Cincinnati’s fastest route back to the top may be the move nobody wants to see: trading Elly De La Cruz.
That’s the hard truth laid out here, and it comes from the same place Milwaukee’s current run does. The Brewers just swept the high-dollar Dodgers out of the NLCS and are headed to their first World Series since 1982, but that surge was built the slow way - through a string of unpopular, disciplined decisions that kept the roster strong and the pipeline moving.
Over the past five years, Milwaukee has shipped out 2021 Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes, ace Freddy Peralta, 2025 Rookie of the Year finalist Caleb Durbin, and All-Star closers Devin Williams and Josh Hader. None of those moves were easy.
All of them were criticized. But the Brewers understood something simple: if they were going to stay competitive, they had to cash in some of their biggest assets before the bill came due.
That approach has gone hand in hand with the organization’s ability to develop and retain talent on team-friendly terms. Milwaukee has leaned on a strong prospect system and has extended pre-arbitration offers to players like Jackson Chourio, Cooper Pratt, and Luis Lara.
Chourio’s $10.25 million average annual value is the highest among that group. The argument here is that Cincinnati could have used that same kind of early-deal strategy with Sal Stewart before his rookie breakout, and Alfredo Duno is presented as the next obvious candidate for such a move before he reaches the majors.
The Elly De La Cruz piece of the conversation gets even sharper when Joey Votto enters it. During an appearance on the Foul Territory podcast, the former Reds star explained to host A.J. Pierzynski how he would rebuild the club if he were running it, and his first answer was to move De La Cruz.
"Are you going to give up a half or a third of your payroll on one player? It doesn't make sense." @JoeyVotto would trade Elly De La Cruz for "as many prospects as possible." pic.twitter.com/iaaDiR0i5P
- Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) October 15, 2026
"I would trade Elly for as many prospects as possible, to start," Votto said. "Elly's going to get $650 million.
Even if he doesn't get that number, he's $50-60 million per year times seven (years) just to start... Are you going to give up half or a third of your payroll on one player?
It doesn't make sense."
Votto also said some teams shouldn’t be paying the “big dog guys,” and he pointed to the 10-year, $225 million deal he signed with Cincinnati in 2012 as an example of why the Reds were wrong to make that kind of commitment.
The larger problem, though, is that Cincinnati never built the right support around De La Cruz while he was still cheap. The front office tried, but the results never matched the plan.
Matt McLain has not reached the level many expected after his rookie season. Noelvi Marte has never become the All-Star caliber player he was projected to be.
Jeimer Candelario missed the mark as a free-agent signing. Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo have spent much of their careers in and out of the IL.
And several of Nick Krall’s trade pickups - Chase Petty, Edwin Arroyo, Brandon Williamson, among others - have not yet become major league difference-makers.
The record tells the rest of the story. The Reds have not won the division since 2012, and this season they finished in the NL Central basement for the first time since 2018. The question hanging over the franchise is whether this front office and ownership group can suddenly turn a 75-win team in 2026 into a 95-win team next year.
Because of the looming lockout, a De La Cruz trade this offseason feels unlikely. The window to work out a blockbuster deal would be too tight, especially for a player of his caliber.
A deal at the 2027 trade deadline, if baseball is played next season, is possible. The likelier outcome, though, is a new front office after the 2027 season and a fresh regime fielding offers for De La Cruz during the 2027-28 offseason, when he would still have two years of team control left and could bring back a huge haul sometime between now and Opening Day in 2028.
In Other News...
Reds Prospect Carlos Jorge Is Giving Fans A Reason To Watch Winter Ball
The Dominican Winter League opened with a little extra intrigue for Reds followers, and it came from a pair of familiar names in Gigantes Del Cibao's lineup. Carlos Jorge and Noelvi Marte were both in the starting nine, giving Cincinnati fans an early look at two prospects who could spend the winter shaping their next steps while the organization keeps tabs on talent scattered across several leagues.
Jorge made his debut count right away, connecting for a home run, while Marte helped round out the offense as Gigantes Del Cibao picked up the win. Between the Dominican circuit and other winter stops like the Arizona Fall League, Mexican Winter League and Venezuelan Winter League, the Reds have plenty of young players worth following, and Jorge's start is exactly the kind of first impression that can make those late nights a little more interesting. [Read more 🡒]
Tyler Stephensons Reds Future May Come Down To One Tough Reality
Tyler Stephensons Reds tenure may be approaching a familiar kind of crossroads, one where production, age and payroll all start tugging in different directions. The catcher is expected to reach free agency soon, and there is already buzz around possible suitors such as the White Sox and Yankees, which only adds to the sense that Cincinnati is staring at a difficult decision with one of its more established players.
The Reds have plenty to think about beyond one looming contract, and that matters here. They have roster needs to juggle and limited appetite for a market that could get expensive quickly, even as Stephensons future remains unsettled and speculation builds about where he might land by 2027. For now, the clubs position looks clear enough: interest is out there, but so are the realities that make a reunion far from automatic. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Face One Massive Elly De La Cruz Decision
The Reds spent much of this season wrestling with the same problems that have slowed their climb back toward contention, namely injuries in the rotation and an offense that never quite gave the club enough cushion. With those issues hanging over the roster, the conversation in Cincinnati is already shifting toward what comes next, including how aggressively the front office might reshape the pitching staff and whether the infield alignment can stay intact as the team tries to build a more reliable core.
Elly De La Cruz sits at the center of that bigger debate because he is the kind of player a rebuilding or retooling club usually wants to keep, yet also the kind of asset that can alter an organizations timeline if the team decides to think more expansively. For the Reds, the question is not just how to improve for next season, but how far they are willing to go in pursuit of a return to the postseason by 2027, and whether that means holding firm on a franchise face or listening when the market starts to whisper about a massive move. [Read more 🡒]