Cincinnati Reds sign outfielder Anthony Alford…
Anthony Alford, an outfielder, has signed a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds. He will report to “early minor league camp” even though his contract does not include a non-roster invitation to major league spring training. This implies that he might view playing for the Reds as a “minor league call up,” especially in the early part of the spring. It’s also not unheard of for players who are doing well in minor league camp to receive a non-roster invite or call up after spring training begins.
Alford has participated in six Major League Baseball seasons in various capacities. He was a player for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Toronto Blue Jays from 2017 to 2022. During that time, he played in 102 games, had 240 plate appearances, and hit.209/.275/.368. His only somewhat consistent playing time came in 2021, when he appeared in 49 games with Pittsburgh, registering 148 bat appearances and an OPS of.717.
Alford was a top prospect in the Blue Jays organization before he struggled a little at Triple-A. In 2021 and 2022, he hit a combined.286/.400/.577 in 270 plate appearances. He was ranked as a Top 100 prospect by Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, and Baseball Prospectus.
His lack of playing time in Pittsburgh combined with that performance gave him the chance to move to Korea and play in the KBO for the entirety of 2022 and 2023. Alford hit.288/.359/.476 with 50 doubles, 4 triples, and 29 home runs in 213 games in the KBO.
Now that he’s returned to the States, he will be training in the spring with the Reds farm system. The 29-year-old outfielder has three seasons of grass-based experience in all three locations. Though he has spent much of his career in center field, he also has a great deal of expertise in left field. During his professional career, he has only appeared in 109 games as a right fielder. However, in Korea, he saw more action in right field than center, with 160 of his 175 fielding starts coming as a left fielder.
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