Elly De La Cruz has spent his first four seasons turning promise into production, and now he’s reached a level the Reds can’t ignore. In 2026, he has developed into a legitimate MVP candidate, and the numbers back it up.
This has been De La Cruz’s best all-around season. He’s closing in on a possible 30/30 year, his defense has taken a major step forward over the last two seasons, and he’s doing more damage at the plate with a better average and more power. He has already set a career high with 29 home runs, while also striking out less than he has in any previous full season.
The leap shows up everywhere. His batting average is 20 points higher than his previous career best.
His on-base percentage is up 31 points over that mark. His slugging percentage is 46 points better than his former high.
For a Reds team that came into the year fresh off its first playoff appearance in 12 years and then fell short of returning, De La Cruz has been the bright spot. The season as a whole has been a disappointment, but he’s kept building while the team around him has stalled.
After the season, he didn’t sugarcoat where things stand.
“It didn’t go the way we wanted to. De La Cruz told Charlie Goldsmith of Charlie's Chalkboard, "That’s ok, though.
We’re going to have good seasons and bad seasons. We need to get it together for next year.”
He also made it clear he isn’t trying to become the public voice of the clubhouse.
“I’m not the guy who speaks for all. I don’t like to speak a lot. I just watch, listen, and learn from the bad things and the good things.”
The financial picture only makes the future more complicated. De La Cruz is entering his first year of arbitration this offseason, which means a major raise is coming. He is under team control through 2029, but the source of the problem is obvious: the Reds likely won’t be able to afford what he becomes unless their salary structure changes dramatically, and even then, he could still decide to go elsewhere.
That leaves Cincinnati staring at a bigger issue than just one superstar’s price tag. The organization still hasn’t shown enough consistency in developing young players once they reach the majors. De La Cruz, Chase Burns, and Sal Stewart have been exceptions, but the Reds need to invest more in that area this offseason.
Edwin Arroyo is the clearest example. He put up the best Triple-A numbers of his career this season, then struggled badly once he got to the big leagues. The pattern has been familiar: send a player back to Triple-A, hope he gets hot, then bring him back up and trust it sticks.
There are other holes to sort through, too. Pitching coach Derek Johnson has been on a leave of absence since June, and the team still hasn’t said what his future looks like.
Tyler Stephenson was not traded before the deadline, but if he isn’t re-signed, Cincinnati will need a new catcher. Pitching depth is also a problem waiting to happen in 2027, especially with Hunter Greene set to miss all of next season after Tommy John Surgery in August.
Brady Singer is expected to receive a $23 million qualifying offer this offseason, another expensive decision that will tighten the budget even more.
And for fans, the wait has been long. The Reds have not won 90 games since 2013, which was also the last time they won the division.
They avoided last place in the division from 1984 through 2014, but since 2014 they’ve finished there five times. The front office is rumored to stay in place, and that leaves a lot of uncertainty heading into another pivotal offseason.
In Other News...
Reds Report Puts Ownership Heat On Krall Debate All Over Again
A fresh report from The Athletic has brought an old Reds conversation back to the surface, this time centering on the relationship between owner Bob Castellini and front office executive Nick Krall. Citing unnamed sources, the story describes a tense exchange over how Cincinnati can build sustained success, with Castellini and Krall reportedly at odds over the best path forward for a club that has spent years trying to get the balance right between winning now and building for later.
The report says Castellini pushed back on trades Krall proposed that would have moved established players, while Krall continued to focus on collecting and developing young talent. Some of Kralls trades are part of that larger picture, and the broader challenge for the organization remains the same: figuring out whether patience, aggression, or some mix of both can finally get the Reds where they want to go. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Collapse Put One Big Clubhouse Problem Front And Center
After last years playoff trip, the Reds spent 2026 looking for traction and never really found it, finishing 73-85 and landing at the bottom of the NL Central. The frustrating part for Cincinnati is that the season was not short on individual bright spots, with players such as Sal Stewart continuing to perform well even as the club as a whole slid backward.
What stood out most was how thin the veteran layer felt around that young core. The offseason did not bring the kind of experienced clubhouse additions that can steady a team through the inevitable rough patches, and the collapse has put that choice under a brighter spotlight for the front office as it figures out how to build on a promising start that never quite carried over. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Fans Just Got A Front Office Message That Solves Nothing
Cincinnatis offseason has already been heavy on questions about direction, and the latest message from ownership did little to change that. Bob and Phil Castellini said Nick Krall and Brad Meador will keep steering baseball operations, while the organization also takes a closer look at its player development system, a sign the Reds are still trying to sort out what needs fixing after years of uneven results.
The larger point from the statement was clear enough: baseball people will make baseball decisions, and the front office wants that line to be understood. But for a fan base worn down by modest postseason returns and underwhelming development rankings, the announcement mostly confirmed the same thing it was meant to answer, leaving the real test where it has been for a while now, on whether the organization can turn that structure into better outcomes. [Read more 🡒]