Elly De La Cruz makes the Reds trade deadline far more complicated than it should be

The Cincinnati Reds should be sellers at this year's MLB trade deadline, and recent reports suggest that will be their plan. The question, however, is just how aggressive they should be. Nobody believes the Reds have plans to trade Elly De La Cruz — nor should they — but his very presence on the roster makes this year's trade deadline somewhat complicated.

De La Cruz will become arbitration eligible after this season. In other words, the Reds are only guaranteed to have their superstar shortstop under team control for three more seasons, and many believe his window might be even shorter. (This assumes the Reds might look to trade De La Cruz before he reaches free agency following the 2029 season.)

The Reds have made efforts — half-hearted as they might have been — to sign De La Cruz beyond his arbitration window. To date, those attempts have been futile, and with many experts assuming he'll be able to land a mega-deal in free agency, a contract extension would appear to be nothing more than a pipe dream at this point.

Barring a shocking turnaround this season, the only thing the Reds will have to show for De La Cruz's three-plus seasons in Cincinnati is a brief playoff appearance in 2025 that resulted in a quick exit at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

If an 83-win season accompanied by an abrupt playoff elimination is all the Reds are able to accomplish during De La Cruz's tenure, it will have been an utter waste of his immense talent. And it's that very reason that may force the Reds' front office to hold onto several players that could have tremendous value in this seller's market.

Elly De La Cruz's presence complicates Reds' trade deadline plans

Having De La Cruz under team control through 2029 will push the Reds to hold on to several players who might otherwise net them a haul of prospects at this year's trade deadline. Andrew Abbott, Spencer Steer, JJ Bleday, and even Hunter Greene would all be in high demand if the Reds decided to shop them ahead of the August 3 deadline.

But subtracting those players — all of whom are under team control for at least two more seasons — from the roster would immediately torpedo any chance the Reds have to contend for the next several years. It's the type of fire sale the fanbase endured in 2022, and it would thrust the Reds right back into a rebuild. After the fiasco that followed the team's rebuild four years ago, it's doubtful the Reds fanbase would accept such a radical pivot.

The 2026 season was supposed to be the year that everything clicked. The core of De La Cruz, Greene, Abbott, Nick Lodolo, Matt McLain, Noelvi Marte, and Christian Encarnacion-Strand were supposed to lead this year's club to an NL Central title and a deep playoff run. Instead, the Reds are exactly where they were in 2022 — in the NL Central basement.

Don't look for the Reds to shop De La Cruz at this summer's trade deadline. They'd be foolish to do so. But running it back with the same leadership and a similar roster in 2027 is not an option. Cincinnati needs to make some wholesale changes and head into next season with a reloaded (not a rebuilt) roster.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow