Joey Votto's joke reminded Reds fans of the harsh reality about Elly De La Cruz

Joey Votto was NBC's on-field correspondent for the Sunday Night Baseball affair between the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs. Votto, who took up residence in the Reds' dugout during the game, offered a succinct rebuke to fellow commentator Anthony Rizzo when discussing Elly De La Cruz's long-term future in Cincinnati.

"Unfortunately, we can't afford him. He's going cost roughly the GDP of a small country," Votto said during the Reds' 7-5 over the Cubs on Sunday night.

Votto didn't say anything that Reds fans aren't already aware of. Cincinnati's leadership missed their window to make De La Cruz a fixture of the franchise for the next decade, and now the Reds fanbase is simply clinging tightly to the next three years with the shortstop set to enter free agency after the 2029 season.

Joey Votto's comments give bleak outlook for Elly De La Cruz's future with the Reds

De La Cruz, who left Sunday's game during the seventh inning after complaining of tightness in his left quad, will become arbitration eligible for the first time this coming offseason. He's been making the league-minimum salary for the past three-plus seasons, but will receive quite the pay increase heading into 2027.

If you're looking for a figure, Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson took home $8.5 million in his first year of arbitration eligibility this past winter. Henderson's résumé is a tad better than the Reds' superstar, but De La Cruz's number will certainly be higher than the $4.2 million contract Washington Nationals star CJ Abrams settled for last offseason.

The 2027 campaign will mark a very important season for the Reds and De La Cruz. They've essentially wasted his first three seasons in the league — backing into the playoffs one time since 2023 and bowing out after just two games — and now he'll be more expensive. Cincinnati also has Hunter Greene and Ke'Bryan Hayes on the books for next season, and that amounts to about $23 million in sunk costs.

If the Reds are unable to make any noise next season — which seems unlikely given the current state of the franchise — all eyes will be on the front office the following winter. Cincinnati will have De La Cruz under team control for two more seasons after 2027, and could look to move him while his value is at its highest level.

Sadly, this has been the reality for the Cincinnati faithful since De La Cruz turned down the team's offer to make him the highest played player in Reds history — a distinction that belongs to Votto. But the future Hall of Famer's then-record 10-year, $225 million deal isn't going to cut it. The Reds would need to double that offer in order to get De La Cruz to even consider planting his flag in the Queen City for the better part of a decade.

Unless the upcoming Collective Bargaining negotiations provide the Reds (and other small market teams) some type of financial incentive that would allow them to offer De La Cruz more money than any other organization, Votto's humorous assertion is correct. The Reds can't afford him.

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