Scott Boras didn’t exactly hand the Reds a simple answer when he was asked about keeping a player like Elly De La Cruz, but the message underneath the noise was pretty clear: small-market teams have to decide what kind of franchise they want to be.
At this week’s GM Meetings in Las Vegas, Cincinnati reporter C. Trent Rosecrans put the question directly to Boras: "We’ve heard over and over than smaller markets can’t keep their stars and win.
The topic comes up repeatedly. Is there a roadmap that you could see for team like the Cincinnati Reds to keep a player like Elly De La Cruz?"
De La Cruz is one of the game’s best players and is entering Year 1 of his arbitration window. The Reds also tried to lock him up with the biggest contract in team history, but they couldn’t get a deal done. Boras, De La Cruz’s agent, has now become part of the conversation around whether Cincinnati can keep a star of that caliber in the fold.
Boras’ answer wandered, but one part landed with real force: "The idea of what ownership does and what they choose to do is that they have to understand how they operate. Why they operate," Boras said. "And obviously, if I'm going to operate like I did 20 years ago and everybody in my division is operating differently, I'm not going to be able to capitalize the franchise to a level that others have to create an opportunity."
That’s the uncomfortable truth for clubs like the Reds. Teams in smaller markets have watched too many stars leave through free agency or get moved before they get expensive enough to force a decision.
J.T. Realmuto, Manny Machado, Gerrit Cole, and Francisco Lindor are all part of that familiar story.
The current World Series matchup offers its own version of the same problem. The Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays have both treated this as part of their operating model, with Corbin Burns, Devin Williams, Blake Snell, Freddy Peralta, Tyler Glasnow, Randy Arozarena, and Josh Hader all examples of players who were traded away instead of re-signed by their original teams.
There’s also a blueprint for keeping talent before the price gets out of hand, and Boras’ point fits that too. The Brewers have done it with young players such as Jackson Chourio, Cooper Pratt, Luis Lara, and Aaron Ashby, all of whom signed affordable extensions before they fully established themselves in the majors.
Other clubs have followed the same path. The St.
Louis Cardinals gave JJ Wetherholt an eight-year, $112.5 million deal. The Chicago Cubs signed NL MVP Pete Crow-Armstrong to a six-year, $115 million contract before his breakout this past season.
Even the Pittsburgh Pirates, while they haven’t reached an extension with Paul Skenes, gave rookie phenom Konnor Griffin a nine-year, $140 million deal this past year.
Cincinnati has tried to play in that space, too. The Reds have reached agreements with Hunter Greene, who signed a six-year, $53 million deal, and Chase Burns, who agreed to a seven-year, $105 million contract.
But Sal Stewart has not agreed to an extension, and there have reportedly been no talks so far. After winning NL Rookie of the Year this past week, Stewart’s price is only climbing.
That’s the trap for a team that waits too long. If the Reds had made their move on Stewart before this past season’s breakout, the eventual number would almost certainly have been lower. The same logic applies to Burns, whose $15 million AAV now looks like a bargain for a top-tier arm, but might have landed closer to $10 million if Cincinnati had struck before the 2026 season.
That’s why the Reds will have to keep thinking this way with young players like Alfredo Duno and Justin Lebron. If they believe those players can become All-Star-caliber talents once they arrive, the time to act is before they reach that level.
There’s risk in that approach, of course. But for a small-market club, it may be the only real path to holding onto its best players. If Cincinnati had locked up De La Cruz right after his rookie season, the Reds might not be living with the steady stream of trade rumors that now follow their star shortstop.
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