The Reds made an unsuccessful effort at locking up Elly De La Cruz last spring. While details were sparse at the time, president of baseball operations Nick Krall revealed today the team made an official offer that would have topped their 10-year, $225MM franchise-record deal with Joey Votto.
“We made Elly an offer that would’ve made him the highest-paid Red ever,” Krall said (link via C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic). “That’s not where he is and you respect that. It’s their career. You keep going and you keep working on what you can do today.” De La Cruz opted not to go into specifics, telling fans at Redsfest only that he leaves contractual matters to his agent, Scott Boras.
The offer came on the heels of De La Cruz’s first full season in the big leagues. He hit 25 home runs and led the majors with 67 stolen bases while batting .259/.339/.471 in a little under 700 plate appearances. A switch-hitting shortstop with a massive power-speed combination, De La Cruz was a top 10 MVP finisher in his age-22 season. He had arguably been MLB’s #1 prospect before his promotion. It was enough for the Reds to safely consider him the face of the franchise.
As shown on MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, any extension above Votto money would have been a record for a player with fewer than two years of service. Julio Rodríguez holds that mark on his extension with the Mariners. That technically comes with a $210MM guarantee but has a massive escalator/option structure that could push the value closer to half a billion dollars. The player’s earning ceiling climbs as they approach arbitration. Fernando Tatis Jr. (14 years, $340MM) and Bobby Witt Jr. (11 years, $288.78MM) each commanded much bigger guarantees when they signed extensions at exactly two years of service.
Krall didn’t specify where the offer to De La Cruz would have landed in comparison to those precedents. Witt is an MVP-caliber player now but had some similarities to De La Cruz at the time he signed his extension over the 2023-24 offseason. He was also a former #1 prospect with the tools to be a franchise shortstop. Witt had hit .276/.319/.495 with 30 homers and 49 steals in the season preceding his long-term deal. He was already a star but had yet to level up to the player who’d win a batting title with an OPS pushing 1.000. Witt’s deal also built in four opt-out chances that could get him to free agency as early as his age-31 season — a time when a decade-long contract could be in the cards.
Whatever the specifics, De La Cruz has thus far opted to bet on himself. That’s the usual path for Boras Corporation clients, especially those who have yet to qualify for arbitration. He played on a pre-arbitration salary last year and will do the same in 2026. De La Cruz will qualify for arbitration next offseason and is under club control for four seasons. He’s on track to hit free agency at age 28.
De La Cruz’s production backed up a little bit in his second full season. He hit .264/.336/.440 with 22 longballs and 37 stolen bases. His average and on-base percentage were essentially unchanged, but his power and baserunning each took slight steps back. It’s unlikely to change much about how the Reds view him. De La Cruz started all but one game as the Reds battled for the National League’s final playoff spot. Krall said earlier in the offseason that De La Cruz played through a strained left quad. The injury and potential fatigue wore on him in the second half, as he hit .236/.303/.363 after the All-Star Break. He had carried a .284/.359/.495 slash with 25 steals into the Midsummer Classic.
Cincinnati will probably take another run at extension talks this spring, though it’d be a surprise if they get anything done. He’ll remain the team’s most important position player in either case. Krall made clear they’re committed to De La Cruz at shortstop, where he has a cannon arm but has led MLB in errors in consecutive seasons. He should lead the way offensively if he’s fully healthy, with his physical gifts giving him one of the highest ceilings in the league.
… and another exciting spectacular superstar will shortly leave a small market team which tried to keep him, for one of the big markets.
Baseball is broken.
To be fair his agent is Scott boras who never accepts extensions that cover would-be free agent years
Altuve, Bogaerts, Andrus, and Strasburg would challenge your use of the word “Never”.
Most of them got overpaid
Dodgers offer is 4/320.
It’s not quit crying. You’re a fan of laundry not the player.
Good for the Reds for trying
And, good for Elly, I guess, for doing what he wants to do
When do the trade to the Dodgers rumors start???
Best thing that ever happened to the Reds. Let someone else waste money on him. He’s not a Red, and wants out as quick as he can. TRADE HIM while you can find someone silly enough to give you something.
Chasing: Dodgers are silly as hell.
Can’t blame a team for trying to lowball a guy and lock him up for below market value and can’t blame a player for not wanting to commit when he’s seeing the money that’s out there if you can make it to or near free agency.
There was time when $225MM over ten years seemed like a huge contract.
Given the current state of the market and the crazy contracts that were handed out in the last 24 hours, De La Cruz can probably get $225MM over 3-4 years in 2028. The days of good young players taking team-friendly extensions might be over.
By the time he’s eligible for free agency, the system probably will be different. No one knows what it will look like as the players and their agents will object to any significant changes without the owners truly opening their books. Let’s enjoy 26 because memories could be what we have for a long time before there is again MLB action. I don’t mean to be political but our president wrote a book on negotiations thirty years ago. While he’s occupied presently, he has plenty of time to get involved if he cares at all about the league including owners and players (never mind us fans).
*paid someone to write a book
Elly’s defense is not very good but I’d love to see him in a Giants uniform. He has a presence about him that screams athleticism. If he puts in the work on defense his value will be high. I do think he should have taken the Reds offer though.
Boras messing with these mid market billionaires. You just hate to see it.
He might regret that… doesn’t seem to project long term at SS defensively. High strike outs. Thoughts?
He’s young so it’s hard to predict, I’d say McLain is regretting turning down the extension after last year though
He reduced his strikeout percentage from 31.3% to 25.9% last year, which is not that much worse than league average (22.5%). That happened in his age 23 season. Based on that he probably can improve even more as he matures.
The year wasn’t amazing but that fact gives me a ton of confidence he won’t go down the same path as O’Neil Cruz.
I can see him going to the Dodgers.
God I hope not. His defense is questionable and his hit tools while solid are very streaky. Is say most Dodger fans don’t want him. At least not right away. They want well rounded players. Not good here, bad there guys.
I like cheese
Cheese is delicious.
Baseball has basically caught up with the NBA in terms of contract lengths and salaries. 3 years/$126zm or 4 years/$240M has been the norm in the NBA for over 15 years now. Only way he signs an extension at this point is if they blow him out of the water:
15 years/$660M w/ an opt out every season after the first four years; basically give him the option to enter free agency whenever he wants to and still gives him $110M guaranteed over 4 years, $50M of which would be the signing bonus.
Why would they give him the first opt-out when he’s originally scheduled to hit free agency, anyway? That would risk massively overpaying him (compared to going year-to-year) for the remaining 4 years that they already have him under team control and then getting nothing but a QO compensation pick afterwards.
Even before considering opt-outs, any extension should factor in that he’s still pre-arbitration for one more year and then merely arbitration-eligible for the next 3 years after that.
Cheese, aren’t early-career extensions supposed to come at a significant discount for the team? If he really wants more than that, then don’t allow any extension to start until his actual free agency years and don’t be afraid to let him walk after the 6 years that you do get to keep him.
You were not born in Los Angeles and I hope you never wear a Dodgers jersey. Of the cross, my eye.
Does that mean you are racist to players not born or homegrown in LA