The Chicago Cubs were rumoured to be interested in non-tendering outfielder Mike Tauchman before to the non-tender deadline. Sincerely, I didn’t believe they would.
As the Cubs figure out if they have Owen Caissie, Kevin Alcantara, or Alexander Canario, he offers steady depth as a reserve outfielder, is reasonably priced, and performs well in part-time roles.
A straight non-tender seemed even less plausible when you factored in the rumours of a Cody Bellinger trade. As we previously discussed, the Cubs finally concluded that Tauchman wasn’t valuable enough to justify his expected $2.9 million salary and non-tendered him.
The Cubs would have appeared to be improving not just on the edges but also putting players in their right roles if they had decided to maintain Tauchman in addition to the other marginal player subtractions this week (Patrick Wisdom, Nick Madrigal).
Rather, the Cubs have yet another void to cover. It’s difficult to look at the Cubs roster and say Mike Tauchman was a problem that needed to be fixed, even though it might just be a way to acquire at-bats for Caissie or another prospect. Mike Tauchman: Participant It feels weak and unimpressive when your starting right fielder is a player like Mike Tauchman.
You can mention the Cubs’ high OBP (.360), their excellent contact, their strong defence, and perhaps even a starting outfielder, but I don’t think that will help unless you have some significant offensive firepower elsewhere on the diamond.
