The Reds are signing first baseman Dominic Smith to a major league deal, per Jeff Passan of ESPN on X. He was released by the Red Sox earlier this week. Whenever the deal becomes official, the Reds will need to make a corresponding move or moves to get Smith onto their active and 40-man rosters.
Smith, 29, was signed by the Red Sox to replace an injured Triston Casas at first base. He was a solid but not outstanding fill-in for Boston. He got into 84 games and hit .237/.317/.390 for a wRC+ of 95. That indicates he was 5% worse than league average at the plate, hardly disastrous but also not great for a position that generally has high offensive expectations.
When Casas returned from the IL, the Sox designated him for assignment. As a veteran player, he had more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment, so the Sox skipped that formality and released him. He became a free agent, allowing him to now sign with the Reds.
The club in Cincinnati has been hovering around contention and clearly still considers themselves to be in it. Though they traded Frankie Montas to the Brewers at the deadline, among other moves, they also added first baseman Ty France from the Mariners. Since the deadline, they claimed infielder Amed Rosario off waivers from the Dodgers and have now brought Smith into the mix as well.
Adding France and now Smith is due to the first base spot taking a few hits this year. Jeimer Candelario recently landed on the injured list due to a toe fracture while Christian Encarnacion-Strand has been out for months due to wrist surgery. Spencer Steer can also play some first but he’s been in the outfield mix lately.
With France and Smith both on the roster, perhaps one will be at first base and the other in the designated hitter slot, but a platoon is also possible. Smith is a lefty and has a career .245/.311/.417 line and 98 wRC+ with the platoon advantage, along with a .254/.324/.367 line and 92 wRC+ without it. France is a righty with fairly neutral platoon splits in his career, though there’s a wider gap this year. He has slashed .244/.358/.389 against lefties in 2024 for a 122 wRC+, .221/.293/.362 against righties for a 90 wRC+.
The Reds are 5.5 games back of a Wild Card spot in the National League right now, but would have to leapfrog five different clubs to snag a spot. If they manage to succeed, Smith will be eligible for their postseason roster since he’s being signed prior to September 1.
I’m assuming candy is done for the year
They already added Rosario to replace Candelario. Smith is probably there to replace one of their left-handed bats. Fraley to the IL possibly?
I was kinda hoping Rosario would replace marte
That didn’t take long. Good for Dom
Absolutely.
I second that.
Exactly Rsox, I wish we kept him a dropped Dalbec. I guess defensive versatility is what brass wanted, it’s either that or maybe Dalbec has something dirty on Henry. We may never know….
You couldn’t remove him from the 26-man roster without exposing him to waivers and agreeing to the assignment as he has his 6 years service time.
He is not interested in being a AAA depth piece, he wants to play and get his 10 year pension in the process.
This isn’t a video game where you just force a guy where you want him, he’s good enough to hold a 26 man spot somewhere in the league and you can’t force him not to.
All this talk of him vs dalbec from some fans makes zero sense. Casas needed a 26 man spot, not just a 40 man spot. Someone off the 26 man roster had to go.
The Dalbec era should come to an end this winter as i can’t see them possibly offering him arbitration
Rsox – he’s cheap enough as a league minimum type that I think they do tender a contract just based on positional versatility, unless one of two things happen:
1) they give his 40-man spot to someone who finishes the year strong enough they’d rather protect that player from a rule 5 selection
2) they do some major upgrades on the depth side of the 26-man early on.
Otherwise, they just tender a contract and wait and see. Overall, I would think he’s unlikely to be in the organization at this point next season as he will be out of options to start the year and I just don’t see him sticking in the utility role. But you never know.
I feel like they will use his roster spot to protect a prospect, especially with him being out of minor league options. His numbers have taken a step back at Worcester this year and finding a RH hitter that can play 3B isn’t that hard
You need to go to troll school
“You need to go to troll school”..And exactly where did you think he was writing that post from?
As a BoSox fan I hope he does well with The Reds. He helped The Sox with a really good July but he was only there till Casas was healthy. Good luck Dom!
I really hate being a Reds fan sometimes
Good. Smith earned another shot following his Boston time. Good Iuck, DS.
I guess they aren’t happy with one waiver wire pick up at first base so they picked up another.
Remember when Nick Krall said the Reds didn’t have at-bats to give Joey Votto this year? Everything that has gone wrong for the Reds this year is deserved. Should have given the team legend his farewell tour.
Votto’s fault- not Krall’s
Lol sure.
Completely asinine statement by Krall. You could’ve at least signed him to a minor league deal and given him the respect he deserved.
“At least signed him..the respect he deserved”…Making comments(or criticisms) without knowing what went on behind the scenes is silly. For all you(or I) know, the Reds offered Votto a minor league deal and he declined, preferring to end his career in Canada, his home country. None of us really know what happens behind the scenes, so why comment(or criticize) on specific internal transactions, pretending you do know?
Because I do know. Shortly after Votto was signed by the Blue Jays, he came out and said that he approached Toronto’s front office about a deal and they obliged shortly thereafter. He also stated that that was the only offer he received all off-season and that he expected the Reds to at least give him a minor league deal. He expressed how important it was for him to end his career as a Red. So let’s not get unnecessarily upset over a comment that I was actually more informed on than yourself.
Smith can play some 1b for Cincy now, but is average at best around the bag. Has little power, pull or oppo for a fellow as big as he is and has some of the sickest swings will see vs same side (LH) pitchers.
That said, he is able to go oppo pretty well vs RH pitchers and has solid gap power. Use, as a LH batter limits him of course and fact he pretty much can’t buy a hit vs lefties makes it worse. Casas coming back was an instant improvement, tho some in the Sox fanbase fell in love with this dude for reasons never understood, only thing could ever think of was he was better break glass emergency than bobby dalbec and also released Garret Cooper.
Sentiment doesn’t win ballgames. Votto is two weeks away from 41. And he batted .165 in AAA. He’s toast. He’s 1977 Brooks Robinson and 1980 Willie McCovey all over again.
We don’t need to pretend like Votto’s season would have gone exactly the same way had he stayed in Cincinnati. Maybe he would have sucked, maybe he wouldn’t. But there is a time and place for sentiment. Reds aren’t winning anything anyway.
“Reds aren’t winning anything anyway”? Maybe not. But bear in mind that Votto hasn’t had a productive season since 2021.
Reds have employed Mike Ford, Edwin Rios, Ty France and now Dominic Smith to play 1B. Don’t tell me they couldn’t have kept Votto around one more season and given him a proper sendoff. You won’t convince me otherwise.
Jason, Everyone knew LAST year was Votto’s final year with the reds. That was his sendoff year. They are not a charity case. They’re trying to win ball games.
They’re trying to win? Could have fooled me.
Yup that’s their hope. Believe it or not.
I hope Cincinnati is ready for some big Dom Smith moments.
Hey, The Dominator cranked out 20 doubles in the equivalent of half a season. He won’t disappoint. Good player. Good guy. Best of luck, Dom!
As a Sox fan, Dom really grew in me. As a fill in for Casas, he did better than expected.
And if you missed a tweet the official red Sox account deleted, oh boy: barstoolsports.com/blog/3521762/last-night-the-red…
I like what the Reds are doing. Trying to find value where and whenever they can.
When the Red Sox do it all the Boston fans on those articles call it dumpster diving.
The Reds don’t know how to construct a roster with enough MLB depth out of ST. That’s why you see them dumpster diving so much as players get injured or fall on their face. Marte and Benson should have been sent to AAA 2 months ago but they had no one better to replace them. That’s on the GM.
It’s a pity this ‘addition’ doesn’t do that. Since the start of 2021 Dom’s line is .241/.312/.361 with an 87 OPS+. For a 1Bman that’s awful. For a fat (sorry to say, he never overcame the weight problems dogging his career), slow 1Bman, it’s horrific.
Dom’s a great guy and he’ll make a great 1B coach some day, but if he’s the best you can do at 1B and you’re 5 games out, you might as well play for 2025.
A plain and simple why is warranted for this type of acquisition.
The Reds have this bottle and they keep trying to catch lightning in it.
After drinking from that bottle first apparently.
And according to the instructions that came with the two bottle “Stadium kit,” they drank from the wrong one.
I’d rather bring Dunn or Hinds up and let them play out of position at 1st.
SellTheTeamBob! Fire Bell 2 seasons ago.
Play Steer at 1st and let the kids stay in the outfield. Hinds needs to get his reps in, same for Dunn.
Hinds is batting 207 I think he needs some more time in the minors
Not sure Smith is hitting a whole lot better. Then you have Benson who they keep playing despite under the Mendoza line all season.
There needs to be one or two new faces(hitters) in the Red]s starting nine (counting DH) next season. Whether that be via trade or free agency, it doesn’t matter. There can’t be another season of offensive constipation. Trade some folks and get off the money and make it happen.
Hopefully of those “new” faces will be a healthy Matt McLain. But a left-handed bat to upgrade their OF/DH mix would be a huge plus.
I liked the first four words. Then you jumped the shark. Votto over d smith for sure.
Always been a big Dom fan, glad to have him aboard his personality will fit right in with this clubhouse.
Good guy, glad to see him get another chance.
The reds get to experience some BDSM!
I’d be entertained slightly more if your name was Bisty…
DS not a bad player. Surprised the Reds giving him a chance. I would bring up a youngster!
Four organizations for Smith this year. Cubs in ST, then the Rays AAA team, then the Red Sox, now the Reds.
“Now the Reds”….Dom Smith is obviously in this for the frequent flyer miles. He, Rich Hill, Nick Ahmed, Jake Bauers and Mike Ford and their wives are said to often vacation together.
Good job for Dom.
I went to a 51s game in Vegas to see Amed Rosario and Dom Smith play during their time with the Mets. I was so excited for their call-ups. Happy to see those two back together again!