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NL Central Notes: Suzuki, Reds, Cruz

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The Cubs surprised much of the baseball world with their play in recent weeks, which pushed them to add third baseman Jeimer Candelario at the trade deadline rather than deal away rental players like Cody Bellinger and Marcus Stroman. With the focus now firmly on a push toward making the playoffs in 2023, the club appears to be shortening the leash of struggling players.

That includes outfielder Seiya Suzuki, who the Cubs spent nearly $100MM to add to the club’s roster prior to the 2022 campaign between Suzuki’s five-year, $85MM contract and the posting fee owed to the Hiroshima Carp as payment for Suzuki’s services. In 111 games with the Cubs last year, Suzuki played solidly in his rookie season, with a .262/.336/.433 slash line that was good for a wRC+ of 116. Suzuki began the 2023 campaign on the injured list due to an oblique issue, but got off to a fantastic start when he was back in action, slashing .293/.385/.487 with a 12.6% walk rate in 174 trips to the plate through the end of May.

Unfortunately, Suzuki’s offense has cratered since then, as he’s mustered just a .214/.281/.310 slash line in 210 plate appearances since the calendar flipped to June. That’s brought his overall campaign below league average by measure of wRC+ (96) in 2023, and while he’s played excellent defense in right field, Cubs manager David Ross indicated to reporters (including The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma) recently that Suzuki would not be an everyday player going forward until he gets things back on track. “He knows he needs to work on some things,” Ross said of Suzuki, “It’s hard to do that in-game. We’ll give him some time, and he’ll be back in there when we feel like he can help us win games.”

It seems that journeyman outfielder Mike Tauchman, who came to the Cubs on a minor league deal during the offseason but has impressed with a .277/.371/.431 slash line (121 wRC+) in 238 trips to the plate since joining the roster back in May, will receive the lion’s share of playing time in right field, with Suzuki making occasional starts when he or Ian Happ have a day off or when Cody Bellinger moves from center field to first base. The Cubs are 2.5 games back of Milwaukee in the NL Central and 1.0 game back of Cincinnati for the final NL Wild Card spot entering play today.

More from around the NL Central…

  • Reds right-handers Justin Dunn and Vladimir Gutierrez both have yet to throw a pitch in the majors this season, spending the entire campaign on the 60-day IL due to a shoulder strain and Tommy John surgery, respectively. Though both righties have been starting pitchers throughout their careers to this point, each figures to come out of the bullpen upon returning to the big leagues, manager David Bell told reporters (including Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer). Gutierrez had a solid rookie season with the Reds in 2021 during which he pitched to a roughly league average ERA of 4.74 (99 ERA+) but struggled badly in 36 2/3 innings of work last year prior to going under the knife in July of last year. Dunn, meanwhile, is a former first-round pick who has yet to find success a starter in the big leagues, with a 4.44 ERA and 6.23 FIP in 133 2/3 career innings of work in the majors.
  • Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz looks to be a rising star and one of the most exciting youngsters in the game today, with a 108 wRC+, 13 steals and 19 home runs in 410 trips to the plate so far in his career. The 6’7” shortstop was expected by many to challenge for the 30/30 club in his first full season as a big leaguer in 2023, but was unfortunately sidelined by an ankle injury just days into the 2023 campaign. While he won’t be able to play in his first full major league season until 2024, he could still finish the 2023 campaign in the majors nonetheless, as Pittsburgh GM Ben Cherington told MLBNetwork Radio’s Jim Duquette that Cruz is expected to begin a rehab assignment later this month, with a goal of returning to the majors in September. The Pirates have started a youth movement while Cruz has been on the shelf, and he’ll be greeted by fellow youngsters Henry Davis, Endy Rodriguez, and Quinn Priester upon his return to the big league club.

Cubs Designate Eric Hosmer For Assignment

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The Cubs announced a series of roster moves today, with Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic among those to relay them on Twitter. Infielder Nico Hoerner has been activated off the injured list, Edwin Ríos was recalled from Iowa and outfielder Mike Tauchman has had his contract selected. In corresponding moves, Cody Bellinger has been placed on the 10-day injured list retroactive to May 16 with a left knee contusion, Keegan Thompson has been optioned to Iowa and first baseman Eric Hosmer has been designated for assignment.

Hosmer, 33, signed an eight-year, $144MM deal with the Padres going into the 2018 but then saw his production tail off once the ink on that deal was dry. He had a career batting line of .284/.342/.439 prior to that deal but has hit just .263/.323/.406 since then. That latter line amounts to a wRC+ of 98, indicating he’s been a couple of ticks below league average. Since first baseman are generally expected to produce more on the offensive side of things, that’s been an obviously disappointing performance.

He was frequently the subject of trade rumors during him time in San Diego and eventually was flipped to the Red Sox at least year’s deadline with the Padres eating almost all of the remaining money on his deal, with Boston on the hook for just the league minimum. Boston was then encouraged enough by the developments of first base prospect Triston Casas that they released Hosmer in the offseason.

The Cubs then agreed to bring Hosmer aboard, which was a move that had no financial risk since the Padres were still responsible for most of the $39MM remaining on the final three years of his contract. It was seen by many that Hosmer would be a sort of placeholder, hopefully playing at a serviceable level until some younger player such as Matt Mervis eventually forced their way into the major league plans. Mervis was called up a couple of weeks ago and is hitting just .220/.256/.317 so far but Hosmer isn’t doing much better, currently slashing .234/.280/.330 for a wRC+ of 67. It seems the Cubs will use Hosmer’s at-bats on other players and let him seek out his next opportunity.

Hosmer will inevitable be released in the coming days and return to the open market. He hasn’t been able to provide much value lately but he might still get interest based on his previous work and the fact that he’d be essentially free in terms of dollars. He also appears to be respected around the game for intangibles like his clubhouse presence and leadership, which could also appeal to certain clubs.

Turning to the other moves, Bellinger seemed to injure himself by colliding with the wall in Houston while making a catch on Monday. The club took a few days to see how his situation developed but has decided to let him rest for at least another week. He was non-tendered by the Dodgers after last season due to his struggles in both 2021 and 2022 but is in better form so far this year. After signing a one-year, $17.5MM deal with the Cubs this winter, he’s hitting .271/.337/.493 in addition to stealing nine bases and playing quality defense. Christopher Morel is in center field tonight and could perhaps stay there until Bellinger comes back.

Tauchman, 32, could also be in that mix, as he’s been playing all three outfield slots in Triple-A this year. He’s also walked in an incredible 20.4% of his plate appearances, leading to a .278/.427/.443 slash line and 129 wRC+. He has 257 games of major league experience under his belt, having played for the Rockies, Yankees and Giants from 2017 to 2021. His career batting line is currently .231/.326/.378 for a wRC+ of 90. He spent 2022 with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization, hitting .289/.366/.430 in 144 games there.

Cubs Outright Rowan Wick, Option Christopher Morel

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The Cubs announced Monday that right-hander Rowan Wick went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Iowa. The team also optioned infielder/outfielder Christopher Morel to Iowa. Non-roster veterans Mike Tauchman and Roenis Elias, meanwhile, have been reassigned to minor league camp. They won’t make the roster out of spring training. Manager David Ross also confirmed earlier in the day that right-hander Javier Assad has made the team’s Opening Day bullpen (Twitter link via Jordan Bastian of MLB.com).

Wick, 30, has enough service time to reject the outright assignment, but doing so would mean forfeiting the $1.55MM salary to which he agreed earlier in the offseason when he avoided arbitration. As such, he’s all but certain to accept the assignment and remain in the organization without occupying a spot on the 40-man roster.

Wick has spent the past four seasons with the Cubs, pitching to a combined 3.66 ERA with a 25.2% strikeout rate, 10.7% walk rate and 44.2% ground-ball rate. His results have dipped over the past two years, however, with his ERA clocking in at 4.24 during that time. Last year’s 23.5% strikeout rate was the lowest of his four seasons with the Cubs.

The Cubs had enough faith in Wick to sign him to that $1.55MM deal, and that salary now quite likely helped them pass him through waivers. Since avoiding arbitration with Wick, they’ve signed Brad Boxberger and Michael Fulmer in addition to claiming hard-throwing righty Julian Merryweather off waivers. With a strong showing in Iowa, Wick would figure to put himself back in the mix for a big league spot pretty quickly, given his track record, but he’ll open the year in the minors and off the 40-man roster.

As for Morel, he’ll head to Iowa to receive regular at-bats rather than work in a part-time role on the big league roster. The 23-year-old hit .235/.308/.433 while playing third base, second base, shortstop, left field and center field in his MLB debut last summer. That came on the heels of a huge .306/.380/.565 batting line in Double-A. However, Morel still has only nine Triple-A games to his name, and strikeouts were an issue for him both in last year’s debut (32.2%) and even more so during spring training in 2023 (42.1%). Even though he fanned 24 times in 57 Cactus League plate appearances, he still posted a .269/.333/.577 batting line, but that type of production isn’t sustainable with such pronounced swing-and-miss issues.

The decision to option Morel doesn’t take away from the fact that the Cubs are still hoping he’ll be a major contributor for them over the long term. However, for the time being, the focus will be on reining in his strikeout tendencies in order to better take advantage of his impressive combination of plus raw power and plus speed.

Cubs, Mike Tauchman Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Cubs have agreed to a minor league deal with free-agent outfielder Mike Tauchman, per the transaction log at MiLB.com. Presumably, the Meister Sports client will be in Major League camp as a non-roster invitee this spring.

The deal with the Cubs marks a return to North American ball for the 32-year-old Tauchman, who spent the 2022 season with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization. It was a brief but productive stint, as the former Rockies, Yankees and Giants outfielder turned in a hearty .289/.366/.430 batting line with a dozen homers, 37 doubles, four triples and 19 steals while appearing in 144 games and tallying 648 plate appearances.

Tauchman is best known for a terrific 2019 season, when the Yankees acquired him from the Rockies in exchange for lefty Phillip Diehl and were rewarded with 296 plate appearances of .277/.361/.504 output from a then-28-year-old Tauchman. The former 10th-round pick couldn’t replicate that showing in 2020, batting .242/.342/.305. After a similarly slow start in 2021 he was flipped to the Giants in a trade that netted the Yankees left-hander Wandy Peralta, who has since emerged as a quality member of manager Aaron Boone’s bullpen.

The trade didn’t pan out for the Giants, with Tauchman hitting .178/.286/.283 in 175 plate appearances. San Francisco designated him for assignment in late July and passed him through outright waivers a couple days later. Tauchman became a free agent at season’s end and signed with the Eagles for a $1MM salary in 2022.

He’ll now return stateside in hopes of cracking the Cubs’ roster as a bench option behind starting outfielders Ian Happ, Cody Bellinger and Seiya Suzuki. Other outfield options for the Cubs include Nelson Velazquez, utilityman Zach McKinstry, and prospects Brennen Davis and Alexander Canario, all of whom are on the 40-man roster.

Tauchman will likely join Ben DeLuzio as a non-roster hopeful in camp, and as it stands he’ll be the most experienced member of that bunch vying for an outfield spot. Tauchman has just over three years of Major League service time and carries a .231/.326/.378 batting line in 667 MLB plate appearances, in addition to a .306/.377/.489 line in parts of five Triple-A campaigns.

Recapping The KBO League’s International Player Signings

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With the lockout slowing MLB-related transactions to a crawl of minor league deals, transactions involving Korean Baseball Organization teams have taken more of a spotlight on MLBTR’s pages since the start of December.  These moves have included the signings of several names familiar to North American baseball fans, as the KBO League’s clubs have looked to address their allocated three roster spots for non-Korean players.  International-born players can only sign contracts worth a maximum of $1MM in total salary, and players new to the KBO League can sign only one-year pacts.

Though the Doosan Bears have one signing that still isn’t yet official, the other 29 slots have been filled.  It is still possible this list could be adjusted in the coming weeks due to a number of factors — injuries, players returning to North America (for personal reasons or a deal with an MLB team), issues related to the pandemic, or teams just changing their minds after seeing the players in training camp.  Here is the rundown of this winter’s international signings for the 10 KBO League franchises….

Doosan Bears
Jose Miguel Fernandez (deal not yet finalized), Ariel Miranda, Robert Stock

NC Dinos
Nick Martini, Wes Parsons, Drew Rucinski

Hanwha Eagles
Ryan Carpenter, Nick Kingham, Mike Tauchman

Lotte Giants
Charlie Barnes, DJ Peters, Glenn Sparkman

Kiwoom Heroes
Tyler Eppler, Eric Jokisch, Yasiel Puig

SSG Landers
Kevin Cron, Wilmer Font, Ivan Nova

Samsung Lions
David Buchanan, Jose Pirela, Albert Suarez

Kia Tigers
Socrates Brito, Sean Nolin, Ronnie Williams

LG Twins
Casey Kelly, Adam Plutko, Rio Ruiz

KT Wiz
William Cuevas, Odrisamer Despaigne, Henry Ramos

KBO’s Hanwha Eagles Sign Mike Tauchman

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Outfielder Mike Tauchman has signed with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization, reports Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News. Tauchman will receive a signing bonus of $300K and a salary of $700K for a total guarantee of $1MM. As noted by Yoo, that is the maximum for first-year foreign players.

Tauchman was selected by the Rockies in the 10th round of the 2013 draft. Though he often hit well in the minors, he struggled in his first couple of tastes of MLB action with Colorado. Over 2017 and 2018, Tauchman got 69 plate appearances in 52 games, hitting .153/.265/.203. Prior to the 2019 campaign, the Yankees acquired him in a trade which, one year later, seemed like an absolute heist. Tauchman erupted that year and hit .277/.361/.504, producing a wRC+ of 128 and 2.6 fWAR.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t carry that forward into 2020, as his line dipped to .242/.342/.305 over 43 games in the pandemic-shortened season. Early in 2021, the Yankees sent Tauchman to the Giants, but the change of scenery didn’t help much. In 64 games for San Fran, he hit .178/.286/.283 and was designated for assignment at the end of July.

By agreeing to head overseas, the 31-year-old has avoided the uncertainty of the ongoing lockout while also securing a larger salary than he was likely to receive in North America. If he can get back into a groove and have a season similar to 2019, there’s a possibility of him being offered a contract to return to MLB, following a similar path to players like Eric Thames and Darin Ruf.

Players Recently Electing Free Agency

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We’ve seen dozens of players elect minor league free agency over the past couple weeks, and that has continued to be the case in recent days. We’ll round up a few more players who are hitting the open market here, courtesy of the Triple-A transactions trackers.

Players can qualify for minor league free agency in a few ways. The most notable of these include: players with 3+ years of MLB service time who have been outrighted off their teams’ 40-man rosters this season, players who have been outrighted off a 40-man roster multiple times in their careers, and unsigned players not on a 40-man roster who have spent parts of at least seven seasons on a minor league roster or injured list.

Each of this group of players has hit the market within the past week and not yet been covered at MLBTR:

Outrighted: Tauchman, LaMarre, Weigel

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Last Friday’s trade deadline brought about a slew of DFAs as teams made room for newly acquired big leaguers. With the trades of players who’d been on Major League contracts no longer allowed post-deadline, most of these players will hit outright waivers and be made available to all 29 other clubs. (Others may simply be released.) That’s going to lead to a series of outright assignments for those who ultimately go unclaimed on waivers.

As a reminder, players with at least three but fewer than five years of service time can reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency. However, doing so requires forfeiture of any remaining guaranteed salary. Players with five or more years of MLB service time can reject an outright assignment and retain any guaranteed salary on their deals. Players with fewer than three years of service can also reject outright assignments if they’ve been previously outrighted at any point in their career. We’ll run through the latest crop of outright assignments in this post…

  • Outfielder Mike Tauchman went unclaimed on outright waivers and was assigned to Triple-A Sacramento, the Giants announced Monday night. Tauchman crossed the three-year mark in terms of Major League service time just last week, giving him the option of rejecting the assignment should he choose. The Giants made no indication that Tauchman was rejecting, though players typically have a day or two from the time of the announcement to weigh whether to accept. Tauchman, 30, has batted just .181/.284/.283 in 191 plate appearances this season. He enjoyed a big 2019 season in the Bronx, however, and carries a generally strong track record (.309/.378/.493) in parts of five Triple-A seasons. As an outrighted player with three-plus years of service, Tauchman could become a free agent at season’s end even if he does opt to remain with the organization in Triple-A.
  • The Yankees announced late last night that outfielder Ryan LaMarre went unclaimed on waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The 32-year-old LaMarre has previously been outrighted, so he’ll have the option to reject the assignment should he choose, although he’s already accepted an outright assignment from the Yankees once this summer. LaMarre went 4-for-21 with a pair of homers with the Yankees’ big league club and has batted .308/.400/.479 in 135 Triple-A plate appearances. He’s a career .232/.286/.350 hitter in the Majors and a .283/.353/.420 hitter in parts of eight Triple-A seasons. LaMarre has experience at all three outfield spots but has been deployed primarily as a left fielder with the Yankees’ Triple-A club in 2021. He can be a free agent at season’s end unless added back to the roster.
  • The Brewers announced that right-hander Patrick Weigel went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Nashville. Milwaukee picked Weigel up in the April trade that sent shortstop Orlando Arcia to the Braves. He’s allowed a pair of runs in four MLB frames this year but has struggle mightily in Nashville, where he’s posted a 6.84 ERA and walked a batter per inning (20.8 percent of his total opponents) through 25 frames. Weigel lacks the service time or prior outright assignment necessary to elect free agency, so he’ll remain with the Brewers organization in Triple-A.

Giants Designate Mike Tauchman For Assignment

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The Giants announced that they’ve designated outfielder Mike Tauchman for assignment as part of a series of roster moves. San Francisco has also reinstated Brandon Crawford from the 10-day injured list, reinstated Aaron Sanchez from the 60-day injured list (hence the 40-man move) and optioned righty John Brebbia to Triple-A.

Tauchman, 30, came to the Giants in an early-season swap that sent left-handed reliever Wandy Peralta to the Yankees. The former Rockies farmhand had a surprise breakout with the Yankees in 2019 but took a step back in 2020 and has yet to produce much in 2021 with either New York or San Francisco. The Giants gave Tauchman 175 plate appearances, but he managed only a .178/.286/.283 with four homers and four doubles. The Giants valued Tauchman’s glove in center field, and he made a couple of key home run robberies during his time as a Giant.

Ultimately, however, the Giants simply ran out of room for Tauchman on the big league roster — and because he’s out of minor league options, he can’t simply be sent to Triple-A. San Francisco has Mike Yastrzemski, Steven Duggar, Alex Dickerson, Austin Slater, Darin Ruf and LaMonte Wade Jr. as outfield alternatives on the MLB roster at the moment, and the Giants have been tied to some possible outfield upgrades on the trade market as well (e.g. the since-traded Starling Marte and the still-available Kyle Schwarber).

The Giants can trade Tauchman to another club if they can find a partner prior to tomorrow afternoon’s deadline. Otherwise he’ll be placed on outright waivers and made available for all 29 other teams to claim.

Giants Recall Joey Bart, Option Logan Webb

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The Giants have recalled top prospect Joey Bart and optioned starter Logan Webb to Triple-A, per MLB.com’s Maria I. Guardado (via Twitter).

With Buster Posey landing on the 10-day injured list, it certainly stands to reason that Bart could have the opportunity for some playing time. Actually, however, this move appears to be at least as much about getting Webb some work in Triple-A during the All-Star break as it is about replacing Posey on the roster. Both means are likely to be short-term placements, suggests Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter).

As much as fans might want to get a look at Bart, the second overall pick of the 2018 draft, this isn’t likely to be the promotion that earns him regular playing time, though he is slated to start tonight’s ballgame. Only two games remain before the All-Star break, however, and Curt Casali offers a more than suitable short-term stand-in for Posey. They also have Chadwick Tromp on the roster.

Bart, 24, has one plate appearance this season to go with 111 trips during the 2020 campaign. He has hit .231/.286/.317 for his career up till now. He’s done more than enough to prove his worth with the Sacramento River Cats this year, however, slashing .338/.400/.581 in 150 plate appearances in Triple-A.

As for Webb, the 24-year-old right-hander has spent much of the year in the rotation, making 11 starts to a 3.63 ERA/3.15 FIP over 52 innings. Webb has been somewhat on the outside of the rotation picture for much of the season, but as much as the Giants have wanted to try him out in a multi-inning relief role, injuries have kept Webb in the rotation as long he he’s been healthy. It will be more than a week until the Giants need a fifth starter again, however, so Webb will be able to get some work in over the All-Star break while with Sacramento.

In other Giants news, outfielder Mike Tauchman will begin a rehab assignment in Triple-A today, notes Guardado. Tauchman has been out since June 30th with a sprained knee.

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