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.
Cincinnati Reds' Dominic Smith. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)AP
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 percent 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 still considers itself to be in it. Though the Reds 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 before September 1.
