Longtime big league outfielder Josh Reddick signed with the Acereros de Monclova of the Mexican League earlier this month, according to a club announcement. It’s the first stint in Mexico for the left-handed hitter, who has spent the past thirteen years at the MLB level.
Reddick, who turned 35 over the weekend, is coming off a 2021 campaign split between the Diamondbacks and Mets. He tallied 158 plate appearances over 54 games with Arizona but struggled to a career-worst .258/.285/.371 line. The Snakes let Reddick go in early August. He signed a minor league deal with the Mets not long after but only spent about two weeks with their Triple-A affiliate before being released.
It wasn’t a great 2021 showing for the Georgia native, but he hit at a near league average level each season from 2018-20. Reddick has been a solid offensive player for the bulk of his MLB career, compiling a .262/.321/.426 line in a bit more than 1300 games split between the Red Sox, A’s, Dodgers, Astros and D-Backs. He has three seasons with a wRC+ above 115 (at least fifteen percentage points above the league average), including a .314/.363/.484 line over 540 plate appearances with the Astros in 2017.
Early in his career, Reddick also rated as one of the game’s preeminent defensive corner outfielders. He took home a Gold Glove award in 2012 and was typically rated favorably by public metrics like Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating through 2019. His defensive numbers have dipped below average over the past two seasons, though, and both FanGraphs and Baseball Reference have pegged his overall work below replacement level in that time.
Reddick joins an Acereros roster that features a handful of former big leaguers. Monclova also signed Pablo Sandoval a few weeks back, and they added former Brewers outfielder Keon Broxton at the end of January. Broxton, who compiled a .209/.297/.388 MLB line between 2015-19, has spent the past couple seasons in the minors. The righty-hitting center fielder split last season between the Twins’ and Brewers’ top affiliates and hit .173/.283/.297 across 311 plate appearances.
