This story was excerpted from Mark Sheldon¡¯s Reds Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CINCINNATI -- When the Reds' trade acquisition of second baseman Gavin Lux from the Dodgers happened early this week, president of baseball operations Nick Krall seemed to recognize that eyebrows would be raised by his club adding yet another infielder.

¡°If you looked at our team last year, people argued that we had too many infielders to begin the year," Krall said on Monday. "Obviously, that didn¡¯t play itself out."

As is often the case, things worked themselves out -- just not how Cincinnati would have liked. During camp, second baseman Matt McLain suffered a season-ending left shoulder injury and expected third baseman Noelvi Marte was slapped with an 80-game suspension for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. First baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand struggled mightily from Opening Day and was finished by early May with a fractured right hand that required surgery. Jeimer Candelario, who was signed last offseason to a three-year, $45 million contract, was subpar defensively at both corner-infield spots and offensively. Candelario broke his toe in mid-August and missed the rest of the season. After Marte finished serving his suspension, he performed poorly both defensively and offensively.

All together, Cincinnati's team infield was ranked near the bottom of MLB in several categories. It's something that Krall made a priority of improving this offseason.

How can the Reds achieve that objective and still find a spot for Lux? Manager Terry Francona will have a lot of options to play with. Here are a few potential possibilities in no particular order.

1. Move Elly De La Cruz to third base

This might give the Reds their best defensive alignment. De La Cruz was an All-Star shortstop in 2024, but he was also quite good at third base during his 2023 rookie season. Putting him at the hot corner would enable Francona to move McLain to shortstop, his natural position. And that would allow Lux to play second base, where he was for 138 of his 139 games last season with the Dodgers. Either Candelario, Encarnacion-Strand or Spencer Steer could play first base.

2. Move McLain to center field

McLain logged some games in center field during the 2024 Arizona Fall League and played 50 games there in college for UCLA. That would again open second base for Lux, but De La Cruz would remain at shortstop. For those already asking, there are currently no plans for De La Cruz to be moved to the outfield.

3. Play Lux at first base

Lux has never played first base professionally at any level. But his going there would keep McLain at second base and De La Cruz at shortstop. Marte, Candelario or Steer could play third base.

4. Lux at third base

Lux has played only one big league game and five professionally at third base. Like the previous option, this also keeps the McLain-De La Cruz duo together up the middle. However, Lux was known to have trouble making accurate throws from the left side of the infield, including his original position of shortstop during the previous camp for the Dodgers -- which prompted their moving him full-time to second base.

5. Lux in left field

In 2021-22, Lux played 39 games in left field with 34 starts for Los Angeles. Steer, who played most of his games in left field last season, could return to the infield and play either first base or third base.

"I haven¡¯t had too many reps at really either third, first or right [field]," Lux said. "I¡¯ll play wherever these guys need me to help win. Those three spots [second base, shortstop, left field] I feel pretty comfortable about just from getting the reps. But I think if I have enough time and heads up, I can be ready to play wherever these guys need me to.¡±

Offensive variables will also play a factor. The left-handed-batting Lux is much better hitting against right-handers than left-handers over his career. He could also be used as the designated hitter. When and where he plays could depend on the opposing pitcher.

The Reds traded Jonathan India to the Royals in November, seemingly to make way for McLain to reclaim second base. They also still have utility infielder Santiago Espinal and Rule 5 pick Cooper Bowman -- another second baseman -- heading into camp next month. There's always a chance that either Marte or Encarnacion-Strand (or both) could open the season in Triple-A to give them more reps after their mostly lost 2024 seasons.

With just under a month left before Spring Training opens, there is still time to make another addition to the lineup and enhance the options before Francona.