Juan Soto may be dominating the headlines now, but before long, all anyone who cares about the Boston Red Sox will be discussing is starting pitching.
Winning teams are built on sturdy rotations, and the Red Sox don’t quite have one yet. They’ve got some solid building blocks (see: Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford, Brayan Bello), but they don’t have an ace, and they also don’t have enough proven innings-eaters.
In a perfect world, the Red Sox would find a superstar in free agency who can assume the number-one role in the rotation. But regardless of whether or not that ace is coming, it would still help to have one more mid-rotation starter who can take the ball every fifth day no matter what.
If the Red Sox are open to trading for that starter, the Chicago Cubs have an arm that seems like a natural fit. Recently, Justin Leger of NBC Sports Boston proposed Cubs starter Jameson Taillon as a possible Boston trade target this winter.
“The Red Sox reportedly showed interest in Taillon at this year’s trade deadline. The soon-to-be 33-year-old still makes sense for Boston coming off an impressive 2024 season in which he posted a 3.27 ERA across 28 outings,” Leger said.
“While Taillon isn’t a true No. 1 starter, he’s a workhorse… Plus, he’s used to pitching in big markets as he has most recently spent time with the Cubs and New York Yankees. And although he’s under team control through 2026, he still likely wouldn’t cost as much as the other names on this list.”
Taillon, who turned 33 on Monday, has made at least 28 starts and thrown at least 144 1/3 innings in each of the last four seasons. He doesn’t rack up strikeouts (7.9 K/9 in his career), but he seems to have figured out how to keep loud contact limited and runs off the board.
At the very least, it’s worth a conversation with old friend Jed Hoyer and the Cubs front office. Taillon has two years and $36 million remaining on his contract, and Chicago may be looking to spend that money elsewhere.
