Jameson Taillon joined the Yankees in 2021 coming off a second Tommy John surgery.
In the two years since that trade with the Pirates, he has proven to be one of the more durable arms in the major leagues, which may be his selling point as he enters free agency for the first time this offseason. Whether or not that leads to re-signing with the Yankees remains to be seen, and though the right-hander may be able to land a bigger deal elsewhere, Taillon was grateful for his time in The Bronx.
“I haven’t thought about it a ton, but I definitely know I’ve loved playing here,” Taillon said after the Yankees were swept by the Astros in the ALCS. “They took a chance on me coming back from rehabbing elbow surgery and stuff. To get to come here, I had never experienced the playoffs, never experienced a winning environment and culture. So I feel like I didn’t take a day for granted, showing up and putting the pinstripes on.Jameson Taillon would ‘love’ to return to the Yankees.
Still, Taillon provided consistency, never missing his turn through the rotation while allowing three runs or fewer in 25 of 32 starts. But when it came to the playoffs, he was not one of the Yankees’ top three starters. He worked out of the bullpen in the ALDS, then started Game 1 of the ALCS on a short leash, tossing 4 ¹/₃ innings of one-run ball against the Astros.
Now, Taillon will find out how much that durability has earned him. After throwing just 37 ¹/₃ innings for the Pirates between 2019 and 2020 because of a second Tommy John surgery, he was traded to the Yankees and tossed 321 ²/₃ innings from 2021-2022 — which ranks 36th among all major league starters during that time.
On a free-agent pitching market that is expected to feature a high end of Jacob deGrom, Justin Verlander, Carlos Rodon and Clayton Kershaw, Taillon figures to land more in the mid-range of options that include Chris Bassitt, Nathan Eovaldi, Noah Syndergaard, Taijuan Walker and Tyler Anderson. Spotrac projects Taillon to have a market value of a $14.6 million average annual value, in between Syndergaard and Walker .