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Mike Tauchman

Mike Tauchman Out Roughly Four Weeks With Groin Strain

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The Cubs will be without Mike Tauchman for a few weeks. Chicago placed their right fielder on the 10-day injured list this evening with a strained left groin. Miles Mastrobuoni is up from Triple-A Iowa to take the active roster spot.

Manager Craig Counsell told the Chicago beat that Tuchman’s strain is of the Grade 2 variety (relayed on X by the Chicago Tribune’s Meghan Montemurro). Counsell suggested it’ll be around a month before the injury is fully healed. That could take Tuchman’s rehab close to the July 30 trade deadline.

The lefty-swinging Tauchman has emerged as a surprising contributor for Chicago. He hit .252/.363/.377 over a career-high 401 plate appearances a season ago. As MLBTR’s Nick Deeds explored last month, the lefty-hitting Tauchman has hit his way to regular playing time in the Wrigley Field outfield. Tauchman carried a .257/.375/.407 line at the time of Nick’s post. His production has tailed off a bit since then, as he ran a .263/.330/.338 slash in 88 plate appearances over the past month. That hadn’t changed his standing, as Counsell has continued to pencil him in atop the lineup.

That’ll be on hold after Tauchman came up limping beating out an infield single. Nico Hoerner jumps to the top of the order for tonight’s game. The Cubs moved Cody Bellinger from center to right field with Pete Crow-Armstrong taking over in center. Seiya Suzuki is serving as the designated hitter. Crow-Armstrong will probably see the biggest uptick in playing time with Tauchman on the shelf.

The Cubs enter tonight’s game with a 34-39 record. Chicago washed away a strong April with a 16-27 showing going back to May 1. They’ve dropped into 13th place in the National League, but everyone in the NL besides the Marlins and Rockies is still in the playoff picture. Chicago is only two games back of the Giants, who currently hold the last Wild Card spot. They’re among 8-10 teams in the Senior Circuit whose approaches to the trade deadline will be determined by how well they play over the next six weeks.

The Journeyman Outfielder Flourishing With The Cubs

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When the Cubs signed veteran outfielder Mike Tauchman to a minor league deal back in January of last year, the deal was barely a footnote in an offseason that saw Chicago splurge on stars such as Dansby Swanson and Cody Bellinger as they attempted to work their way back into the playoff conversation. Even the signings of veteran role players such as Trey Mancini and Eric Hosmer appeared to be more relevant to the Cubs’ chances as the season got underway, although injuries eventually forced the club to select Tauchman’s contract on May 19, 2023.

One year to the day later, the 33-year-old journeyman has emerged as one of the most important pieces in Chicago’s lineup as they renew their efforts to return to the postseason for the first time in a full season since 2018.

Tauchman is perhaps best known for his 2019 campaign, when he enjoyed a breakout season with the Yankees. The then-28-year-old had struggled through 69 plate appearances with the Rockies since making his big league debut back in 2017, hitting just .153/.265/.203 during that time, and was flipped to the Yankees in a minor trade during Spring Training 2019. Despite his lack of success at the big league level, Tauchman received an opportunity with the Yankees midseason when injuries to Aaron Hicks and Giancarlo Stanton left a hole in the Yankees outfield alongside Brett Gardner and Aaron Judge. He made the most of the opportunity and posted 3.1 fWAR in just 87 games as he slashed a whopping .277/.361/.504 with 13 home runs in just 296 trips to the plate.

While his incredible performance in 2019 offered some hope that he was emerging as a big league regular, Tauchman would fall back to Earth over the next two seasons. In 118 games with the Yankees and Giants across the 2020-21 seasons, his power production completely evaporated, leaving him with a paltry .203/.306/.291 slash line despite a still-strong 12.3% walk rate. Tauchman’s struggles ultimately led him to head overseas to play out the 2022 season with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization.

His 144-game stint in Korea went quite well, as he slashed a strong .289/.366/.430 in 648 trips to the plate as the club’s starting center fielder. On the heels of his strong performance, Tauchman tried his luck at returning to stateside ball in free agency during the 2022-23 offseason, although he ultimately was unable to find anything more than a minor league pact with Chicago. He held his own in 21 games with the Cubs during Spring Training, hitting a respectable .225/.354/.400 in 48 trips to the plate, but was ultimately unable to crack the club’s Opening Day roster even amid an injury to outfielder Seiya Suzuki as the Cubs instead opted to utilize Mancini and Miles Mastrobuoni in right field to open the season.

Tauchman’s chance would come later in the season, when an injury to Bellinger and the deep struggles of Hosmer led the club to place the former on the injured list and designate the latter for assignment. With a gaping hole in center field and only Ian Happ batting from the left side in the starting lineup, the Cubs selected Tauchman to the roster and installed him as a stopgap option in center field while Bellinger was on the shelf. Tauchman made the most of the opportunity, however, and by the time Bellinger was ready to return to the lineup in June, Tauchman was reaching base at a .415 clip and playing strong enough defense in center that the Cubs opted to temporarily move Bellinger to first base in order to keep Tauchman’s bat in the lineup.

Tauchman remained one of the club’s top on-base threats throughout the remainder of the season, and ended the 2023 campaign having eclipsed 100 games played and 400 trips to the plate in the majors for the first time in his career. His final slash line of .252/.363/.377 showed little power compared to his .227 ISO during his 2019 campaign with the Yankees, but his excellent 14% walk rate was second only to Ian Happ among Cubs hitters and he managed to reduce his strikeout rate to just 21.4%, a far cry from the 27% clip he had punched out at in the majors to that point in his career.

The showing was enough for Tauchman to not only be tendered an arbitration-level contract for the first time in his career but also enter Spring Training assured of a spot on the Opening Day roster. While the returning outfield trio of Happ, Bellinger, and Suzuki combined with the addition of Michael Busch at first base appeared likely to push Tauchman out of the Cubs’s starting lineup as the 2023 season began, a combination of early-season injuries to Suzuki and Bellinger and manager Craig Counsell’s willingness to play Christopher Morel at third base on a regular basis has opened up plenty of opportunities for Tauchman to continue to act as a regular in the club’s lineup this season.

Once again, Tauchman has made the most of his opportunities by delivering an even stronger start than he did in 2023. In 43 games with the Cubs this season, the 33-year-old is slashing an excellent .257/.375/.407 in 168 trips to the plate. He’s seen his walk rate tick up to a whopping 14.9% that’s good for seventh among all qualified regulars in MLB this year, while his strikeout rate has held steady at 21.4%. Most excitingly, Tauchman has even managed to show a bit more power than he did in his first season with Chicago; he’s already clubbed four homers and nine doubles after managing just eight homers and 18 doubles throughout the entire 2023 campaign.

All that adds up to an excellent 130 wRC+ that leaves Tauchman tied with Bellinger for 40th place among all MLB regulars and first among all Cubs hitters this season. It’s been a truly remarkable pair of seasons for Tauchman in Chicago, and if he can continue to produce at this sort of level the Cubs will have plenty of tough decisions on their hands with top outfield prospects such as Pete Crow-Armstrong and Owen Caissie knocking on the door of the majors. Regardless of the outcome of those decisions, Tauchman has done enough over the past calendar year to assure himself continued opportunities at the big league level even as he enters his mid-thirties in a remarkable turnaround for a player many had written off as a one-season wonder half a decade ago.

Cubs Notes: Tauchman, Imanaga, Taillon

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Cubs outfielder Mike Tauchman has had plenty of uncertainty in his career. He’s bounced around from the Rockies to the Yankees and Giants, spent 2022 with the Hanwha Eagles of the KBO League and settled for a minor league deal with the Cubs going into 2023. But in 2024, he seems to have a bit more clarity on the path ahead of him. He tells Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times that manager Craig Counsell told him at the start of Spring Training that he has already made the team.

‘‘From a personal standpoint, [it’s] given me a little freedom to trial-and-error a couple of things, rather than really focusing on the results, focusing on ‘making the team,’ ’’ Tauchman said. ‘‘Because now it’s about getting ready for March 28 and the subsequent games that we have.’’

Tauchman, now 33, got added to the Cubs’ roster last year when Cody Bellinger was injured but played well enough to stick around even when Bellinger returned. He got into 108 games, drawing a walk in 14% of his 401 plate appearances. His home run total of eight was fairly modest but he was on-base enough to be above average at the plate overall. His .252/.363/.377 slash line translated to a wRC+ of 107. He also stole seven bases and got strong grades for his time on the grass, most of which was in center field. In 584 innings in center, he produced three Defensive Runs Saved and got a +1 from Outs Above Average.

That solid showing was enough for the Cubs to tender him an arbitration contract, with the two sides eventually agreeing to a $1.95MM salary. For part of this offseason, Tauchman may have been seen as the on-paper center fielder between Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ. Prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong would have been another option but he’s considered a glove-first player, is still shy of his 22nd birthday and has just 47 games played above Double-A.

The Cubs recently re-signed Bellinger and he figures to take the center field job. He also plays first base but it seems like the Cubs will give Michael Busch a chance to take that spot. That will likely leave Tauchman in a fourth outfielder role while Crow-Armstrong gets regular reps in Triple-A. An injury could always change things, with Happ currently dealing with a mild hamstring strain, but Tauchman seems to have a refreshingly secure gig for the time being.

Elsewhere in Cubs’ tidbits, the rotation figures to be an area of focus this year as the club looks to take a step forward after just missing the playoffs last year. Collectively, Cub starters had a 4.26 ERA last year which put them 14th in the majors. Since the club is going into 2024 with a fairly similar roster, improvement in the rotation could be a difference maker.

Marcus Stroman departed via free agency and the club signed Shota Imanaga to take his spot. Imanaga will be looking to make the transition from Japan, where pitchers often throw once a week, to the five-day cycle in North America.

Bruce Levine of 670 The Score relays that the club plans on using off-days and spot starters to help him with the adjustment, which could perhaps lead to some extra starts for optionable depth arms. The club figures to have Justin Steele, Kyle Hendricks, Jameson Taillon and Imanaga in four rotation spots, with one more spot available to Jordan Wicks, Javier Assad, Hayden Wesneski, Caleb Kilian or Ben Brown.

Everyone in that latter group has options and may start the season in the minors but it sounds like there will be opportunities to make big league appearances as the season rolls along. The occasional spot start will be used to give Imanaga and the other guys a breather and injuries are fairly inevitable for pitchers, which will open other chances.

Taillon will be looking for a bounceback season, as his first campaign with the Cubs wasn’t strong, finishing with a 4.84 ERA. That potential bounceback season is off to a bumpy start, however, as Lee reports that Taillon is dealing with some soreness in both of his calves. That issue doesn’t seem debilitating and he still appears to be on track for Opening Day if he doesn’t experience any setbacks, but it’s a situation worth monitoring over the weeks to come since a return to form for Taillon will be important for the Cubs this year.

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:

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