4:18pm: It is indeed a minor league deal, per Mark Sheldon of MLB.com, with an invitation to camp.
1:00pm: Infielder Erik González has signed with the Reds, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post. There are no details but it’s presumably a minor league deal.
González, now 32, signed a minors deal with the White Sox last offseason. He spent the 2023 season playing for Triple-A Charlotte, getting into 131 games for that club. He hit .272/.322/.360 in that time for a wRC+ of 72 while playing second base, third base and shortstop.
Though he didn’t get called up to the big leagues at any point in 2023, he has 352 games of major league experience. He served part-time roles in each season from 2016 to 2022, suiting up with Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Miami. He hasn’t hit much in that time, with a career batting line of just .242/.276/.340 but he’s been a solid glove-first utility option. He’s received strong marks for his defense at all four infield positions and has even played the outfield on occasion.
The Reds are already loaded with young infielders, as some combination of Matt McLain, Elly De La Cruz, Noelvi Marté, Spencer Steer, Jonathan India and Christian Encarnacion-Strand will be looking for regular playing time while Jose Barrero will likely be in line for a bench role. But injuries are inevitable over a long season and you never know when depth will be needed. The Reds also added Mark Mathias on a minor league deal earlier today and Gonzalez joins him as a non-roster depth option.