Matt McLain just solved one Reds problem but created another one

Matt McLain's red-hot spring performance has cemented his spot in the Cincinnati Reds lineup heading into the 2026 season. According to Reds manager Terry Francona, McLain will bat second behind leadoff hitter TJ Friedl and ahead of Elly De La Cruz.

The Reds second baseman has produced the best stat line of almost any player throughout Major League Baseball this spring. He's leads the league in hits, home runs, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS. In 13 Cactus League games this spring, McLain is hitting .553/.605/1.105 with six home runs, 13 RBI, and a 326 wRC+.

Should the Reds sign Matt McLain to a long-term contract extension?

But while McLain's spring surge has answered one of the biggest questions facing the Reds this season, it's also brought a new debate to the forefront; should the Reds sign McLain to a contract extension?

Following a successful rookie campaign in 2023 that saw him hit .290/.357/.507 with 16 home runs in just 89 games, McLain underwent shoulder surgery in the spring of 2024 and missed the entire season. His return to the diamond in 2025 left Reds fans concerned. He hit just .220/.300/.343 with a 77 wRC+, and looked nothing like the budding star that burst on the scene two years prior.

But McLain's spring performance has given rise to the idea that he may be in line to rebound in 2026, and some fans are kicking around the notion of a signing him to a contract extension. McLain rejected the Reds efforts to sign him to a long-term deal last spring, though neither side has suggested that they've completely abandoned the idea of a contract extension.

This is a tricky one. Given McLain's pedigree and his rookie performance — plus his production during spring training — there's reason to believe that he could (and should) be part of the Reds' long-term plans.

Nevertheless, McLain struggled (mightily) in 2025, and any contract extension that he's willing to sign would undoubtedly assume that he'll outperform those numbers. In other words, McLain is unlikely to take a discount.

What might a Matt McLain contract extension look like?

When talking about contract extensions, it's important to find comparable deals. For a player like McLain, Jacob Wilson's seven-year, $70 million deal with the Athletics, Maikel Garcia's five-year, $57.5 million pact with the Kansas City Royals, and Geraldo Perdomo's four-year, $45 million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks are arguably the best comps.

Collectively, those three deals average out to about $11 million per year. Would a five-year, $60 million deal be enough to get McLain to sign on the dotted line? The Reds would be effectively buying out the final three years of his arbitration years, plus two years of free agency. McLain would receive an average annual value (AAV) of $12 million — a raise of nearly $10 million from his current salary.

There's tremendous risk with this type of deal. If McLain suffers another serious injury or fails to produce at the level that the contract extension demands, the Reds are effectively wasting a ton of payroll space. On the flip side, if McLain plays up to his lofty potential and has an All-Star type of season in 2026, he'll have priced himself of Cincinnati just like De La Cruz.

Outside of Hunter Greene, the Reds have failed to lock up their young talent and that's got some fans in the Queen City on edge about the direction of the organization going forward. If Cincinnati fails to agree to a long-term contract with McLain or another young player like Andrew Abbott or Sal Stewart, fans are going to become eve more restless.