Cubs Sign Tyler Austin

[Bertz]

 

[Jason Ross]

That's going to be a cheap contract. And I wonder if the Cubs have an indication they have a very large contract that is getting signed shortly...

[Rex Buckingham]

255 PA v LHP with an 884 OPS in MLB

328 v RHP, 638 OPS

 

All between 2016-2019... I dont have stats from Japan, but seems like a guy they think will hit lefties

[Jason Ross]

1 minute ago, Rex Buckingham said:

255 PA v LHP with an 884 OPS in MLB

328 v RHP, 638 OPS

 

All between 2016-2019... I dont have stats from Japan, but seems like a guy they think will hit lefties

Yeah he murders LHP. 

[chibears55]

Hoyer sure loves his old guys that cant hit for the bench.

[Jason Ross]

Just now, chibears55 said:

Hoyer sure loves his old guys that cant hit for the bench.

I mean, Austin had a 147 wRC+ in NPB. I'm not sure Austin will or won't hit at the MLB level at age-34 coming back over, but he absolutely smashed Japanese pitching for years so I don't think we know if he'll hit. 

Good news is at $1,250,000 for the year, the Cubs aren't beholden to Austin at all.

[chibears55]

Will Imai consider him like a Japanese player since he's coming from Japan 🤷‍♂️😏😏😅

[Post Count Padder]

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ok!

He's been in Japan for 6 seasons and had a .945 OPS over there. So he's gonna be backup 1B and maybe OF but really just be a lefty masher off the bench for cheap. It's fine I guess.

[Rcal10]

Just now, Post Count Padder said:

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ok!

He's been in Japan for 6 seasons and had a .945 OPS over there. So he's gonna be backup 1B and maybe OF but really just be a lefty masher off the bench for cheap. It's fine I guess.

I am sure that is all it is. Really a cheap signing to hopefully give them a bench bat who can hit lefties. 🤷

[chibears55]

1 minute ago, Jason Ross said:

I mean, Austin had a 147 wRC+ in NPB. I'm not sure Austin will or won't hit at the MLB level at age-34 coming back over, but he absolutely smashed Japanese pitching for years so I don't think we know if he'll hit. 

Good news is at $1,250,000 for the year, the Cubs aren't beholden to Austin at all.

It just the fact that Hoyer loves his old guys for the bench and bullpen.

We'll see how it pans out but right now their two main utility guys are Kingery and Austin, both in their 30s with a combined 5 years of mlb service time. 

 

[Derwood]

This has some real Billy Beane "Smartest Guy in the Room[tm]" energy

[We Got The Whole 9]

Knowing nothing about this guy before 5 minutes ago, I like this deal quite a bit. This is some deep scouting and they must feel his skills will fit exactly what the team needs. 

[Dfan25]

Saving every dollar for that 5 year deal with Zac Gallen 

[Jason Ross]

4 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

It just the fact that Hoyer loves his old guys for the bench and bullpen.

 

We'll see how it pans out but right now their two main utility guys are Kingery and Austin, both in their 30s with a combined 5 years of mlb service time. 

 

Well, it's kind of hard to put young guys on the bench. You can't sign young players in FA, and many times young players are given starters roles. 

Kingery is on an MiLB contract and isn't guaranteed to make the roster and Austin at $1.25m isn't so expensive he can't be DFA'd. 

They also right now project to have Amaya and Alcantara on the bench, two young players. 

[Bertz]

Steamer has him with a 110 wRC+ against lefties.  Pretty solid at this price.  IMO the two reasons you'd do this:

- You are planning to spend practically nothing on the offense

- You are doing something pretty substantial on offense, but it doesn't provide any coverage at 1B

So if you force me to tea leaf this makes me think an Imai or a Bregman are a little more likely while a Gallen or a King seem a little less likely.

[Bertz]

1 minute ago, Bertz said:

Steamer has him with a 110 wRC+ against lefties.  Pretty solid at this price.  IMO the two reasons you'd do this:

- You are planning to spend practically nothing on the offense

- You are doing something pretty substantial on offense, but it doesn't provide any coverage at 1B

So if you force me to tea leaf this makes me think an Imai or a Bregman are a little more likely while a Gallen or a King seem a little less likely.

Oh and for something less wishy washy this feels extremely unlikely to be paired with an Okamoto.

[chibears55]

8 minutes ago, Dfan25 said:

Saving every dollar for that 5 year deal with Zac Gallen 

Be right up Hoyer ally..

Give him 20 per which would put them around 225, spend a couple more on a bullpen arm and call it an offseason saying the rest is for in season moves..

😏😏😏

[mk49]

Was he a Shota's teammate in Japan?  I think Shota played for Yokohama.

We needed a backup 1B, so I guess it's OK for the price.

[Post Count Padder]

2 minutes ago, mk49 said:

Was he a Shota's teammate in Japan?  I think Shota played for Yokohama.

We needed a backup 1B, so I guess it's OK for the price.

He was. And was also the teammate of Cubs icon Rowan Wick (hey remember him) and garbage person T. Bauer.

[BKHoo]

They def have a strategy.... with the unknown year looking with the CBA, they want ST contracts, and they want older players who they think for one year are cheaper. 

 

[chibears55]

41 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

Well, it's kind of hard to put young guys on the bench. You can't sign young players in FA, and many times young players are given starters roles. 

Kingery is on an MiLB contract and isn't guaranteed to make the roster and Austin at $1.25m isn't so expensive he can't be DFA'd. 

They also right now project to have Amaya and Alcantara on the bench, two young players. 

Don't need to be young guys, but point is he can find younger guys to fill utility roles that been doing it.

Im not complaining about the sign, just pointed out how he likes to sign mid 30s guys.

 And dumping 1-2 mil may not seem much if they don't pan out but doesn't it still go towards payroll and just mean he needs to find another guy and pay him too ?

 

 

[Jason Ross]

4 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

Don't need to be young guys, but point is he can find younger guys to fill utility roles that been doing it.

Im not complaining about the sign, just pointed out how he likes to sign mid 30s guys.

 And dumping 1-2 mil may not seem much if they don't pan out but doesn't it still go towards payroll and just mean he needs to find another guy and pay him too ?

 

 

How do you find younger players, though? Should the Cubs be trading prospects for 29-year-old backups? They tried Gage Workman in the Rule 5 draft last year - that didn't work out. Free agents are generally players in their 30's. So, it makes sense that the team is finding those types; it's who you can find. It's a supply chain issue. 

In terms of being DFA'd, he's making only a bit more than minimum wage. Minimum salary in 2026 will be $760,000; it will be only the smallest amount above that of DFA'ing a league-minimum player. If he doesn't work out, and you want to go with Johnny Long, the price paid to make that swap isn't going to really make a major dent. It's a pretty painless player to move on from.

[ILMindState]

He'll go a Frank Schwindel heater for like a month until the league adjusts to him then get DFA'd

[squally1313]

I would like to put in a request for the cubs to, in the future, make the big move first, and not do the weird, disappointing-compared-to-the-alternatives move where the best we can do is like ‘well, this must mean a big move is coming’

[chibears55]

27 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

How do you find younger players, though? Should the Cubs be trading prospects for 29-year-old backups? They tried Gage Workman in the Rule 5 draft last year - that didn't work out. Free agents are generally players in their 30's. So, it makes sense that the team is finding those types; it's who you can find. It's a supply chain issue. 

In terms of being DFA'd, he's making only a bit more than minimum wage. Minimum salary in 2026 will be $760,000; it will be only the smallest amount above that of DFA'ing a league-minimum player. If he doesn't work out, and you want to go with Johnny Long, the price paid to make that swap isn't going to really make a major dent. It's a pretty painless player to move on from.

There are alot of utility players between 25-30 that becomes FA every year.

Again, not saying it a bad sign, we dont know, was just saying how Hoyer loves to sign older utility and bullpen guys.