The Reds have formally announced their agreement with Ford, and MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon (via X) has the contract specifics. Ford will earn $1.3 million if he makes the big league team, with an additional $125,000 attainable in bonus money. Ford can opt out of his contract on March 23 if he has not been guaranteed a position on the Opening Day roster.
According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the Reds have come to terms on a minor league agreement with first baseman/designated hitter Mike Ford. The ZS Sports client would earn $1.3 million in the big leagues and might receive an additional $125,000 in incentives under the contract, which includes opt-out dates throughout both spring training and the regular season.
Ford, 31, posted huge power numbers with the Mariners in 2023, slashing .228/.323/.475 with 16 homers in just 251 trips to the plate. That power was accompanied by an above-average 9.6% walk rate but also a bloated 32.3% strikeout rate. The former Yankee farmhand has long had plus power and questionable contact rates, so the 2023 season wasn’t out of the norm in that regard. However, last season also represented Ford’s longest and most productive stretch in the big leagues. He’d never reached even 200 plate appearances in a major league season prior.
The left-handed-hitting Ford hasn’t been allowed to face lefties much in his career but torched them in 24 plate appearances last year and has actually fared better against fellow southpaws in his career at large. It’s only 108 plate appearances, but he’s a .268/.343/.577 hitter versus lefties compared to .200/.303/.389 against righties (in a much larger sample of 611 plate appearances).
Cincinnati already has more infielders than infield at-bats available, thus Spencer Steer will be shifted to left field full-time in 2024. Despite this, the Reds have Jeimer Candelario, Jonathan India, Noelvi Marte, Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain, and Christian Encarnacion-Strand lined up to cycle through the infield and DH position. Ford provides Cincinnati with a left-handed depth option who can play first or DH in the case of an injury or regression by any of its talented young infielders. As of now, Candelario, Encarnacion-Strand, and India are expected to receive the most time at first base and DH, but a successful spring could shove Ford into that mix — or, considering the spring opt-out date(s) in
