The Yankees starting rotation will look a lot different this season.
After adding Corey Kluber earlier this month, the Yankees acquired another right-hander who’s dealt with injuries recently, trading for Pittsburgh’s Jameson Taillon on Sunday.
The 29-year-old hasn’t pitched since May 1, 2019, after undergoing his second Tommy John surgery, but has performed well when he’s been able to get on the mound.
To complete the deal, the Yankees sent four prospects to the rebuilding Pirates: right-handers Miguel Yajure and Roansy Contreras, 18-year-old infielder Maikel Escotto and 21-year-old outfielder Canaan Smith.
Yajure, 22, appeared in three games for the Yankees last season.
The move also allows the Yankees to free up two slots on their 40-man roster (Yajure and Contreras), but they will have to create one more, because they need to add Kluber and DJ LeMahieu, as well as Taillon.
Taillon was the second-overall pick in 2010, selected by the Pirates between Manny Machado and Bryce Harper, but has yet to live up to expectations. He won’t be a free agent until 2023 and is due to make $2.25 million as the Yankees look to stay under the $210 luxury-tax threshold.
He’ll join a rotation that has Gerrit Cole at the top, followed now by Kluber and Taillon, with Luis Severino set to return from Tommy John surgery in the middle of the season.
Domingo German is eligible to return after serving a suspension for violating MLB’s domestic violence protocols in 2019 and Jordan Montgomery will look to build on a solid 2020.
Deivi Garcia, Clarke Schmidt, Jonathan Loaisiga and Mike King are also expected to compete for spots.
Masahiro Tanaka and James Paxton remain free agents and J.A. Happ signed with the Twins last week.
Like Kluber — who has made just eight starts in the last two seasons because of injuries and agreed to a one-year, $11 million deal — Taillon comes with some health questions.
He pitched just 37 ¹/₃ innings in 2019 before he had surgery to repair a flexor tendon and UCL revision. While still in the minors, Taillon had Tommy John surgery in 2014 and was sidelined the next season by a sports hernia.
Taillon also underwent surgery to treat testicular cancer while with the Pirates in 2017. He returned to the majors less than six weeks later.
The Yankees are counting on Taillon regaining his form — and health — from 2018, when he made 32 starts and pitched 191 innings with a 3.20 ERA.
The Yankees and Pirates had previously discussed a trade for Joe Musgrove before Pittsburgh dealt the right-hander to San Diego.
Following reports of the trade, Taillon called the move “bittersweet” on Twitter and told The Athletic: “It’s emotional for me. … Super excited to go to the Yankees, but this is still tough.”
Taillon said he didn’t believe the Pirates were looking to trade him, “but it got to the point where the Yankees and other teams were persistent. Going from where the Pirates are at to the Yankees, where the only thing is winning, is exciting.”
Upgrading the rotation was a goal for the Yankees this offseason.
“Would I like to add to [the rotation]? The answer is yes, if we can,’’ GM Brian Cashman said on the YES Network in December. “I think it’s best served to do so, but at worst, you could certainly daydream just to believe that you might actually have everything that you need there.”
Now, the Yankees are daydreaming about the health of the right arms of Kluber and Taillon.