Cubs eyeing another splash with Jameson Taillon in late-night deal

After the Cubs signed Cody Bellinger earlier on Tuesday, Chicago addressed another big need late in the night by inking Jameson Taillon to a contract.

Predicted to be one of the more aggressive teams in MLB free agency this offseason, many were waiting on the Chicago Cubs to start striking on the open market. On Tuesday, they fired their first shot in the thralls of the Winter Meetings as they inked former NL MVP Cody Bellinger to a one-year, $17.5 million contract that gives them a high-upside outfielder in the mix.

Apparently, they weren’t done there on Tuesday. As the page nearly turned on the calendar on the east coast, the dealings weren’t done in San Diego. So Chicago was making it happen to address one of their biggest needs — starting pitching — with one of the best players remaining on the market: Jameson Taillon.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic was first to report that the Cubs and Taillon were getting close with Mark Feisnand and then Joel Sherman said the two parties were meeting to finalize the deal.

Jameson Taillon contract details: Cubs land big-time starter in free agency

As of this writing, the deal has not yet been finalized, so terms are not yet available. We will update you as more information is out there.

Marcus Stroman came to Chicago last offseason and figured to be a key part of the rebuild, but the veteran struggled in his new home. The hope is that he can bounce back, however, and that his down year was more an outlier than anything. Meanwhile, the organization is also hoping that young Justin Steele can continue his dominant second half from 2022 into the 2023 season and become a proverbial ace for the rotation.

Taillon, who spent the last two seasons with the Yankees after four years with the Pirates and not playing in 2020, had a strong season in New York with a 3.91 ERA and 1.13 WHIP. He’s not going to be a No. 1 in the rotation but he is a more-than-solid middle-of-the-rotation option that will drastically improve the Cubs’ depth.

Given the dominoes starting to fall and Chicago’s reported aggressiveness to spend this offseason, don’t expect this to be the last we hear from the Cubbies in the coming days.