Cubs just signed Brewers' 2019 cult hero in latest penny-pinching move

The Chicago Cubs play in one of the biggest markets in baseball, though so far this offseason, their spending habits could easily have convinced fans otherwise. Despite having interest in many of the biggest names on the free agent market, the Cubs have yet to make an offer that demonstrated their big-market capabilities and lured a big name away from their other options.

Rather, the Cubs have elected to upgrade around the margins of their roster, beginning with a reshaping of their bullpen. However, Chicago, despite certainly having the means to do so, is not targeting top-tier relievers like Edwin Díaz, Devin Williams, or Robert Suárez; they have instead added cheaper options like Phil Maton, Hoby Milner, and Caleb Thielbar, who they resigned earlier this week. That's not to say those arms won't be productive contributors to the Cubs' bullpen in 2026, and perhaps even produce greater surplus value than the aforementioned All-Star free agents, but Cubs fans, and the rest of the baseball world for that matter, are wondering why Chicago isn't spending the money that they have.

The trend has now seeped into their position player additions, which began on Thursday afternoon. As initially reported by Jeff Passan of ESPN, Chicago has agreed to a modest one-year, $1.25 million contract with former Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Tyler Austin. It's a major league deal for Austin, who has played for the Yokohama Bay Stars in Japan for the last six seasons.

Cubs sign Brewers cult hero Tyler Austin to a one-year, $1.25 million deal

Back in 2019, the Brewers signed Austin to a minor league contract in the middle of August. But these were the days when roster sizes expanded to 40 in September, and when the final month of the season came along, the Brewers, who were squarely in the playoff chase, added Austin to their roster.

Ironically, Austin's first appearance in a Brewers' uniform came against the Cubs at Wrigley Field; he drew a walk and scored a run in his lone at-bat in that game. However, later that same week, the Cubs came to Miller Park for a four-game set, during which Austin gained the affection of Brewers fans.

After the Brewers and Cubs split the first two games of the series, they found themselves in a late-inning thriller in Game 3. Chicago took a one-run lead in the top of the 8th inning, before the Brewers promptly tied it up in the bottom of the frame on a Yasmani Grandal solo shot. Josh Hader tossed a scoreless top of the 9th, and stepping up to the plate first in the bottom half of the inning was Austin. He reached on a throwing error, but remained on first base after Trent Grisham lined out and Grandal struck out swinging. However, with two outs, Christian Yelich slapped a double down the left field line that snuck past a diving Kyle Schwarber. That dive proved to be very consequential as Austin scored from first without a throw, and the Brewers won.

The next day, Austin slugged a pinch-hit, three-run homer off Jon Lester, which gave the Brewers a three-run lead that held through the end of the game. Given the fact that Milwaukee snuck into the 2019 playoffs by earning the final Wild Card spot, Austin's contributions to those two important wins against the Cubs, who were also vying for a Wild Card spot, proved to be rather important.

All in all, Austin's time in Milwaukee was brief, but very memorable. He finished with a .200/.370/.450 slash line with three extra-base hits in 17 games, so maybe "cult hero" is a little aggressive, but Brewers fans have fond memories of Tyler Austin nevertheless.

That's about to change, as Austin will now be repping the threads of the Brewers’ current biggest rival, the Chicago Cubs. He's been excellent in Japan, posting a .945 OPS with 85 homers in 403 games since 2020, but success in Nippon Professional Baseball doesn't always translate to success in MLB. Always possessing enough power to be a major league regular, Austin struggled with a high strikeout rate and an inability to consistently get on base during his MLB tenure, which included parts of four seasons.

Austin figures to form a soft platoon with Michael Busch at first base in 2026 and serve as valuable right-handed power for pinch-hit opportunities on Craig Counsell's bench. Busch, who had an excellent 2025 season, is still likely to get a strong majority of the opportunities at the cold corner for the Cubs in 2026.

Meanwhile, Brewers fans might not be too intimidated by the signing, but they should be slightly worried about what it could mean for the rest of the offseason. With Chicago yet to spend big on a free agent, it's likely that a significant move is coming in the near future. Whether it's Japanese ace Tatsuya Imai, a bat to replace Kyle Tucker, or a reunion with Tucker himself, the Cubs continuing to agree to small, under-the-radar moves seems to suggest that a big move is coming in the future. Or maybe the Cubs will keep acting like the small-market team that they certainly are not.