Former Yankees pitcher Jameson Taillon, who was also a target of the Mets, appears to be getting very deep into the talks with the Cubs as a deal grows closer.

The free-agent frenzy in Philly continues with lefty relieve Matt Strahm coming aboard on a two-year, $15 million deal.

Mitch Hangier is San Francisco-bound. He doesn't want to go alone.

The outfielder went into full recruitment mode on Tuesday night, sending a message to Aaron Judge after he agreed to the three-year, $43.5 million deal with the Giants.

Taijuan Walker is going from the Mets to one of their rivals.

The starter is headed to the Philles on a four-year deal worth $71 million, per The Post's Jon Heyman.

It's another big move by Philly, which added one Trea Turner, one of the top shortstops on the market, for 11 years and $300 million on Monday.

SAN DIEGO — The Mets will enter spring training with maybe the top 1-2 starting pitching punch in baseball, but where are they headed for the third act?

After agreeing to a two-year contract worth $86.6 million with Justin Verlander a day earlier — the three-time Cy Young award winner will reunite with former Tigers teammate Max Scherzer atop the rotation — team officials on Tuesday were considering the options for at least one starting pitching addition to fill a gaping hole.

Much of the team’s intrigue has surrounded Kodai Senga, a Japanese right-hander who met with general manager Billy Eppler last month. Senga is viewed as within the club’s price range for a third starter, according to an industry source, and there has been mention that he might prefer the big stage in a major market for a team ready to win next season.

Senga, who turns 30 in January, throws a fastball that can touch triple digits and uses a splitter as his secondary pitch. Last season he averaged 10 strikeouts per nine innings and pitched to a 1.94 ERA for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball.

READ MORE

But not that one.

Per ESPN's Jeff Passan, the Giants added Mitch Hangier on a three-year, $43.5 million deal that doesn't take the team out of the running for Aaron Judge.

Several teams would like to add Japanese free agent Kodai Senga this winter.

The right-handed hurler met with the Mets in November, and the team came away impressed -- as much as they could anyway.

SAN DIEGO — We are in the midst of learning just how much tolerance Steve Cohen has for the Steve Cohen tax.

By going to the top of the starter (Justin Verlander) and relief (Edwin Diaz) markets already this offseason, the Mets are going to be in the same $300 million range (for luxury-tax purposes) if they do little else.

But they are not built to do little else. They are a win-now team with an incomplete roster and without the near-MLB ready pitching prospects to inexpensively problem solve.

The Mets define the poker term “pot committed” — to justify how much they already have spent to win, they can’t fold, but that means having to stay in and invest more and more without certainty of a winning hand.

They would very much like to climb to the top of the second-tier starting-pitching free-agent market by retaining Chris Bassitt, though they seem to have fixated even more on Kodai Senga and Jameson Taillon. But signing any of them would take them beyond the $293 million fourth-tier luxury tax.

READ MORE

The Yankees manager made it clear at the Winter Meetings he had no insight into what's going on with Aaron Judge.

“I know nothing,” he told reporters in San Diego on Tuesday. “I really don’t.”

Boone directed further questions to GM Brian Cashman, though its likely he's not revealing how much -- or how little -- he knows, either.

Judge has a $300 million offer on the table from the Yankees, and a reported $360 million one from his hometown Giants.

The slugger is taking his time to mull his options -- and he's certainly not giving Boone any inside info.

Cody Bellinger is choosing a change of scenery in hopes of getting his career back on track.

According to The Post's Jon Heyman, Bellinger is signing with the Cubs after six seasons with the Dodgers, who non-tendered him after a 2022 season in which he slashed .210/.265/.389 with 19 home runs and 68 RBIs. The Post's Joel Sherman says it's a one-year, $17.5 million contract.

Bellinger, 27, was the NL MVP in 2019, but in the three years since has hit just .203 with a .648 OPS in 295 games.

It seems nobody loves talking in front of cameras and microphones at events like the Winter Meetings more than superagent Scott Boras.

He is always armed with plenty of puns, and that was the case on Tuesday when he discussed the Mets and their free-agent center fielder Brandon Nimmo.

Boras even brought his own backdrop to the proceedings in San Diego.

Tim Anderson is under team control for two more seasons at a very reasonable cost for a two-time All-Star. So it's no surprise the White Sox would want to keep him.

That's exactly what they're telling other teams, according to The Athletic.

The 29-year-old hit .301 with six homers and 25 RBIs in 79 games last season. In 2021, he hit .309 with 17 homers and 61 RBIs in 123 games.

Anderson will make $12.5 million in 2023 and has a $14 million club option for 2024.