We’ve spent a lot of the last week discussing, describing, and unpacking the state of the Chicago Cubs’ outfield depth. Recently, the Cubs claimed a speed and defense guy for depth in Justin Dean, and signed two bounce-back types in Chas McCormick and Dylan Carlson. Add them together with Kevin Alcantara, and you have a reasonably decent mix of guys to compete for the 4th outfielder job in Spring Training, plus a good chance at keeping a few of them around at Iowa as depth for the year ahead.
Tyler Austin is more a bench bat type, but he, too, could probably at least play in a corner outfield spot in a pinch, plus you have Matt Shaw expanding his repertoire as a super utility man. Jonathon Long, too, could probably come up and play left field if the bat was still clicking and there were an emergency.
That is all to say, if the Cubs were finished with their positional depth moves as of today, I would feel pretty confident about this group heading into Spring Training. I might want one more infield-capable depth option, but the Cubs have built up some depth there at Iowa, too.
But, much like with the rotation discussion and free agent Zac Gallen, it’s not as if you have to work TOO HARD to talk yourself into wanting one more quality bat for the bench group. Injuries happen. Bounce-back types don’t always (or even typically) bounce back. Depth players tend to be depth for a reason. And not everyone can succeed coming off the bench anyway.
Thus, the Cubs aren’t finished looking on the positional side. Via Patrick Mooney at The Athletic, who noted Craig Counsell’s Cubs Convention remarks that he looks at the roster and still feels like there aren’t enough guys:
“Cubs officials have signaled that the big-market franchise is willing to exceed this year’s $244 million luxury-tax threshold. It’s practically an inevitability when Roster Resource already projects that payroll to be above $243 million. That’s also the logical next step for an organization that won 92 games last season, especially when no one knows what the entire economic system will look like under the next collective bargaining agreement.
The extra flexibility could lead the Cubs to add another hitter to a group that largely stayed healthy last season, and improve a bench that was mostly viewed as a disappointment. Moving Matt Shaw into a super-utility role while Bregman takes over at third base is a start. The Cubs may also want another outfielder with a higher floor than the players they’ve recently signed to minor-league deals.”
If we’re talking about a bench outfielder who comes with a track record of recent big league success, then you’re probably talking about guys like Miguel Andujar, Austin Hays, and Randal Grichuk. I like Austin Slater, too, but he’s more of a bounce-back type, and I always like old friend Mike Tauchman, but he’s better against righties, and the Cubs probably prefer someone who rocks lefties for this spot, all else equal. Kyle Farmer is kind of interesting as a utility type (he was rough overall last year, but did still hit lefties at a slightly above-league-average clip), but he hasn’t played the outfield in a few years.
All in all, it’s not a deep group at this point, in terms of guys you’d expect to get big league deals and lock into a sure-fire bench job.
You may recall that Andujar has been connected to Cubs already, and Hays is similar in terms of absolutely destroying lefties. Those are pretty easily the most attractive two for this kind of role (Hays is probably the better outfield defender, but Andujar can pitch in passably at the corner infield spots, too). Interestingly enough, both of Andujar and Hays show up today in an article at FanGraphs about the remaining platoon value still out there on the market. (Too bad Paul Goldschmidt can’t play the outfield.)
Miguel Andjuar and Austin Hays probably would cost a decent penny even as a bench signing this time of year, and I don’t know how that plays vis a vis the budget, another starting pitcher signing, and having funds available at midseason. I’ll speculate that the Cubs probably can’t/won’t do all three things to the tune of another $35+ million added to the 2026 payroll, but I’m only speculating based on historical trends. At least they’re pretty clearly going over the luxury tax anyway.
I wouldn’t necessarily call this kind of guaranteed bench signing likely for this group, but it’s possible someone has to take a minor league deal and the Cubs figure why not.
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