MLB Free Agency: Cincinnati Reds Sign Former Gold Glover & Silver Slugger

The Cincinnati Reds added a 49-HR slugger last week, now they've dipped back into free agency to sign a former Gold Glove & Silver Slugger. But the real surprise is the kind of deal that Nathaniel Lowe has had to accept.

The #Reds have agreed to terms with free-agent 1B Nathaniel Lowe, per @m_sheldon and @Feinsand pic.twitter.com/PcVjyUbJLU
— MLB Deadline News (@MLBDeadlineNews) February 13, 2026

It's a minor league contract for Lowe with an invite to Reds spring training for a guy who hit 18 homers with 84 RBIs last season. Lowe hit .280 down the stretch with an OPS of .790 with the Boston Red Sox after being acquired at the trade deadline.

Lowe drove in 83 runs for Texas in 2023 and won a Gold Glove on the way to the Rangers' World Series victory. The year before, he was a Silver Slugger at the first base spot in the AL, with an .850 OPS, 27 homers and 76 RBIs with a .302 average and a .492 slugging pct.

Sure, he only batted .228 overall on the season last year after a dreadful start in Washington, but Lowe is only 30, and certainly still has plenty in the tank, as evidenced by his performance down the stretch for Boston.

Nathaniel Lowe will have to make the Reds out of spring training to earn a major league job

He will have to make the Cincinnati team over the next six weeks, however. First base is a competition for the Reds this spring, with some combination of top prospect Sal Stewart and/or Spencer Steer penciled in at the moment.

In seven major league seasons, Lowe has a .264 average with a .771 OPS, and a 116 OPS+, making him 16% better than league average.

This is a sneaky-good signing for the Reds.