The Cubs sent outfielder Dylan Carlson outright to Triple-A Iowa, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Chicago designated him for assignment over the weekend when Seiya Suzuki returned from a season-opening injured list stint. Carlson has the right to elect free agency, though the log doesn’t specify whether he’ll do so or report to the affiliate.
Carlson signed a minor league contract in January. He broke camp alongside two other non-roster invitees, Michael Conforto and Scott Kingery. Suzuki’s activation needed to push one of those three off the roster. Conforto offers a lefty bat on a heavily right-handed bench. Kingery hasn’t started a game all season but provides a little more defensive versatility and speed in a pinch-running role than Carlson offers.
The 27-year-old Carlson started one game in left field. Between that and a pinch-hitting appearance, he went 0-4 with a couple strikeouts. Carlson has now appeared at the MLB level in seven straight seasons and has accrued more than five years of service time. A former top prospect, Carlson had a couple league average seasons with the Cardinals early in his career. His bat regressed as he got into his mid-20s, and he owns a .204/.280/.303 line across four teams going back to the start of the 2024 season.
If Carlson accepts the outright, he’ll join Kevin Alcántara, Chas McCormick and Justin Dean as outfielders with MLB experience in Iowa. Alcántara and Dean hold spots on the 40-man roster. The MLB starting outfield is settled with Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Suzuki left to right and Moisés Ballesteros taking the bulk of the designated hitter work.
I had moderate hopes for him despite doing nothing of note for 5 years.
Well, 3 years. He still had a good rookie year and hit about league average in his sophomore year.
Continually mismanaged and continually misused. He could have been (should have been) a star. Once deemed untouchable, and rightfully so, he played tight his whole career knowing that a simple 0-4 game would see him sit on the bench for weeks.
He wasn’t mismanaged. He had a starting job beginning the 2023 season after holding it for the previous two years (the second significantly worse than the first), but then he lost playing time BECAUSE he stopped being good over a significant period of time.
After that, he still had a short-side platoon role (he’s a switch-hitter but hits much better right-handed) for the rest of that season and for the beginning of 2024, but then he couldn’t even handle that and was rightfully demoted to the bench. Some occasional injury problems also didn’t help. The Cardinals were still trying to contend in 2024 and couldn’t afford to keeping playing him (especially with an OF log jam) and ended up dumping him on the Rays. It was then more of the same with the Orioles last year, who still gave him 241 PAs in a part time role that he sucked at.
Now that he hasn’t performed for three straight years, he needs to prove himself in the chances he does get to earn more MLB playing time. That’s how it almost always works for non-established players, especially on contending teams like the Cubs. If he wanted more MLB playing time right away, he should’ve signed his minor league deal with a non-contender with a reasonable opening in the MLB OF like the Rockies or White Sox.
If I was Carlson, I would just move on. He’s like 8th on depth chart.
He’s probably done in MLB. Maybe get a gig in Japan for a million.
He’s on a fully guaranteed one year, $2M contract this year. I’d just chill in the minors and see what happens next year.
What happens to Matt Shaw now? AAA or bench? Trade? What would the cubs look for in a Shaw trade?
I think Shaw still gets 3-4 starts a week. He’ll fit in against every lefty starter, and on other days can be used to give several different guys a day off their feet. As long as he performs, he’ll still get a lot of ABs.
I think the Yankees could have interest in Shaw and have pitching depth to move.
He’ll be used as a utility option to give people days off, playing multiple positions he can’t play well.
Can’t say I’m surprised no one claimed him.
Dylan Carlson was Kurt Cobain’s best friend