With recent attention on Tatsuya Imai and Munetaka Murakami, there was a hope that the Chicago Cubs would sign someone who had success overseas, and to their credit, they just did. It just wasn’t someone that Cubs fans had on their radar. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that the Cubs have signed former New York Yankees top prospect Tyler Austin to a one-year deal.
Austin never quite lived up to the expectations of a top prospect, bouncing around with the Yankees, Minnesota Twins, San Francisco Giants, and Milwaukee Brewers. Honestly, his most memorable major league moment may have been inciting a brawl against the Boston Red Sox.
Cubs seemingly find their first bench piece by bringing Tyler Austin back to the Major League Baseball.
Austin has been playing in Japan since 2020 and has turned himself into a solid bat. Last season, he slashed .280/.363/.502 with 12 home runs in 239 plate appearances. When playing a full season in Japan, he’s often flirted with hitting 30 home runs. A right-handed first baseman, it would seem that the Cubs have found their backup first baseman to Michael Busch.
Among the takeaways from the Winter Meetings was that Craig Counsell plans to start Busch against left-handed pitchers next season. With Justin Turner on the bench last season, Counsell would often turn to the veteran against southpaws, despite Busch leading the team in home runs.
It’s worth pointing out that the last time the Cubs turned to a rejected major league veteran who found success overseas, it was Mike Tauchman. Tauchman turned out to be an invaluable piece on the Cubs’ roster, and if that is the ultimate outcome for Austin, it would be hard to be disappointed with this signing. Especially when he is making less than $2 million.
Having said that, Austin’s arrival will likely do little to ease the anxiety of Cubs fans. If Jed Hoyer and Co. had the benefit of the doubt heading into the offseason, they likely have lost it by now, as the team has whiffed on several free-agent targets.
Austin’s signing will likely be grouped with the trio of bullpen moves the Cubs have made this offseason, in that, in a vacuum, they’re not bad, but it feels like a larger move is needed. Until then, the jokes write themselves, as it seems like the front office will go to extraordinary lengths to save a penny.