Mike Tauchman signs with the Chicago White Sox

The Palatine Masher. The “Summer of Mike Tauchman.” The occasional leader. The… recently not advertised! Mike Tauchman is staying in Chicago but is reportedly changing teams. According to Scott Merkin (MLB.com), the Chicago White Sox have signed former Cubs outfielder Mike Tauchman to a big league contract (no further details yet, but I’ll let you know as soon as I see them). In the meantime, I say (without any sarcasm), “Good for Mike Tauchman and good for the White Sox.”

White Sox sign Mike Tauchman

I’m sure White Sox fans are hoping for a lot more than they’re going to get this offseason, and they’re not wrong to think so (for now, they just have to dream about what their prospects will be). Get some consideration for Garrett Crochet…I’ve been there and don’t miss it). But Mike Tauchman was, in many ways, a rock-solid, if unspectacular, player for the Cubs, and I think they’ll ultimately be happy to have him. And in fact, their divorce wasn’t so much about him or his skills/stats, but rather his presence on the roster under the circumstances.

At a projected $2.9 million via arbitration in 2025, Tauchman simply didn’t offer the Cubs enough ADDITIONAL value compared to what they could fill internally – not after Pete Crow-Armstrong took over center field *and* Cody Bellinger opted to do so again (all while Owen Caissie, Kevin Alcantara and Alexander Canario worked their way up to the 40-man roster).

If we add another lefty hitter in left field (Ian Happ) AND ALSO Seiya Suzuki, the Cubs simply had too much outfield depth when the tender deadline passed in November.

So my point is that I think he is a solid reliever and his stability on the bench and throughout the outfield will be missed for the Cubs. Tauchman finishes his Cubs career with a .250/.360/.372 record (110 wRC+) with 15 HRs, 114 runs scored and 77 RBI over 751 PAs. He was a pretty ideal fourth outfielder.