Red Sox Agree To Minor League Deal With C.J. Cron

The Red Sox and first baseman C.J. Cron are in agreement on a minor league deal, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive (X links). The client of Moye Sports Associates will presumably receive an invite to major league camp.

It was reported yesterday that the Sox were looking to bring in a veteran to compete for a bench spot, with Cron floated as once such possibility. The 34-year-old has served as a potent bat in the big leagues for many years but is coming a frustrating 2023 season.

He began the year with the Rockies for the second season of a two-year, $14.5MM extension he signed late in 2021. But he made multiple trips to the injured list last year due to issues with his back. He was traded to the Angels midseason and only got into 71 games on the year between the two clubs. He still showed a bit of pop with his 12 home runs but only walked in 6.1% of his plate appearances. His .248/.295/.434 batting line translated to a wRC+ of 82.

Cron doesn’t really steal bases, just 10 in his career, and can only play first base. His glovework has generally been solid in his career, as he has 12 Defensive Runs Saved and 13 Outs Above Average. But it’s still a position where the offensive expectations are high, making last season’s struggles stand out.

The Sox will be hoping for a bounceback to his previous form. He came into last year with 175 career home runs and a slash line of .261/.322/.474, which leads to a wRC+ of 111. He had a really strong run from 2018 to 2022, hitting between 25 and 30 home runs in each full season of that stretch, though a knee sprain limited him to just 13 games in the shortened 2020 campaign.

If his contract is selected, he likely wouldn’t be looking at an everyday role in Boston. The club has Triston Casas as its regular first baseman and will likely use the designated hitter slot to rotate in various defensively-limited players like Masataka Yoshida and Rafael Devers. But they do have a number of left-handed hitters who project for either full-time or part-time roles, including Devers, Yoshida, Casas, Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu and Reese McGuire.

Cron has pretty even splits in his career, having hit .266/.324/.489 against lefties for a 113 wRC+ and .257/.318/.463 against righties for a wRC+ of 107. But he could nonetheless help the Sox shield some of those lefties from tough southpaw pitchers, either by serving as a pinch hitter late in games or taking a few starts.

He will first have to crack a spot on the roster. The club’s bench will have McGuire as the backup catcher while Rob Refsnyder should be present as a reserve outfielder, as he has over five years of service time and cannot be optioned to the minors. That leaves two spots for depth infielders, with Bobby Dalbec, Enmanuel Valdéz, Pablo Reyes, David Hamilton and Romy González already on the 40-man roster. Reyes is the only one of that group without options, so the Sox could theoretically run with a bench of McGuire, Refsnyder, Reyes and Cron while…