Reds CEO's irrational comments make Elly De La Cruz contract extension seem unlikely

The chances of a Cincinnati Reds-Elly De La Cruz contract extension took a major hit this offseason after Juan Soto signed a record-breaking deal with the New York Mets. Soto's 15-year, $765 million deal broke the mark set by Shohei Ohtani just over a year ago.

Soto played the market perfectly after turning down a reported $450 million contract offer from the Washington Nationals back in 2022. One of the best players in the game, Soto bet on himself, and rather than jumping on the big payday two years ago, the All-Star slugger kept raking and landed the biggest deal in MLB history. Kudos to him.

De La Cruz is entering Year 3 of his major league career, but won't reach free agency until after the 2029 season. The Reds shortstop will be making the league minimum this season, and if he doesn't reach Super Two status, will still be pre-arbitration eligible next winter.

Reds CEO's irrational comments make Elly De La Cruz contract extension seem unlikely

If the Reds were to offer De La Cruz a fair, market-value contract extension, there's an outside chance that the 23-year-old speedster could find common ground with Cincinnati's front office. Money now is better than money later, and while De La Cruz could follow in Soto's footsteps and land an earth-shattering deal during the 2029-30 offseason, that's five years away. Does he really want to wait that long?

De La Cruz's agent, Scott Boras, is notorious for taking his clients to free agency. Rather than negotiate in good faith with one team, Boras prefers to have multiple suitors. While most Reds fans can't stand that type of strategy — one that favors the big-market franchises — it's one that's worked rather well for Boras over the years.

But Boras' game plan isn't the only thing standing in the way of a De La Cruz extension with Cincinnati. Reds CEO Phil Castellini recently made some comments that just don't make any sense. During an interview with WLWT, Castellini was asked about the possibility of extending their budding superstar.

"We would obviously love to make guys like that franchise guys," Castellini said. "And that's something Nick (Krall) and his group are going to have to deal with at some point in the future. You know, he's a special player, and only time will tell what will happen. But where the game is today and the economics around it could be a challenge, but those are decisions that Nick will have to make down the road."

If Nick Krall had the power, the Reds would have already signed Elly De La Cruz to a contract extension

What is he talking about? Sure, Krall and his team will be involved in the discussions, but the buck (literally) stops with Castellini, his father Bob, and the rest of the Reds ownership group. If this decisions was solely up to Krall, he'd have signed De La Cruz to a multi-year deal already — it's not his money.

Quite frankly, if this deal were to ever come about, it would be likely to happen after the 2026 season when the possibility of a lockout and new collective bargaining agreement could favor MLB owners rather than the Player's Association. Until then, any talk of a De La Cruz contract extension is probably premature.

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