Mike Olt

Mike George Olt is a former MLB third baseman who plied his trade with the Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, and Chicago White Sox after being selected in the first round of the 2010 MLB Draft (49th overall).

Olt had a notable high school and collegiate career, starring as Branford High School's starting varsity shortstop for four seasons (winning the Connecticut state championship in 2006), and earning a nod as an All-American Freshman for the Connecticut Huskies of UConn. The Rangers would select him in the supplemental portion of the first round of the 2010 draft, Funnily enough, Olt was assigned to the High-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans to start the 2011 season, who, at the time, were an affiliate of the Rangers (the Cubs would later make them their Single-A affiliate in 2015). Olt's prospect rankings took a huge jump during the 2011 offseason, after he led the Arizona Fall League with 13 home runs.

Olt was named to the 2012 All-Star Future's Game, and made his MLB debut shortly thereafter, on August 2, 2012. He struggled in his brief time in the big leagues, eventually requiring corrective eye drops when it was found that his depth perception issues were caused by a problem with his lacrimal glands not producing tears. Eventually, he was included as a centerpiece in the Matt Garza trade at the 2013 trade deadline, that saw Justin Grimm, C.J. Edwards, and Neil Ramirez join him on the journey to Chicago in exchange for the right-handed starter.

Olt's career in a Cubs uniform was defined more by unrealized potential than anything. He opened the 2014 season on the roster — hitting his first career home run on April 3 — though he split time with Luis Valbuena at the hot corner. He was demoted to Triple-A Iowa in mid-July after batting a ghastly .139 during the first half of the season. Twelve of his 31 hits were home runs by the time he was demoted, setting an all-time MLB single-season record for most home runs hit by a batter with an average below .170. He wrapped up his first season on the North Side slashing .160/.248/.356, accruing -0.7 WAR in 89 games.

Following the trade of Valbuena during the 2014-15 offseason, Olt began the following year as the team's Opening Day third baseman, though the writing was on the wall with top prospect Kris Bryant knocking on the door of the majors. On April 17, 2015, Olt was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a hairline fracture in his right wrist, and Bryant was called up to replace him. Just a few days later, he was moved to the 60-day disabled list, and he would never play a game for the Cubs again, returning to the Iowa Cubs once healthy with Bryant entrenched in the majors. He would be DFA'd by the Cubs on August 31, ending his brief tenure on the North Side with a .599 OPS (64 OPS+).

Olt would make a few more stops before calling it quits, including an end-of-season cup of coffee with the White Sox that allowed him to make some unique history: Olt is the only player in MLB history to homer for both the Cubs and White Sox in the same season. He signed a few minor league pacts with various teams, including the San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox, and Minnesota Twins, before wrapping up his career in the Mexican League. He officially retired on October 25, 2019.