Chicago Cubs Rumors: Jameson Taillon's market shaping up

Two days until the winter meetings, several teams, the Chicago Cubs among them, will be looking to make a splash to bolster their roster. After Jacob deGrom shook the MLB world last night with his signing to the Texas Rangers, bigger market teams will become a little more frantic in their search to land a key starter. In the top tier, you still have Justin Verlander and Carlos Rodon. I'm envisioning Verlander to the Dodgers and the Mets swooping into land Rodon to make up for the critical blow to their rotation last night. With Chris Bassitt and Taijuan Walker gone to free agency, it's imperative the Mets do something big.

However, should the Mets still miss on Verlander and Rodon, they will need to look to the next best thing they can acquire. Jameson Taillon is a middle-tier starter, but he's that upper-echelon middle-tier guy. Along with Bassitt, these are the two biggest names after Verlander and Rodon. So it shouldn't be surprising to hear the Mets get connected to every viable starting pitcher moving forward. However, interestingly enough, Jon Heyman's tweet also connects the Rangers (post-deGrom signing) to Taillon as well.

How realistic the Ranger's pursuit of Taillon is remains to be seen. They are already committed to a massive AAV between Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, and Jacob deGrom. The Rangers already have nearly 100.0MM guaranteed between the three players. With a robust starting pitching market already in full swing, the bidding war for Taillon will only drive up his projected price even further. Then again, we've already been perplexed by high AAV deals for certain pitchers and discounts that didn't quite meet expectations.

Jameson Taillon may be pricing himself off of the Chicago Cubs' radar.

For the Cubs, after a spectacular showing from the starting pitching staff, I'm not committing top dollars to someone whose production is already being matched by everyone else in the rotation. Specifically, Marcus Stroman and Justin Steele put up better numbers than Taillon in 2022. Hayden Wesneski, who has a sky-high ceiling, looked like a veteran in his short outing at the big league level. If Taillon's market is going to explode, I'm more content trading for an ace and utilizing my 40-man roster spots to bolster the offense. The numbers aren't quite there for me to go all-in and expect to be able to insert him at the front of the rotation.

It's not that I don't think Taillon can be effective and a substantial piece to a team's rotation. The Cubs need to add an ace to their pitching staff. They're already packed with middle-of-the-rotation arms, and it's counter-productive to spend money on another one at this juncture. Nevertheless, the market is beginning to pick up. Taillon is not a viable option in terms of what he brings to the table for the price to acquire his services. Nevertheless, expect an insane upcoming week of rumors and free agent signings.