Reds arbitration drama pales next to what Elly De La Cruz will cost

The relative youth of the Cincinnati Reds’ roster means the team has spent the winter running numbers and making offers ahead of the arbitration deadline.

For the most part, the conversations with the players were successful. Only catcher Tyler Stephenson and reliever Graham Ashcraft failed to come to terms. The fact that Stephenson and Ashcraft are heading for arbitration hearings is a minor annoyance compared to what the Reds will face next season.

Stephenson and Ashcraft are haggling over $250,000 and $500,000, respectively. Those figures are drops in the bucket of a club’s budget. Next year, Elly De La Cruz will be eligible for arbitration, and he will certainly demand a significant contract. Should the Reds attempt to hold the purse strings tightly, they could be in for a long winter.

Reds' arbitration hearings with Tyler Stephenson and Graham Aschraft set the stage for potential Elly De La Cruz drama

This year’s crop of shortstops in the first year of arbitration give fans some idea of what De La Cruz might be eyeing in 2027. Baltimore Orioles star Gunnar Henderson had a down year in 2025 compared to his 2024 breakout campaign, and he still received an $8.5 million contract. That puts him on track to potentially break into the Top 10 arbitration contracts of all time by his third go-round in the system. The Astros’ Jeremy Peña avoided arbitration with a $4.1 million deal last offseason and saw his salary increase to $9.475 million this year.

While De La Cruz’s 2025 numbers closely resemble Henderson’s (they finished 8th and 6th in fWAR, respectively, among shortstops), Henderson is arguably better than De La Cruz. The O’s shortstop posted a .281/.364/.529 line in 2024; the Reds star’s best career marks were a .264 batting average in 2025 and a .339 on-base percentage and .471 slugging percentage in 2024.

Peña is a good comp for De La Cruz’s low end. The Astros shortstop is a better fielder than De La Cruz, but Peña’s OPS was just .701 when he reached the $4.1 million settlement. If Elly puts together a more well-rounded season and continues to improve his plate patience, though, he should be worth somewhere in the mid- to high-seven figures. If the Reds are digging in their heels on Stephenson and Ashcraft, they could be in for a contentious and pricey offseason next year.