Projected extensions for young Reds stars are more than affordable

It's that time of year when clubs begin to discuss the potential of contract extensions involving some of their best players. For the Cincinnati Reds, that would Tyler Stephenson and Jonathan India.

Heading into next season, the Reds have zero guaranteed contracts on the books. That's not a bad thing, and can open up a world of possibilities for a team that is hoping to build a contender from the inside out.

But it's also important to lock up some of your core players along the way. The pair of Stephenson and India would certainly qualify as potential core pieces. Would contract extensions even be affordable for these young Reds players?

Predicted extensions for young Reds stars seem more than affordable.

Not only might potential contract extensions for Tyler Stephenson and Jonathan India be affordable, it may help the team over the long haul as well. Tim Britton of The Athletic (subscription required), gave his best estimate of what both Stephenson and India could expect if they were to sign a contract extension prior to the 2023 season.

Now, Britton wasn't just throwing numbers against a dart board to see if they'd stick, but rather used comps from recently signed contract extensions that best lined up with the Reds young stars.

Britton predicted that Stephenson could sign a five-year extension in the neighborhood of $8-million per year. That would be a five-year/$42-million deal. If you want to throw in a potential team-option, perhaps the deal would look more like a six-year pact worth $54-million.

With India, Britton used the contracts of Kolten Wong and Jorge Polanco as a blueprint and came up with a deal that could range anywhere from five years at $33-million to seven years at $57.5-million.

Both of these potential contract extensions would, in effect, buy out all the arbitration-eligible season and a couple more. Collectively, if you look at the high-end of both projections, the Reds would be paying an average of about $17-million between the two players. They're Mike Moustakas more than that to play in Colorado this season.

The Cincinnati Reds are going to have some decisions to make in the coming weeks and years when it comes to how they want to construct their team over the long-haul and which players are considered part of the core. Tyler Stephenson and Jonathan India would be a good place to start.