The Cincinnati Reds made an interesting signing on Tuesday. The club came to an agreement with infielder Michael Chavis on a minor league contract that includes an invitation to spring training in 2026. This move was first reported by Kiley McDaniel of ESPN.
From 2019 through 2023 Michael Chavis spent part of each season in the big leagues. He found the most success in that rookie season when he hit .254/.322/.444 with 18 home runs in 95 games for the Boston Red Sox. From 2020-2023 he played in 262 in the big leagues, seeing time with the Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Washington Nationals. He was never able to repeat his success at the plate from 2019, though, hitting .231/.265/.382 with 24 home runs in total during that stretch of time.
Chavis did not play in Major League Baseball in 2024, spending his year in Triple-A for the Chicago White Sox and Seattle Mariners. He performed much better with Tacoma in the Mariners organization. Playing in the hitter friendly Pacific Coast League he hit .290/.366/.485. When he was playing for Charlotte in the International League he played in 67 games and hit just .234/.308/.414.
In 2025 he began the year in Triple-A with the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. He hit well for Oklahoma City, posting a line of .291/.350/.547 with 21 doubles, three triples, and 13 home runs in 63 games. He was able to turn that success into a contract to go play in Japan in July. That did not go well. With Chunichi at the highest level in Japan he played in 38 games and hit just .171/.267/.352. They sent him to the minor leagues there where he played in 12 games.
The 30-year-old moves around the infield quite a bit. He’s played a very small amount of shortstop in his career, but that’s not a position he will play outside of an emergency situation. But he does seem to get plenty of time at first base, second base, and third base regularly. There’s also a small amount of experience in left field – mostly in the big leagues where he’s played 102.2 innings compared to just 9.2 innings as an outfielder in the minor leagues.
You can see the career stats for Michael Chavis here.
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