The Cincinnati Reds have a franchise-caliber talent in Elly De La Cruz, but the bigger question hanging over the organization is whether they can keep him long enough to matter.
On Tuesday, The Athletic’s C. Trent Rosecrans laid out why that could get tricky, tying De La Cruz’s future to both his competitive drive and the kind of money he may one day command.
“To spend your career in a place like Cincinnati, you’ve got to really want to be here," Rosecrans said on Foul Territory. "I think Elly wants to be here while he’s here, but he is also a guy that has some bigger ambitions. Elly De La Cruz is a competitor and he wants to win.”
That doesn’t amount to a prediction that De La Cruz is gone. It does, though, underline the reality the Reds are facing: a star like this only stays if the team around him gives him enough reason to believe in the direction of the franchise.
So far, the results have been thin. Cincinnati has reached the postseason only once with De La Cruz on the roster, and that leaves the club with a major job ahead if it wants to turn his presence into something more than a highlight reel.
Rosecrans also pointed to the business side of the equation, noting that keeping De La Cruz for an entire career may simply not be realistic.
“He’s going into his first year of arbitration this year. It’s going to be a challenge to put a team around him while he’s still here.
I don’t think anyone can expect him to be with the Reds his entire career. It’s not practical.
It’s not realistic. And that’s just the state of the game now.
Who knows what that means in six months or whenever this is all settled. Still, it’s going to be hard to get him.
They put up an offer a couple of years ago, the largest contract offer in team history, eclipsing the Joey Votto one, but that is not something Elly is going to look at. He is showing everybody why he is this immense talent and that he could have this unbelievable contract in the future.
He is becoming a better and better player.”
The Reds may have put forward a deal bigger than the one Joey Votto signed in 2012, but the market has changed a lot since then. What once stood as the biggest offer in club history could still fall short of what De La Cruz would see elsewhere.
That leaves Cincinnati with two separate problems: paying him enough to keep him, and building a roster strong enough to make him believe staying is worth it.
Neither issue should be treated like a reason to let seasons slip away.
De La Cruz is under team control through the 2029 season, which gives the Reds time - but not much room for waste. If ownership and the front office already sense that a long-term stay will be hard to secure, that should only sharpen the urgency to win now.
The Reds have De La Cruz, Sal Stewart and Chase Burns to build around. The next move belongs to ownership and the front office, who need to spend and make the right calls if they want this core to turn into something real.
The talent is there. The clock is ticking.
In Other News...
Sal Stewart Just Got A New Rookie Of The Year Threat
The National League Rookie of the Year picture got a lot more interesting this week with the Cardinals activating second baseman JJ Wetherholt from the injured list, putting him back into the race just as the season is heading into its final stretch. For the Reds, that matters because Sal Stewart has been right there among the leagues most talked-about first-year players, and the award conversation now looks like a crowded one with about a week and a half left in the regular season.
Stewart is part of a group that also includes the Mets Nolan McLean and Carson Benge, while Wetherholt brings a different case back into the mix after his time on the shelf. The debate around the race has not just been about who has the biggest traditional numbers, but also who looks strongest in metrics such as WAR, and that split is what makes the closing weeks so intriguing for Cincinnati as Stewart tries to hold off a late push from another top candidate. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Are Back To An Outfield Experiment Fans Know Too Well
The Reds are taking another familiar detour in the outfield, this time with Juan Brito starting in right field against the Dodgers. Brito is mainly a middle infielder, but he does bring some background there from his time in the Guardians system, including a short run of work in right field over the past couple seasons.
It is the kind of move Cincinnati has tried before, with infielders Noelvi Marte and Matt McLain both getting looks in the outfield along the way. Sometimes those experiments have helped patch holes in the lineup, and sometimes they have only underscored how thin the options can get, which is why this latest test is worth watching closely. [Read more 🡒]
Elly De La Cruz Just Delivered Another Dodgers Moment Reds Fans Loved
Elly De La Cruz keeps finding new ways to make a game against the Dodgers feel like a Reds showcase. In the latest chapter, he turned in a 5-3-6 double play that had the kind of snap and creativity that can change an inning in a hurry, catching a throw behind him while still moving and then tagging a sliding baserunner just before the bag. For a Cincinnati club that has seen De La Cruz deliver plenty of highlight material already, this one stood out even in a crowded week.
It also came with some history attached, since it was only the second 5-3-6 double play since the start of the 2024 season. Terry Francona praised the play afterward, which only added to the sense that De La Cruz is stacking up moments that matter beyond the box score. And after a week that already included a record-setting relay throw, the bigger question for the Reds is how many more of these plays he has left to surprise even the people who have seen almost everything from him. [Read more 🡒]