As much as the Gavin Lux trade says about adding a left-handed bat to the Cincinnati Reds lineup, it might say just as much about what the Reds think about Matt McLain.

And even more how they view Noelvi Marte.

Because now they need to find a place for Lux to play. And the former minor league player of the year, who has two World Series rings with the Dodgers since then, has played only one game in the big leagues at a position that wasn’t middle infield or the outfield.

That included 138 of 139 games last season at second base. Which belonged to McLain until Monday.

Team president Nick Krall, who got Lux from the Dodgers for 2024 third-rounder Mike Sirota and a competitive balance draft pick, is turning the roster math over to new manager Terry Francona.

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But Krall, Francona and the rest of the Reds braintrust already seem to have an idea how the perfect fit would align.

“We’ll figure that out in spring training,” said Krall, who described a scenario in which Lux gets time at the usual second, left and maybe DH roles, then gets looks at third base and shortstop.

“We’ll see where it is, see where he is defensively at all those positions,” Krall said.

What it could mean for McLain seems obvious.

The team’s best player during his three months on the active roster as a rookie in 2023, McLain was viewed as a significant fielding upgrade for the infield as he returned from a season-long shoulder injury to take over second in 2025.

But McLain also played some outfield during the Arizona Fall League season, and the team has enough faith in his ability to move around effectively if it becomes necessary to get Lux the at-bats they want him to provide this season.

The big question is what Lux looks like at that position he played just once in the big leagues (and four times in the minors): Third base.

Krall was quick to point out how awful the Reds’ production was from both corner infield spots and DH in 2024 – worst collective WAR in the majors at each of those hitting positions.

Corner infielder Jeimer Candelario, who slumped the first two months and spent much of the rest of the season injured, isn’t going anywhere with two years and $30 million left on his contract.

And he’s not good enough in the field to commit much time to him at third base, considering the Reds’ sizable defensive gap to make up almost everywhere in the field since last season if they plan to compete.

Enter Marte.

And more to the point, exit Marte. To the minors to start the season.

The 2024 rookie might have summed up the disappointment of last season more than any other player on the roster, from his 80-game steroid suspension to his significant underperformance when he returned – made worse by manager David Bell’s reluctance to sit him or send him out.

Maybe Marte will rebound with a spring for the ages and a stunning turnaround from 2024.

But Krall’s trying to win now with a new, high-priced manager and a few potential stars among his young core.

And nobody’s going to make the same mistake twice with this team when it comes to counting on any single player to become something he hasn’t already proven he is.

Until Monday night, the Reds had done nothing to improve their weakest position on the field last year.

No guarantees that Lux will be the answer that Marte wasn’t. Or even better than Candelario or Santiago Espinal for that matter.

But if he can handle third base, he’ll get a chance to win a significant share of that job.

And Krall clearly is intrigued by the unrealized potential he said he still sees in Lux, 27, who started slow in 2024 after missing 2023 with a knee injury.

Reds scouts saw Lux in the second half, long after the Reds were done playing the Dodgers, as he seemed to get his legs back under him – hitting .304 with an .899 OPS after the All-Star break.

Krall mentioned a fangraphs.com article about changes Lux made to his approach to try to do “more damage.”

“This is a guy with really good upside,” Krall said. “Even still with where he is right now he still has some room to run to get better.”

He’s under club control for two more seasons. Whether he’s the answer at third that solves Francona’s roster math, it all starts next month in Arizona. “And we’ll see what works and doesn’t work,” Krall said.

Lux? McLain? Marte?

“It’s going to sort itself out in spring training where everyone fits best going into the season,” Krall said.