Cubs' Jameson Taillon still hopes to remain a Cub through the trade deadline chatter

CINCINNATI — Besides the stretch between the trade deadline and the end of the World Series, Major League Baseball players might have to deal with trade rumors any other day of their careers.

It’s not always easy. They’re human. Many have families and lives established in the cities they play. As soon as they get word they’ve been traded to another ballclub, that gets flipped on its head.

It can be hard to completely block out all the chatter. Jameson Taillon, whose name has been in plenty of Chicago Cubs trade rumors recently, understands that.

“I’d say there’s been a little bit of noise and stuff,” Taillon said Monday night. “I’m human, and I’m aware of it.”

But he got a little more reassurance from his skipper Sunday prior to making his last start before the trade deadline Monday against the Cincinnati Reds.

“[Cubs manager] Craig [Counsell] told me yesterday, like, ‘Don’t listen to anything. You’re starting tomorrow,'” Taillon said. “I went to bed last night knowing I was pitching today. … It was nice. I was acting as if I was going to start, and then just hearing it let me go to bed last night knowing, like, ‘All right, I’m waking up tomorrow. Tomorrow’s a start day.’ Go through the normal routine and all that.”

Pushing his start back to Tuesday — which would’ve come after the 5 p.m. CT deadline — would’ve allowed interested teams to base their evaluations of Taillon on the rest of his starts and also avoid risking an injury just before the deadline, but Counsell said not letting Taillon take the ball wasn’t a consideration.

Taillon went through his normal pregame routine, including doing some stretching near the middle of the visiting clubhouse at Great American Ball Park. It seemed like business as usual, but things didn’t go his or the Cubs’ way when he took the mound.

Results-wise, he had his worst start in months. Taillon lasted just 4 1/3 innings, giving up six runs (all earned) on six hits and a walk. The long ball did him in; he gave up a two-out, two-run homer to Cincinnati’s Will Benson, and his night ended when he allowed a three-run blast to TJ Friedl in the fifth. He ultimately took the loss in the 7-1 series-opening loss Monday.

From an outside perspective, it seemed like maybe Taillon could’ve been at least a little bit distracted. Again, he’s human, and the trade rumors hadn’t stopped less than 24 hours to go until the deadline.

“Well, he didn’t pitch well tonight,” Counsell said. “It’s easy to link the two. I understand his name has been mentioned, so you can link it. You’re going to think about it. When you see your name, you’re going to think about it. That’s real, for sure. But Jamo knows he’s got a job to do as well, and I expect him to be here tomorrow.”

But Taillon insisted that wasn’t the case. When he took the mound, he said, his sole focus was winning the game.

“When you’re out there, it’s like the last thing you would ever think of when you’re between the lines,” Taillon said. “Maybe a little extra noise between starts, but when it comes time to get out there and compete, it’s just not even a consideration.”

Regardless, Taillon has now made his final start before the deadline. With the Cubs not in full buy-mode — president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said last week the team would focus on making moves with 2025 and beyond in mind leading up to the deadline — Taillon has now shown potential suitors everything he could.

It’s not that Hoyer is super desperate to trade him, to be sure. Taillon has been a big contributor on the mound for over a year now, and he’s always commended for being a steady presence in the clubhouse.

Getting out of the last two-plus years of his four-year, $68 million deal, without having a plan for how to replace his value to be able to compete next season, doesn’t make a ton of sense. Like the moves over the weekend to bring in Isaac Paredes from the Tampa Bay Rays and Nate Pearson from the Toronto Blue Jays, any Taillon deal has to come first and foremost with competing in 2025 and beyond in mind.

That thinking hasn’t stopped the stove from heating up. That’s especially true for the starting pitching market, which has seen a good amount of movement already with potential for more. That’s obviously something that hits a little closer to home for Taillon.

“It’s just an interesting time of year,” he said. “It’s a lot of people texting and talking. Tough time to be on Twitter and see everything, but yeah, I mean, it’s a time in baseball where teams go out and try to get better, rebuild or whatever. So, there’s naturally a lot going on. As a fan of the game, it’s exciting to see. As a guy who can be personally affected by it, it’s definitely a little different. But it is what it is.”

Taillon has a 10-team no-trade clause in his deal (the teams on the list aren’t publicly known), but he said he hasn’t been approached with any conversations regarding that.

He isn’t really having any talks about the trade deadline, as he’s “kind of just here playing, doing my thing.” Either way, he’s made his desires clear: When that deadline passes, he hopes to still be a Cub.

“Obviously, I want to stay here and be here,” Taillon said. “I just feel like that’s kind of out of my control. But I love being here and I love being in Chicago. I love all the guys here. I don’t feel like I have to go shout it from the rooftops. Chicago’s a great place to play. Wrigley’s the best, the fans are the best. Hopefully, it works out.”