Chicago Cubs Cut Ties With Long-Time MLB Veteran

The Chicago Cubs quietly closed the book on an injury-shortened experiment this week by outrighting first baseman Tyler Austin off the 40-man roster, via the MLB transaction log.

The move trims the club’s offseason count to 34 and ends Austin’s brief return to the major leagues before it ever really began.

Austin arrived in Chicago last December on a one-year, $1.25 million deal after six productive seasons with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in Japan.

The right-handed hitter had punished NPB pitching in his final two campaigns overseas, and the Cubs viewed him as a natural short-side complement to Michael Busch at first base and designated hitter.

Those plans never left spring training. A right-knee issue required debridement surgery on the patellar tendon in late February, wiping out both the exhibition schedule and the entire 2026 regular season.

Austin, who first gained notice as a Yankees prospect and later bounced through Minnesota, San Francisco, and Milwaukee, has not appeared in a major-league game since 2019.

Across 583 career plate appearances, he owns a .219/.292/.451 line with 33 home runs—solid power that never quite translated into consistent everyday production.

For the moment he remains inside the organization, though the outright assignment carries the standard right to elect free agency.

Whether Austin prefers another look in the Cubs’ system or a return to Japan, where guaranteed contracts for established foreign hitters remain plentiful, is still unclear.

From Chicago’s perspective, the decision is straightforward. Busch handled left-handed pitching effectively in 2026, posting a .243/.348/.422 mark in 204 plate appearances and starting all but four games.

With that production in hand, the Cubs see little value in carrying a pure short-side platoon bat on the active roster.

Utility options such as Matt Shaw and Pedro Ramírez can absorb the occasional start at first base if neither is moved in a trade this winter.

The outright is therefore less a roster-crunch necessity than a recognition that Austin’s major-league window in Chicago never opened.

After a year lost to surgery, the 35-year-old faces a choice between competing for a minor-league role or seeking the more certain opportunity that Japanese clubs have offered him before.

Either path closes a chapter that began with modest expectations and ended without a single regular-season at-bat.