The Pink Sox and first baseman C.J. Cron are in settlement on a minor league deal, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive (X hyperlinks). The shopper of Moye Sports activities Associates will presumably obtain an invitation to main league camp.
It was reported yesterday that the Sox have been trying to herald a veteran to compete for a bench spot, with Cron floated as as soon as such risk. The 34-year-old has served as a potent bat within the large leagues for a few years however is coming a irritating 2023 season.
He started the 12 months with the Rockies for the second season of a two-year, $14.5MM extension he signed late in 2021. However he made a number of journeys to the injured checklist final 12 months on account of points together with his again. He was traded to the Angels midseason and solely obtained into 71 video games on the 12 months between the 2 golf equipment. He nonetheless confirmed a little bit of pop together with his 12 dwelling runs however solely walked in 6.1% of his plate appearances. His .248/.295/.434 batting line translated to a wRC+ of 82.
Cron doesn’t actually steal bases, simply 10 in his profession, and may solely play first base. His glovework has typically been strong in his profession, as he has 12 Defensive Runs Saved and 13 Outs Above Common. Nevertheless it’s nonetheless a place the place the offensive expectations are excessive, making final season’s struggles stand out.
The Sox can be hoping for a bounceback to his earlier type. He got here into final 12 months with 175 profession dwelling runs and a slash line of .261/.322/.474, which results in a wRC+ of 111. He had a extremely robust run from 2018 to 2022, hitting between 25 and 30 dwelling runs in every full season of that stretch, although a knee sprain restricted him to simply 13 video games within the shortened 2020 marketing campaign.
If his contract is chosen, he seemingly wouldn’t be taking a look at an on a regular basis function in Boston. The membership has Triston Casas as its common first baseman and can seemingly use the designated hitter slot to rotate in numerous defensively-limited gamers like Masataka Yoshida and Rafael Devers. However they do have plenty of left-handed hitters who undertaking for both full-time or part-time roles, together with Devers, Yoshida, Casas, Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu and Reese McGuire.
Cron has fairly even splits in his profession, having hit .266/.324/.489 towards lefties for a 113 wRC+ and .257/.318/.463 towards righties for a wRC+ of 107. However he might nonetheless assist the Sox defend a few of these lefties from robust southpaw pitchers, both by serving as a pinch hitter late in video games or taking a number of begins.
He’ll first must crack a spot on the roster. The membership’s bench could have McGuire because the backup catcher whereas Rob Refsnyder needs to be current as a reserve outfielder, as he has over 5 years of service time and can’t 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 one one in every of that group with out choices, so the Sox might theoretically run with a bench of McGuire, Refsnyder, Reyes and Cron whereas sending the remainder of these infielders to the minors to be able to protect depth. The membership would wish to open a 40-man roster spot however might simply achieve this by transferring Liam Hendriks to the 60-day IL, since he’s rehabbing from Tommy John surgical procedure and gained’t be again till the commerce deadline on the earliest.
There’s no actual threat in signing Cron to a minor league deal to get a close-up search for a number of weeks, assessing his well being and present type. If he have been to crack the roster, maybe a part-time function would assist him keep wholesome and efficient all through the marketing campaign.