Austin Wynns joins the North Siders’ system, providing veteran insurance that may pave the way for a top prospect to make his highly anticipated September debut.
The Chicago Cubs made a small signing late on Tuesday night.
The Cubs signed veteran catcher Austin Wynns to a Minor League contract. Wynns will immediately be assigned to the Triple-A Iowa Cubs and will provide the organization with some catcher depth in the minors.
Wynns has had an interesting year to date. He started the year in the Athletics organization before being designated for assignment on May 7. He then signed a Minor League contract with the Los Angeles Angels a few days later before being traded to the Atlanta Braves in early June.
The 35-year-old lasted less than two weeks in Atlanta and was designated for assignment once again. He eventually signed a Minor League deal with the Texas Rangers on June 23. With the Rangers, Wynns saw some opportunities behind the plate. He batted .276 with one home run, one RBI, and two walks across 14 contests.
Wynns' time with Texas was short-lived, though, as he was designated for assignment last week. The Rangers needed to clear a roster spot for the returning Danny Jansen, and that meant parting ways with the veteran.
After clearing waivers, Wynns elected free agency, and the Cubs scooped him up right away. The North Siders signed the eight-year veteran to a Minor League deal.
This signing of Wynns is a pure depth move by the Cubs. He’s a veteran who has been around the game for a while and could be called up in an emergency situation if the team needs him. The 35-year-old has a career .230/.274/.344 slash line with 20 home runs, 32 doubles, and 85 RBI across 312 games in the majors.
This signing could also signal another move for the Cubs. The North Siders could be looking to promote top catching prospect Owen Ayers to the big-league club in the next few weeks. The addition of Wynns gives Chicago some flexibility to call up Ayers as a September call-up.
There’s a real possibility that the Cubs do call up Ayers at some point in the next few weeks. Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma reported a few weeks ago that the team would love to have its No. 2 prospect sit and learn at the big-league level for the rest of the year to help with his development.
Adding some extra catcher depth with the signing of Wynns could make that a reality in the near future. The Iowa Cubs now have four catchers on their roster in Ayers, Wynns, Daniel Campos, and Ethan Hearn.
