, sources told 670 The Score reporter Bruce Levine.
Taillon, who’s 32, is 7-4 with a 3.10 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in 16 starts for the Cubs this season. He has struck out 75 batters and walked 18 in 93 innings. Taillon has pitched well lately, recording a quality start in six of his past seven outings and falling just one out short in the one in which he didn’t.
The Cubs are open to moving Taillon in large part because of how disappointing their season has been. As of Monday morning, the Cubs sat at 48-53 and were in fourth place in the NL Central. The Cubs trail the division-leading Brewers by 10 games and are 3.5 games out of the final wild-card spot in the National League. The Cubs open a three-game series against the Brewers on Monday evening at Wrigley Field.
Taillon is in the second year of a four-year, $68-millon contract. He pitched for the Yankees in 2021-22 before signing with the Cubs in the ensuing offseason.
Asked if Taillon will be on the Cubs roster after the trade deadline passes on July 30, Levine responded “most likely not” on Inside the Clubhouse on Saturday morning. He expanded on the topic on the Mully & Haugh Show on Monday morning, pointing out that trading Taillon would give the Cubs' young pitchers more opportunity in the starting rotation in the coming years while also potentially returning young players who could help fill other holes on the club's roster.
“If you’re trading Taillon, you’re going to get inventory back,” Levine said. “People only hear they’re trading him and, ‘That’s not good for us.’ If you’re going to trade him, you’re going to get people back – obviously younger people, maybe more controllable contracts. So you’re not just giving a guy like Taillon away.
“There’s some teams out there that really need pitching, including the Red Sox, Yankees and Dodgers.”