Bronx Bound


The Yankees continued to roll the dice on rehabbing pitchers, with Sunday's trade for Pirates righthander Jameson Taillon. A former high draft choice who appeared to be emerging into stardom in 2018, the Texas native was felled by arm problems the following season which led to his second Tommy John surgery. For a rebuilding club like the Pirates, this former second overall draft pick was a bad risk -- or, looked another way, the four prospects they received from New York were a better gamble than holding onto a pitcher with a bad medical chart and just two years of remaining club control.

With a 2021 salary under $3 million, Taillon is another lottery ticket whom Brian Cashman hopes pays off behind Gerrit Cole, a bunch of kids and fellow question mark Corey Kluber. Of course, like Kluber, he could also turn into the 2021 version of Troy Tulowitzki, who made it through five games with the 2019 Yanks, before his season and career crashed after another injury.

After a thorough check of my photo archive, which includes several 2016 - '19 Pirates games at Citi Field, a 2016 weekend visit to PNC Park and a 2018 spring training contest in Bradenton, I realized that I had never seen Taillon pitch. But I did have his image. There's a nice tribute area at Lecom Park, showing former players for the Pirates single A team based there, who've advanced to the majors. And Taillon was part of that display.

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