The Cubs announced a bunch of roster changes today, with Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic of those who forward them on Twitter. midfielder Nico Hoerner has been activated off the injured list, Edwin Rios called back from Iowa and quarterback Mike Tauchman had his contract selected. In the respective moves, Cody Bellinger was placed on the 10-day injured list effective May 16 with a left knee injury, Keegan Thompson was selected for Iowa and the first baseman Eric Hosmer has been assigned for assignment.
Hosmer, 33, signed an eight-year, $144 million deal with the Padres through 2018 but then his production stalled after that contract ran out of ink. He had a career hit line of 0.284/.342/.439 before that deal but has only hit 0.263/.323/.406 since. That second line equates to a wRC+ of 98, indicating he’s a few ticks below the league average. Since the first fighter is generally expected to produce more on the offensive side, it was clearly a disappointing performance.
He was frequently the subject of commercial rumors during his time in San Diego and ended up being transferred to the Red Sox at least the year-end deadline with the Padres eating up most of the money left on his contract. , with Boston just stuck with the league’s bare minimum. . Boston was then encouraged enough by the growth of its first base of leads Triston Casas that they released Hosmer during the season.
The Cubs then agreed to bring Hosmer on board, which was a move with no financial risk as Padres was still responsible for paying most of the remaining $39 million in the final three years of the contract. Many assumed Hosmer would be a sort of placeholder, hoping to play at a usable level until some younger players like Matt Mervis eventually forced to participate in major tournament plans. Mervis was summoned a couple of weeks ago and so far it’s only 0.220/.256/.317 but Hosmer isn’t much better, currently down 0.234/.280/.330 for wRC+ of 67. Looks like Cubs will use Hosmer’s club against other players and let him look for his next opportunity.
Hosmer will definitely be released in the coming days and back to the open market. He hasn’t been able to provide much value lately but he can still get a return based on his previous work and the fact that he will be essentially free on the amount. He also seems to be respected in the game for intangibles like his club presence and leadership, which can also appeal to certain clubs.
Moving on to other moves, Bellinger appears to have injured himself when he hit a wall in Houston while performing a catch on Monday. It took the club a few days to see how his situation progressed but have decided to let him rest for at least another week. He was not bid by the Dodgers after last season due to his difficulties in both 2021 and 2022 but is in better form so far this year. After signing a one-year, $17.5 million deal with the Cubs this winter, he’s scored 0.271/.337/.493 in addition to stealing nine bases and playing quality defense. Christopher Morel is on center court tonight and could probably stay there until Bellinger comes back.
Tauchman, 32, could also be among them, as he played all three outfield positions in this year’s Triple-A. He also walked for a staggering 20.4% of his disk appearances, resulting in slashes of .278/.427/.443 and 129 wRC+. He has 257 major league games experience, having played for the Rockies, Yankees and Giants from 2017 to 2021. His career hit line is currently 0.231/.326/.378 for wRC+ is 90. He spent 2022 with the Korean Baseball Organization’s Hanwha Eagles, scoring .289/.366/.430 in 144 games there.
