Mike Tauchman, who played for the Cubs the last two seasons, signed a one-year deal with the White Sox.
AP
As a new father, the only downside to Mike Tauchman’s new job is the commute is a bit longer from his home in Arlington Heights.
The Palatine native and former Cubs outfielder spoke with reporters Tuesday for the first time since signing a one-year deal with the White Sox. He revealed he and his wife welcomed their first child, a daughter, two months ago.
“That ended up being a really big factor for my wife and I as we made this decision,” he said. “The grandparents are here, aunts and uncles are here. You don’t really understand the phrase, ‘It takes a village’ until you have a kid of your own.”
Tauchman said the White Sox were aggressive in their pursuit when free agency began, and not being offered a contract by the Cubs didn’t catch him by surprise. One of the Cubs’ highly rated prospects, such as Owen Caissie, will probably take over Tauchman’s role as reserve outfielder.
The White Sox need a new set of veterans to set a positive tone on the field and in the clubhouse, so Tauchman’s tendency to make winning plays should be a nice fit. Perhaps this will be Summer of Tauchman, Part 2: The South Side sequel.
“I think I’m going to be given the opportunity to play quite a bit,” he said. “Roles change and evolve over the course of the season. I’m just going to be ready for my opportunity, whenever that may be, and try to make the most of it.”
Tauchman hit a walk-off home run against the White Sox last season at Wrigley Field — the first of his life, he says. According to baseball-reference.com, he’ll become the 205th player to suit up for both the Cubs and White Sox.
Buffalo Grove’s Josh Paul, pitcher Donn Pall and Phil Cavarretta are among the smaller group of Chicago-area natives who played on both sides of town.
Obviously, Tauchman is well-aware he’s joining a team that piled up 121 losses last season. At 34, he feels ready for a mentor role and plans to borrow from his own experiences on how to excel and fail as a veteran leader. He mentioned Colorado’s Charlie Blackmon and the Yankees’ Brett Gardner as two of the better leaders he encountered.
“I’m very fortunate in my career to have played with a lot of awesome veterans who really cared about the guys on the team,” Tauchman said. “I view it as it’s on me now to continue that. … I would (also) never want me to make a young player feel the way a couple guys at a different point in my career made me feel.”
The Fremd High School graduate said he went to more Cubs games than White Sox growing up, but his mother is from the South Side and the family television was usually tuned to Sox games when he was a kid.
Tauchman has spoken to new White Sox manager Will Venable about expectations for next season. Since the Sox moved on from Gavin Sheets, right field is wide open right now, though young players like Zach DeLoach and Dominic Fletcher will vie for time.
“I’ve been playing baseball since I was 5 years old and I still love it,” Tauchman said. “I love getting in the cage, I love taking flyballs. If they let me, I love taking groundballs. And I love getting in the batter’s box and competing, and I love talking about the game. I’m looking forward to getting to know a new group of guys and talking ball with them.”
Tauchman was a 10th-round draft pick of the Rockies in 2013 out of Bradley. This will be his eighth major-league season and the White Sox are his fifth team, but this year with the Cubs was the first time he spent the entire season in the majors.
“I feel extremely fortunate to have the career I’ve had,” he said. “I never thought I’d play for the Cubs, I never thought I’d play for the Sox. I, realistically, probably didn’t think I’d play this long, especially a couple years ago going overseas (to Korea).
“Just to have the opportunity is awesome. There’s a handful of guys that have (played for) both, so I guess it’s kind of exciting to be on that list now.”