3 Reds who should be offered extensions during the offseason and 1 who still has something to prove

The Atlanta Braves are showing teams that they mean business. The defending World Champions have signed several of their young stars to contract extensions since the 2022 season began.

Alex Anthopoulos has done it again. After inking Michael Harris and Austin Riley to contract extensions earlier this season, the Braves President of Baseball Operations just signed Spencer Strider to a six-year extension.

The Cincinnati Reds have zero money committed beyond next season and would be wise to start locking up some of their younger stars. While there's three players who should already be in consideration for a contract extension, there's still one who has something more to prove.

The Reds should sign Tyler Stephenson to a contract extension.

The most important player the Cincinnati Reds should re-sign is starting catcher Tyler Stephenson. And to be quite honest, there's not a close-second. While Stephenson suffered a rash of injuries that limited him to just 50 games in 2022, the Reds backstop may be the single most important player to the Cincinnati ball club moving forward.

Whether you believe that Stephenson's future is behind the plate or at first base, everyone throughout Reds Country can certainly agree that the 26-year-old's bat is his carrying tool. While Stephenson handles himself quite well behind the dish, he has shown versatility to handle first base as well.

The Reds could, in affect, set the market for young catchers. One would assume that both Los Angeles Dodgers' catcher Will Smith and Baltimore Orioles' backstop Adley Raustchman will be signed to contract extensions in the near future as well.

Securing Tyler Stephenson's services over the long haul is crucial to the Cincinnati Reds success in the future. If Nick Krall and Reds front office do nothing except ink Stephenson to a six or seven-year deal, the offseason will have been a victory.