MLB Rumors: David Dahl Could Be a Good Fit For the Cubs

Now down a pair of outfielders (Kyle Schwarber and Albert Almora Jr.), the Cubs are going to have to fill some holes. Both Schwarber and Almora were non-tendered last week, leaving some scratching their heads over the decision on Schwarber.

Enter former Colorado Rockies" outfielder, David Dahl, now a free agent as the result of being non-tendered by the Rox last week. Despite being called up and being sent back down between the majors and minors during the 2016 and 2018-2020 campaigns, Dahl has only accumulated enough service time to be first-year arbitration-eligible.

As per MLB Trade Rumors" arbitration tracker, Dahl was only estimated to warrant a salary of $3M for 2021, leaving him about $5M shy of what the Cubs would have expected to pay Schwabrer, but slightly more than the $1.8M that Almora was expected to have fetched.

The Ups and Downs of David Dahl

Dahl will turn 27 just after the 2021 season kicks off, so age is definitely in his favor. Also appealing is the fact that Dahl is what"s known in MLB lingo as a Super-Two. Translation: He"s controllable through the end of the 2023 season.

Like many in 2020, Dahl suffered at the plate, slashing only .183/.222/.247 in 99 plate appearances (93 official at-bats). He did, however, garner nine RBIs, along with a pair of doubles and a pair of triples. Dahl also possesses strong defensive abilities.

David Dahl Could Be a Good Fit

The Cubs" new mantra seems to be the desire to shift to younger, cheaper, and most importantly, controllable players, as extension talks with several core members have either stalled or disintegrated completely.

In the grand scheme of things, Dahl has been much better than his 2020 stats. In 1,020 Major League plate appearances (928 at-bats), David Dahl has mashed to the tune of a .286/.334/.494 career slash line, adding in 105 hits for extra bases (38 home runs), 142 RBIs, and 66 walks; he"s also swiped 15 bases in 22 attempts.

Oh, but Those Nagging Injuries…

If there"s one thing that Dahl has a propensity for, it"s being injured. According to Spotrac, during his career, Dahl has hit the IL on four different occasions, costing the Rockies $1.02M in IL pay (total of 195 games missed).

In 2017, Dahl missed 87 games due to a rib injury. In 2018, it was a foot injury (57 gmes). In 2019, Dahl suffered an oblique injury (10 games), and last season he was out for 41 games with back issues.

The Cubs are no strangers to signing low-risk, potentially high reward players. They did it with Steven Souza Jr. and Jason Kipnis last season, and their bullpen usually consists of the Tommy John survival center, so why wouldn"t they be willing to take a chance on Dahl?

For a negotiable $3M, the Cubs could (and should) take a flyer. The Cubs recently added OF prospect Ian Miller to the 40-man roster, but that still leaves a hole. Miller showed a lot of promise in spring training last year, but if the Cubs were to also move Kris Bryant (another backup outfielder) as expected, they"d certainly need to sign someone else to aid Ian Happ, Jason Heyward, and perhaps Miller, as they patrol the warning track.

With Almora and Schwarber now gone, and with Bryant expected to be traded, the Cubs are razor-thin in the area of outfield depth. With the need to fill at least one spot in the starting rotation, signing Dahl could make sense.

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