Chicago Cubs expected to cut ties with $68 million player

The Chicago Cubs have been nothing short of an unmitigated disaster over the last month, as they have gone just 7-20 following their 27-12 start and now sit just one game ahead of the Cincinnati Reds in the loss column for last place in the NL Central.

A plethora of problems have affected the Cubs throughout this stretch. It hasn’t been one particular issue.

That being said, everyone knows just how terrible Chicago’s starting rotation has been. The Cubs rank 28th in baseball in starting pitching ERA (4.83), and outside of Ben Brown (who was a late addition to the rotation), there hasn’t been a single Cubs arm that has pitched well.

Chicago is expected to swing a trade for at least another pitcher before the trade deadline, but it might end up dumping one of its own hurlers, as well.

Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller feels that Jameson Taillon in particular is in danger of getting ditched.

Chicago Cubs predicted to part ways with Jameson Taillon

Taillon actually suffered a hamstring injury during his most recent start against the San Francisco Giants on Sunday night, coming out of the game after just one inning.

But Miller also thinks that the 34-year-old might be in his final days with the Cubbies.

“But Taillon, in particular, has been a glorified batting practice arm this season, allowing an MLB-worst 20 home runs en route to a career-worst 5.13 ERA—and a 6.33 FIP that suggests he’s lucky things haven’t gone even worse,” Miller wrote. “… Whether Taillon makes it to the end of the final season of his four-year, $68M deal is questionable at best.”

Taillon had a couple of decent years for Chicago in 2024 and 2025, but his debut campaign with the team in 2023 was subpar, as he logged a 4.84 ERA.

Overall, the right-hander has managed a 4.09 ERA throughout his time with the Cubs and owns a lifetime 3.94 ERA since entering the big leagues in 2016. He spent time with the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Yankees before ultimately making his way to Chicago.

So long as the Cubs do end up buying before the deadline (which is actually a fair question now), Taillon might find himself out of Chicago’s rotation in the coming weeks.

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