BREAKING: Pittsburgh Pirates Trade Jameson Taillon to the New York Yankees

Trade rumors have swirled around Jameson Taillon for much of the offseason. Saturday evening, thigns started to heat up. At this point, it was clear the Pittsburgh Pirates trading Taillon was a question of when and not if.

Sunday afternoon, the trade rumors came to fruition. This happened when the Pittsburgh Pirates traded Taillon to the New York Yankees in exchange for four prospects. This was the second time in less than a week the Pirates traded away a starting pitcher, after sending Joe Musgrove to the San Diego Padres last week.

The four prospects coming to the Pirates in the trade are pitchers Miguel Yajure, Roansy Contreras, middle infielder Maikol Escotto, and outfielder Canaan Smith. Of these four prospects, Smith is the lowest rated by FanGraphs, checking in as the 21st best prospect in the Yankee organization. FanGraphs gives Yajure a future value of 45, while the other three players have a FV of 40+.

Considering that Taillon has not pitched since May 2019, all in all this is a pretty strong return. Kudos to Ben Cherington for managing to land the return that he did for Taillon.

Of the four players coming to Pittsburgh, Yajure is the lone player of the group with MLB experience. He posted a 1.29 ERA in 7.0 innings pitched out of the Yankee bullpen in 2020. Throughout his minor league career, however, he was a starting pitcher. So, odds are, the Pirates will give him a look as a starter.

The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Taillon with the second overall pick in the 2011 draft. While Taillon never fully lived up to these expectations, when healthy, he flashed his top of the rotation stuff with a career 3.67 ERA and 3.55 FIP in 82 starts with the Pirates.

Taillon’s time with the Pirates was riddled with injuries. Two Tommy John surgeries, a hernia issue and testicular cancer all cost Taillon time. Jamo is one of the easiest people in baseball to root for and we wish him all the best in New York and beyond.