The Reds and first baseman Nathaniel Lowe are in agreement on a minor league deal, per Mark Feinsand and Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. The SportsMeter client will be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee.
A year ago, the notion of Lowe settling for a non-roster deal would’ve seemed far-fetched. From 2021-24, the now-30-year-old Lowe was the Rangers’ everyday first baseman — and a good one, at that. He slashed a combined .274/.359/.432 (124 wRC+) with 78 home runs, 104 doubles, 10 triples, 13 steals, a strong 11.3% walk rate and a 23.3% strikeout rate that was only a bit north of average. Defensive metrics were bearish on his glove early in his MLB run, but he posted quality marks in both Defensive Runs Saved (4) and Outs Above Average (10) in 2023-24.
As the Rangers began the process of paring down their payroll, they traded Lowe and his $10.3MM salary to the Nationals for left-hander Robert Garcia. The change of scenery didn’t work out whatsoever for Lowe. He appeared in 119 games and tallied 490 plate appearances with a .216/.292/.373 batting line (86 wRC+) before being designated for assignment and released in August. Lowe’s walk rate in D.C. dipped to 9.6%, and his strikeout rate climbed to 26.5%. He was also a bit more prone to pop-ups and hit fewer line drives than he had during his Texas stint.
The Red Sox, needing help at first base, quickly scooped Lowe up and got better production out of the veteran’s left-handed bat. In a smaller sample of 119 plate appearances with Boston, Lowe turned in a .280/.370/.420 slash that pretty closely resembled the production from his time in Arlington. His production was buoyed by a .361 average on balls in play that he’s highly unlikely to sustain, but Lowe was also dogged by a .267 BABIP with the Nationals — a whopping 72 points south of the .339 mark he carried into the season.
With the Reds, Lowe will have a chance to win a prominent role in the lineup. Top prospect Sal Stewart is the presumptive front-runner at first base, but he has all of 18 big league games under his belt. The 2022 No. 32 overall pick belted five homers in that time and had a big year in Triple-A as well (.309/.383/.524, 152 wRC+) but some veteran competition for him won’t hurt. Also in the mix at first base are Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Spencer Steer. The former hasn’t hit in the majors since 2023 and has minor league options remaining, while the latter can play all over the diamond.
There could be occasional DH at-bats available, although the returning Eugenio Suárez will likely take the bulk of those reps in 2026. Suárez could also see time at the hot corner if the oft-injured Ke’Bryan Hayes hits the injured list, which would open up additional avenues to get both Stewart and Lowe into the lineup — assuming Lowe performs well enough to make the roster, of course.
Once he landed in Boston he got much better. Maybe that carries over and the Reds pick up a decent bat without spending much.
I’d bet he hits well there, seems hard not to.
Marlins should have been in on him too.
Huh. Didn’t think he’d be forced to take a mil deal. Probably makes it to the majors tho at some point
Kinda surprised he didn’t get a major league deal. I think it’s a potentially great pick up for the Reds.
I wonder if he has an actual shot at winning the First Base job with the Reds. They seem to have several parts for some of the same positions and very few for others
Probably no chance at a starting job. But he has a pretty good shot to make the team as a lefty bench bat.
Why not? Had a not-great 2025 and could conceivably bounce right back. A bit disconcerting that no team offered an MLB deal; maybe there’s more under the hood that the baseball public is not privy to…
I’m not sure why. You have more those type guys than you need now. CES probably will go to AAA as a result. You don’t want to take ABs from him. They signed another first base type to a minor league deal earlier. Makes no sense as usual.
I think he’s injured again or behind schedule, they did sign toglia? Or someone as well so I’m confused. Also thought this guy would get a major league deal from someone..
That’s what I was thinking. They have Sal Stewart there and signed Toglia earlier. They also talked about Suarez playing some first.
The Reds have Stewart, Suarez, and Steer who all could see time at 1B. Steer will likely see a lot of time in the OF but he was a 2025 GG finalist at 1B.
All those guys, plus CES, hit right handed. Toglia is technically a switch hitter but his splits look like a righty’s too. So I think there room for a left handed bat.
I’m a lifelong Reds fan and I think we are getting to the point that CES isn’t going to be the player we saw flashes of during his rookie year. He hasn’t proven he belongs above AAA so until he earns an MLB roster spot I wouldn’t worry about him losing out on any at bats.
This could just be the Reds throwing Lowe a bone and letting him audition for other teams during Spring Training. I believe that’s what the front office gave for the rationale of signing Tony Kemp and Mike Ford a few years ago (whom they eventually resigned).
First base only veterans who can hit a little are basically a dime a dozen and have no value.
Seam – First base is so easy a caveman can play it.
It’s wild to me how far off First Basemen have fallen in Major League Baseball. I’m 48 and as a kid it seemed like there were at least 6 or 7 really good 1B in both the National and American Leagues. There were always really good 1B being left off of the all Star rosters.
great point… gone is the days 25-35 yrs ago when you’d see big HR bopping first baseman with clout like the Philllies Ryan Howard, and White Sox Frank Thomas, Cards Albert Pujols, etc etc etc… I know there’s some decent 1B now, but not like there used to be. I already miss Joey Votto from the Reds when he used to be on base 40% of the time and smack doubles and homers aplenty, but age waits for no one! I hope we have a real one in Sal Stewart!
Lowe will probably make the team as a bench player if Sal isn’t doing fantastic in Spring Training. Then they’ll trade him if we aren’t contending, but I think we’re going to surprise. Most have the Reds at 4th place, I don’t think that’s accurate. I really think they’re better than the Pirates, Cardinals and Brewers at this point, and the Cubs are about as good, but we have better starters if they stay healthy.
Joe – That’s because the DH is now in both leagues. If you’ve got a player who is a good hitter but is poor defensively or injury prone, you put him at DH. And because of today’s shorter bench, platooning at DH is also common instead of moving him to fulltime 1B.
Yes sir, Carlos Delgado comes to my mind. Guy was a stud but only made a few all star teams.
I forgot he was still out there, but I am surprised he had to settle for a minor league deal this winter. After he got to the Red Sox, he looked enough like his old self again I figured somebody would want to pick him up on a guaranteed deal, even if only a year or two.
Dirty – He started well with the Sox, but then he quickly faded.
From Sept 8th to the end of the season he had a .656 OPS and in the postseason he had just one single, that’s it …. no extra base hits, no walks, no RBI.
It’s only natural to remember just the good moments while blocking out the bad. His defense wasn’t that great either.
Every report indicated he was not a fan of the losing environment and had no interest in being a veteran player in a team of much younger players, wouldn’t be surprised if the disparity in numbers is solely attitude
I would of rather seen the Pirates give this guy a shot instead of Ozuna at 12 million, this could be a great cheap pickup for Reds
Pack your bags CEStrikeout, you’re done
Phil (officially the owner now) heard Lowe and thought he would be cheap.