Yankees reunite with ex-top prospect from Jameson Taillon trade after tough year

After an entire offseason of watching one of their former top pitching prospects bounce around all of MLB like an errant olive pit at a dinner party, the New York Yankees decided to step in and save him. Now, will they plate him or discard him?

Prior to the 2021 season, the New York Yankees imported Jameson Taillon and his two years of remaining control from the Pittsburgh Pirates. They also signed Corey Kluber. That's ... that's how they used their resources that offseason.

Ultimately, New York didn't surrender all that much for Taillon, despite handing over a four-prospect package including three top-30 prospects: Miguel Yajure (No. 15, per MLB Pipeline at the time), Roansy Contreras (No. 19 and on Helium Alert) and Canaan Smith-Njigba (No. 21), topped off by shortstop Maikol Escotto.

Smith-Njigba, the brother of the Seahawks wide receiver, is 5-for-37 across several brief MLB trips since, and is now a free agent once more. Yajure has not pitched since 2023, a season in which he posted a 6.07 ERA, peaked with the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats in the Giants' system, and grew some surprisingly long hair with blonde highlights. Escotto has been a Greensboro Grasshopper for each of the past two seasons, hitting .213 and .215 respectively in the Pirates' system.

And Contreras? He's now right back where he started, as the Yankees claimed him off waivers on Thursday afternoon.

Yankees claim Roansy Contreras off waivers from Baltimore Orioles, maybe ending well-traveled offseason

New York's 40-man roster now sits at 39, following the earlier lottery ticket addition of Allan Winans.

Winans' floor seems higher and more stable, but Contreras certainly seemed like he had an interesting ceiling four years ago, when he was just one canceled minor-league campaign removed from going 12-5 with a 3.33 ERA in the Sally League with Charleston.

Now, Contreras is certainly on what appears to be his career downswing after putting up solid numbers in his rookie year with the Pirates in 2022 (3.79 ERA in 21 games/18 starts/95 innings). Unfortunately, his WHIP jumped from 1.27 to 1.57 between '22 and '23, while his ERA ballooned to 6.59.

He looked more comfortable out of the bullpen in 2024, a season where he moved from Pittsburgh to the Angels (4.33 ERA in 52 innings). Still, the Angels bid farewell when the season wrapped, and Contreras proceeded to be claimed by (clears throat) Texas in October, Cincinnati in December, and Baltimore 13 days ago.

Now, he's a Yankee, and Matt Blake will hopefully get another chance to harness his control in camp. Of course, if the Yankees do add two more pieces, he's likely secure in the reality that he'll be first on the chopping block yet again. Tough world.