First baseman Tyler Austin, Cubs agree to one-year contract | Cubs 360 | Marquee Sports Network

First baseman Tyler Austin, Cubs agree to one-year contract | Cubs 360 | Marquee Sports Network

So Jeff Passen reporting that first baseman Tyler Austin and the Cubs are in agreement on a one-year major [music] league deal. Sources tell ESPN Austin 34 is a former top Yankees prospect who has been a star in Japan for the last half decade hitting [music] 293 377 a 568 slug for the Yokoma [music] Bay Stars. On that note, I think the initial reaction is first baseman. What righty? Uh, but my feeling at least, and this is what I want to ask you guys, is I I don’t necessarily see this as immediately you’re platooning Michael Bush, but this is just adding some depth and seeing how he does coming back to the big leagues. >> Yeah, it very much seems like depth to me. This feels like a guy who will crush left-handed pitching. I think the big thing that jumps out to me is if you go back to 21 22 area over MPB, he was striking out around, you know, high 20s, low 30%s. And then the last two seasons, he’s cut it below 20%. So maybe there’s been some discipline that’s come his way as he’s aged. He’ll be 34 next season. It feels like a depth bench bat. I don’t necessarily know how much risk it maybe puts on a guy like Michael Bush, but I know Mr. Cohen here had a really good comp that I like. >> Yeah. I mean, it’s a it’s a deal that the Cubs have made in the past. Sometimes they’ve done it in March and April. This time they decide to do it in December. And you look at the deal with Garrett Cooper that they made a couple years ago. Well, Garrett Cooper, they signed to a major league deal was an incentive base deal. And then he was DFA in June. So it doesn’t give them the amount of hey like we need to play him x amount of times we need to give him this amount of abs but it’s a million25 insurance policy saying hey this guy ras against lefties he raked against lefties in the big leagues in 2019 he ranked against everybody in Japan for the last 5 years you bring him over if you can get somebody with a success level in Japan he does 40% of that here in the big leagues that’s a viable bench bat where you can DH him play him at first against lefties and a little outfield experience as well. >> Yeah, it seems like a lowrisk signing and you see how he does and you go from there. You saw in the graphic that Craig Council has familiarity with him. He managed him in 2019. Also, showed Imanaga played with him in Japan. So, you know, we’ll see how those relationships pan out. Now, we were talking about this relationship with Michael Bush. What is that going to look like? Well, the reason this is now a constant conversation, which I think it should be stopping and Michael Bush should be hitting every day. >> Tell us how you really feel. >> This is part of the conversation. Okay. So 2025 Michael Bush against righties. [music] Uh sure. I mean he well ranks righties, right? It’s the lefties and that’s where then Austin Tyler Austin comes in and that is what he does against [music] lefties. But the idea here is you know really you haven’t seen either guy uh cuz Austin’s going to come back over. You’re going to see how he does in spring training. Michael Bush. He hasn’t had the everyday at bat, so you’re going to see how he does in those situations. But like I just pointed out, I’m the believer that he’ll be just fine. Alex is looking at >> I don’t think it’ll be a standard platoon because yeah, you look at 2024, 2025, Justin Turner co comes over, there’s more of a financial obligation to get Justin Turner involved. There’s not as much of a financial obligation to get Tyler Austin involved. So if you do give Michael Bush those at bats against left-handed pitching, you do that in April, you do that in May. it doesn’t work out. Well, you have Tyler Austin who has a 900 OPS against left-handed pitching over the last six years. You give them that opportunity. So, I really think it’s a nice insurance policy. Also, you look at the Cubs 40man roster, 34 players. That means they have to add six more to get to their 40man roster. There could still be more moves when it comes to getting another right-handed bat to go against left-handed pitcher. >> The thing I think about too, right off the top, you get the Nationals. Who’s the Nationals ace? Unless he gets traded, it’s Mackenzie Gore. So, this idea of him potentially playing Michael Bush versus left-handed pitching and good left-handed pitching will be answered for us right off the top as he faces one of the be best left-handed starters in baseball. I think you give him the shot. I think he’s earned it. I know at least agrees with me in that respect. And I don’t think Austin’s a threat. It feels to me almost more like a bench bat and then a partial insurance policy. If Bush goes two months and he’s really struggling against lefties, you have the ability to give Austin a bit more playing time or perhaps they like another kind of righty outfield bat they could somehow bring into the mix potentially platoon of first base or something along those lines. So, it’s it’s depth as he as Cohen said like they have a lot of guys need to add to the 40man and they’re not going to spend 10 to 20 million on each of them. So, I think some of these smaller soundings make a lot of sense. Heat. Heat.

Marquee Sports Network’s Elise Menaker, Lance Brozdowski and Alex Cohen react to the Chicago Cubs’ signing of first baseman Tyler Austin and how it could impact the platoon with Michael Busch on “Cubs 360.”

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First baseman Tyler Austin, Cubs agree to one-year contract | Cubs 360 | Marquee Sports Network