Mike Tauchman Heads South to Join White Sox

In a move similar to LeBron James’s infamous Decision, just without any of the pomp, the Palatine Pounder has left his hometown team and taken his talents to the South Side. And yes, I know it’s still the same town. Mike Tauchman grew up a Cubs fan and served as a nearly ideal fourth outfielder for two seasons before being non-tendered recently in favor of a little more roster flexibility, ostensibly for younger players. The 34-year-old should now have a chance to carve out a bigger role for a club that views 83 wins as a tremendous improvement rather than yet another disappointing campaign.

In his time with the Cubs, Tauchman slashed .250/.360/.372 with a 110 wRC+ and was best known for putting together professional plate appearances no matter the situation. He was calm under pressure, coming up with big hits and defensive plays that made him kind of like David Bote except with better numbers and less hype from fans. And I mean, like, way better numbers.

Tauchman’s 2.8 fWAR over 751 plate appearances barely trails the 3.1 his counterpart accumulated over 1,213 PAs. He was good as an everyday fill-in for injured players and wasn’t fazed when called upon to hit in a pinch, plus he brought a little fun and emotion to the table.

That’s why I’m not alone in wishing the Cubs could have found a way to keep him around. And maybe they wanted to, provided he was willing to sit on his hands until spring training to see whether Jed Hoyer would call him after failing to do anything else of note in the outfield. That doesn’t seem entirely likely, nor would Tauchman have gotten a bigger role even with no significant additions, so staying in town and playing for Will Venable became a much more attractive option.

At least the citizens of Chicago will get to experience another Summer of Tauchman.