Anthony Rizzo dropped hard feelings towards Cubs to recruit Jameson Taillon

Anthony Rizzo did the Chicago Cubs one last favor this offseason. While Rizzo himself chose to stay with the New York Yankees, he did help convince his former teammate to head to the North Side of Chicago.

Anthony Rizzo signed a two-year, $40 million contract with the Yankees. He was New York’s first major move of the offseason, which kept the former Cubs star from signing with the likes of the Houston Astros or elsewhere.

Once successfully tied to the Bronx for another two seasons, Rizzo actually played a role in convincing Jameson Taillon to sign with Chicago. Per Taillon himself, Rizzo heard from either his former teammates or Cubs executives that the organization was interested. From there, the 2016 World Series champion had nothing but glowing things to say.

“I guess he had heard from some of his Cubs sources. He said I would love it there, and if I ever had any questions to kind of run it by him. He had great things to say,” Taillon said.

Anthony Rizzo has gotten over wounds of Cubs departure

Things got heated between Anthony Rizzo and team president Jed Hoyer upon the former star’s departure. Hoyer appeared to hint that the failure to sign contract extensions with the club was on the likes on Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Javier Baez and more. Rizzo pushed back at that assumption publicly.

“I’m kind of confused on why,” Rizzo said ESPN 1000’s ‘Kap & J Hood’. “Why say that? It sounds like a bad breakup and the person saying that they’re fine when they’re not fine.”

Rizzo thought that Hoyer’s comments came off the wrong way, and that the organization should take some responsibility over their failure to lock up homegrown starts. He stated that “things like MVPs…cost money.” He has a point there.

“I know it comes down to a business and when you want your cake, and you want to eat it too, that’s kind of how it seemed,” Rizzo continued.“I think it can all speak for itself that there’s a common denominator that no one signed.”

As time has passed, so have the hard feelings between the two sides, it seems.