Joey Votto didn’t exactly play it safe when he took a swing at Elly De La Cruz’s future payday.
The former Reds star and future Hall of Famer, who has stayed close to the Cincinnati fan base and even donated a custom clock that now sits outside Great American Ball Park before the season, recently jumped into an X conversation and laid out a massive prediction: De La Cruz’s next contract, in Votto’s view, will be a 12-year, $700 million deal. That would average $58 million a year and stretch all the way through 2042.
Votto pointed to De La Cruz’s age when he reaches free agency - 28 - along with his shortstop tools, especially his arm and range, and the fact that he has already produced seasons in the 5-6 Wins Above Replacement range. In Votto’s estimation, that puts De La Cruz on the doorstep of MVP-level production, the kind of ceiling that can send a contract into another stratosphere.
The problem for the Reds is that Votto’s number may be more fantasy than forecast.
Only two players in Major League Baseball history have signed for $700 million or more: Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto. They’re also the only players to clear the $500 million mark at all.
De La Cruz is a special player, no question, and he’s basically a yearly bet for 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases. But there’s still a real gap between that kind of electric potential and the kind of production that has fueled the sport’s biggest contracts.
And the timing doesn’t help Cincinnati. With a possible lockout looming and talk of a salary cap and floor in the background, a deal in Ohtani-or-Soto territory feels awfully hard to imagine.
Votto’s own 10-year, $225 million extension remains the richest contract in Reds history, and De La Cruz has already turned down a larger offer than that. Whatever his eventual price tag ends up being, it almost certainly won’t be one the Reds are eager to meet.
That doesn’t force Cincinnati into a trade right now, but it keeps the possibility alive. Letting a player like De La Cruz walk after the 2029 season and getting only draft compensation back would sting. Trading him before that point would hit even harder with the fan base.
For now, the Reds don’t need to make that call. But De La Cruz’s path through arbitration is already a reminder of how expensive this road could become.
In Other News...
Reds Just Added Outfield Insurance For A Stretch Run Concern
The Reds added a little more outfield depth this week by signing veteran Dominic Fletcher to a minor league deal, a move that gives the organization another experienced option as the stretch run begins to come into focus. Fletcher, who last appeared in the majors in 2025, had been in Triple-A with the Pirates before exercising a release clause to make the jump to Cincinnati.
For a club trying to stay protected against the wear and tear of a long season, these are the kinds of low-risk additions that can matter later. Cincinnati still has Elly De La Cruz anchoring the conversation on the field, with the star shortstop turning in a strong season and ranking near the top among MLB shortstops and Reds position players in a number of performance categories, but the front office clearly is still looking for ways to keep the roster flexible if the outfield picture gets tighter. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Fans Have A New Ownership Rumor To Watch
The recent sale of the Los Angeles Angels has stirred up more than one ripple around baseball, and Cincinnati is now part of the conversation. According to MLB insider Bob Nightengale, rival owners believe the Reds could be the next club on the market, a notion that immediately gets attention in a city where the Castellini familys stewardship has long been a source of fan frustration.
There is still no official indication that the Reds are actually for sale, which is why the rumor lands more as a sign of league chatter than confirmed reality. Even so, the speculation adds another layer to a franchise that has spent years trying to convince its followers that better days are ahead, while executives continue to face the same underlying question every big-market team does when ownership talk starts to circulate: what happens next, and who decides it? [Read more 🡒]
Reds Just Sent Edwin Arroyo A Tough Message Before Dodgers Series
The Reds got a little healthier before their series with the Dodgers, activating KeBryan Hayes from the 10-day injured list and sending infielder Edwin Arroyo back to Triple-A Louisville. It was the kind of roster move that comes with a clear message, especially for a young player trying to establish himself in the majors while Cincinnati is trying to keep pace in a tough stretch of the schedule.
Arroyos latest look with the big club never really got going, as he managed just one hit in 18 at-bats and struck out seven times over six games. With fellow rookie Juan Brito having already played better and taken over that spot, Arroyo is now headed back to Louisville with work to do before he gets another shot. [Read more 🡒]