Cincinnati Reds sign first baseman Mike Ford
The Cincinnati Reds must have gotten a check today because they’ve now signed two different players. Earlier today they brought in utility man Tony Kemp on a minor league deal. They followed that up with a minor league deal for first baseman Mike Ford. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that he will get $1,300,000 if he makes the big league club and could get another $125,000 in performance incentives. Ford also has opt-outs in his contract,
with at least one of them being during an unspecified date in spring training.
In 2023, Mike Ford played in 83 games with the Seattle Mariners. His 251 plate appearances were the most that the now 31-year-old has ever had in the big leagues in a given season. He set career highs with 16 home runs, 34 runs batted in, 24 walks, and 81 strikeouts. Ford struggled to make contact, striking out in 32.3% of his plate appearances. But where he didn’t struggle was hitting for power. Overall he hit .228/.323/.475. And that power came in a pitcher friendly ballpark and in a division that is also pitcher friendly. The power will play anywhere. You can see his career stats here.
One question he will have to answer is can he make enough contact to make everything else work? In 2022 he struck out in 27% of his 149 plate appearances and things trended in the wrong direction last season.
When it comes to the Reds specifically the question is where will he play? The only two spots in the field he’s played in his big league career are first base and pitcher. He’s obviously not going to matter as a pitcher, so he’s basically a first base/designated hitter option. With Cincinnati that means he’s trying to get ahead of Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Jeimer Candelario at first base
and designated hitter, but at designated hitter he’s also got to essentially play over everyone since David Bell is going to have to mix-and-match everyone as there are more “every day-ish” guys than there are spots in the lineup.
If everyone is healthy, it’s tough to see where there’s room on the 26-man roster for Ford. But if some injuries pile up you could argue that the team could use a big-time power hitter in Great American Ball Park.
