Cubs have not approached Jameson Taillon about potential deals

When the Cubs signed righty Jameson Taillon to a four-year, $68M deal in December 2022, that contract included a 10-team no-trade clause. According to Taillon on Monday, via Patrick Mooney of The Athletic, “I haven’t had to say yes or no to anything.”

Taillon, who professed his love for Chicago, coughed up six runs in four and a third innings to the Reds in Cincinnati on Monday. He’ll turn 33 in November. Taillon’s average fastball velocity is down a full tick this year, with his strikeout rate falling to 19.1%. Though his ERA was 4.84 last year and currently sits at 3.35, there hasn’t been a skill change in these 18 starts.

Given that Taillon is owed $18M in each of the 2025 and 2026 seasons, it’s possible the Cubs could look to get out of that commitment. In the best case scenario, they could also extract some useful players from a market that saw the Astros provide a strong return for lefty Yusei Kikuchi. Though the Cubs’ acquisition of Isaac Paredes from the Rays signaled an intention to retool and compete next year, trading Taillon before Tuesday's 5 p.m. central deadline could still make sense.

As Mooney notes, the Astros were one of the teams that had been connected to Taillon. The Padres, Orioles, Yankees and Red Sox have also been linked, though Baltimore picked up Zach Eflin. We’ve also seen the Brewers, Cardinals, Royals and Red Sox add starting pitching this month. If he is to trade Taillon on Tuesday, Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer has to contend with several better options being available on the market like Jack Flaherty, Garrett Crochet and Blake Snell, plus similar ones in Nestor Cortes and Tyler Anderson.