Reds Bring Back Cabrera to Shore Up the Shortstop Depth

Cincinnati signed utility infielder Oswaldo Cabrera to a one-year deal, a quiet offseason-prep move that addresses one of the more visible structural gaps the 2026 season exposed. With Elly De La Cruz entrenched as the starter at shortstop, the drop-off behind him has been steep all year — Matt McLain is the only real fallback, and he's a second baseman by trade.

Cabrera already appears in the depth chart as the third option at short, so this isn't a stranger arriving. He's a versatile infielder who can move around the diamond, which is exactly the profile Cincinnati needs given how many players have cycled through the IL this season. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The signing won't move the needle on what went wrong in 2026 — that accounting involves Hunter Greene's elbow, a rotation ERA that cratered behind Chase Burns, and an offense that dried up in September. But thin infield depth was a real problem, and this is a reasonable, low-cost way to address it before the offseason conversation gets more complicated.