The Cubs sent first baseman Tyler Austin outright off their 40-man roster this week, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Chicago’s offseason roster count drops to 34.

Austin signed a $1.25MM contract last December. The righty hitter had spent the previous six seasons with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in Japan. Austin mashed in his final two NPB seasons and impressed Cubs evaluators enough to secure a big league deal. He was expected to compete for a platoon role to complement Michael Busch.

Those plans were unfortunately scuttled by a right knee injury. Austin required a debridement surgery to repair the patellar tendon in late February. He neither played in Spring Training nor during the regular season. Austin, who’s best known for his early-career stint with the Yankees, hasn’t appeared in an MLB game since 2019. He’s a .219/.292/.451 hitter with 33 homers in 583 big league plate appearances.

Austin remains in the organization for now. He has the right to elect free agency, and it’s unclear if he intends to give things another go with the Cubs or attempt to find a guaranteed contract back in Japan.

Busch handled left-handed pitching well in 2026 (.243/.348/.422 in 204 plate appearances) and wound up starting all but four games. The Cubs probably aren’t going to devote an active roster spot to a short side platoon first baseman/designated hitter. They have a couple utility players, Matt Shaw and Pedro Ramírez, who can pick up the scattered start at the position if they’re not traded for pitching this winter.