It’s Official! Yankees Acquire RHP Jameson Taillon from Pirates! [Updated]
Yesterday brought about a ton of rumors that the Yankees were getting close to a deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates to acquire RHP Jameson Taillon. Today, as reported by Jon Heyman, the Yankees have made the deal!
Jame Changer. @JTaillon50 pic.twitter.com/mNkoUyyrFT — New York Yankees (@Yankees) January 24, 2021
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Bittersweet day for me over here! Trying to process everything- have SO much to say to the city of Pittsburgh and my teammates. Also have SO much to say about this incredible opportunity and to the city/fans in New York. Thanks to everyone that has reached out! More to come soon — Jameson Taillon (@JTaillon50) January 24, 2021
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Taillon goes to Yanks — Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 24, 2021
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Source confirms: The Yankees have agreed to acquire RHP Jameson Taillon from the Pirates. The deal is subject to a review of medical records. First: @JonHeyman. — Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 24, 2021
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The New York Yankees have acquired Jameson Taillon from the Pittsburgh Pirates for Miguel Yajure, Roansy Contreras, Maikel Escotto and Canaan Smith, sources tell ESPN. — Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 24, 2021
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1/Just got off the phone with Gerrit Cole who was teammates with Taillon in the minors, majors and remains 1 of his best friends. Aaron Boone called him a few weeks back for a scouting report. This is what he offered: — Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) January 24, 2021
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Gerrit Cole is excited to have his old spring training roommate back 🍷 pic.twitter.com/pLsjvY8ntH — Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) January 24, 2021
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Ethan’s Super Quick Reaction:
I plan on writing a more in-depth article about Jameson Taillon for some time tomorrow, but I wanted to get my quick thoughts on this deal up here.
The trade package seems to be very balanced. The Pirates have been looking at more quantity over quality in recent years with getting back players in trades (see: Gerrit Cole in 2017). Outside of Canaan Smith, the quality of players the Yankees traded seems very fair, but swapping Smith for a different lower OF for me would’ve been preferred.
Looking at BaseballTradeValues.com (a.k.a. my favorite go-to simple trade evaluator), the Yankees did seem to moderately overpay. However, Taillon is at a low value in comparison to his abilities and potential, so it makes sense. This is how the trade breaks down:
Yankees Got: Taillon (+16.3 MTV)
Pirates Got: Yajure (+5.4 MTV), Smith (+7.6 MTV), Contreras (+4.8 MTV), and Escotto (+4 MTV) for a total value of 21.80.
Again, a moderate overpay and I would’ve preferred to swap out Smith with a player like Ryder Green (who would’ve brought the overall value to 16.80), but that’s small nitpicking on an otherwise great deal.
