Chicago Cubs Make Roster Move With Veteran Power Hitter

The Chicago Cubs made a roster move on Wednesday morning, largely doing maintenance on the team's 40-man roster.

First baseman Tyler Austin was outrighted to the Iowa Cubs.

Austin, 35, signed a one-year contract worth $1.25 million with Chicago last winter. He earned that deal after spending six seasons playing in Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan, where he was a real breakout star when healthy.

Playing for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in 2021, Austin hit 28 home runs with a .303 batting average and a 1.006 OPS. In 2024, he returned to form with a 26-home run season and a .973 OPS. He wasn't quite as dominant in 2025, with 12 home runs and a .865 OPS, but the Cubs still saw enough to sign him to a one-year deal.

It was actually a pretty creative move by Chicago's front office. The idea was that Austin could come off the bench and compete for a platoon role to complement Michael Busch at first base. Busch was coming off a season in 2025 in which he hit 30 home runs with a .910 OPS against right-handed pitching but struggled with a .642 OPS when a lefty was on the mound.

Tyler Austin is a lefty killer with some big pop that should play well at Wrigley Field over the summer. It was a potentially cost-effective steal for the Cubs on the free agent market.

After all, Austin was well known early in his career for his power with the New York Yankees. His .743 career OPS with 33 home runs and 91 RBIs in only 521 at-bats showed a lot of potential.

Things just didn't work out because those injuries once again came back to bite him. Austin underwent debridement surgery to repair the patellar tendon in his right knee in late February. He missed the entire season and didn't play a single game in a Cubs uniform in either spring training or the regular season.

Now, he's been outrighted to the minor leagues. But what exactly does that mean?

Austin was on the 60-day injured list, but with the offseason underway, players can no longer remain on the 60-day IL. They must be reinstated to the 40-man roster. The Cubs placed Tyler Austin on waivers, and he has since cleared waivers, allowing the team to remove him from the 40-man roster and outright him to the minor leagues.

So, for the time being, he remains in the organization. He does, however, have the right to elect free agency, meaning he could choose to look for another MLB job, go back to Japan, or even give it another run with the Cubs in 2027 should he choose to do so.

But with Michael Busch taking a step forward in how he handled left-handed pitching in 2026 and some crowded infield depth on the Cubs roster, I'm not sure there's a spot for Tyler Austin to get MLB at-bats. The best move for his career is probably to look elsewhere, whether that's in the U.S. or internationally.

It's a shame it didn't work out. But Tyler Austin's stint with the Chicago Cubs appears to be over before it really got started.