Reds failure to secure key contract extension overshadows 2025 arbitration agreements

The Cincinnati Reds will not have go to arbitration with any of their players this winter. That's a good thing. But the front office missed an opportunity to secure a long-term contract extension with one of their most valuable players.

Tyler Stephenson agreed to a one-year, $4.9 million contract with the Reds for the upcoming season. Stephenson was in the second year of a three-year window in which Cincinnati could lock up their starting catcher for the foreseeable future. Instead, the two sides were only able to agree on a one-year pact.

Reds failure to secure key contract extension for Tyler Stephenson overshadows 2025 arbitration agreements

Stephenson had his best year in the majors last season. The 28-year-old backstop proved that he could stay healthy, appearing in 138 games. Stephenson hit .258/.338/.444 with 19 home runs and 1 112 OPS+. But Stephenson also improved his receiving skills behind the plate, and put up some of the best defensive numbers of his career.

The Reds still have time to get an extension signed, sealed, and delivered, but typically those types of agreements come to fruition before the arbitration deadline. Stephenson is still under team control through the 2026 season, and with no viable replacement inside the Reds' organization, it would greatly behoove the Cincinnati brass to extend the former first-round before he leaves in free agency.

On the plus-side, the Reds did come to terms with the remaining seven players who were up for arbitration. Nick Lodolo, Jake Fraley, Alexis Díaz, Gavin Lux, Brady Singer, Jose Trevino. and Sam Moll all agreed to one-year deals that. Combined with Stephenson's $4.9 million, the Reds owe approximately $30 million to those players who were in line for pay increases this offseason.

Next year, that number will grow. Of that aforementioned group of eight players, only Trevino will be a free agent after the 2025 campaign. Players like Spencer Steer, TJ Friedl, and Graham Ashcraft will be up for arbitration ahead of the 2026 season.

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