Reds have a perfect opportunity to reward Sal Stewart after Rookie of the Year win

After months of debating Sal Stewart's National League Rookie of the Year case from every angle imaginable, we can finally say that the voters agreed and the Cincinnati Reds phenom will be taking home the hardware.

The nod is well-deserved for a player who .263/.330/.457 with 32 homers and 112 RBIs, the latter of which was the second-best mark in the NL. It was truly a historic season for the youngster, and it's likely just the beginning of his ascencion to superstar status.

The sky is the limit for Stewart, but for the Reds, this news should create a sense of urgency. The club heads into 2027 with many holes, a thin farm system, and one of the league's tinier budgets. 2025's playoff appearance was something that was supposed to be built upon, yet now, it's hard to see how Cincinnati advances in this crowded NL Central landscape.

There is a path forward, though, and it starts with rewarding Stewart with a long-term extension and using that as a springboard to build for the future.

Reds can't continue to be behind the curve, and must extend Sal Stewart to build properly

Small-market teams have figured out the way to handle these situations to extract maximum value. The strategy is to extend elite talents early and at a discount. You can look at the Milwaukee Brewers as a prime example. They extended Jackson Chourio ahead of his major league debut, and the eight-year, $82 million deal gave them cost certainty for years to come.

This year Milwaukee repeated that strategy with both Luis Lara and Cooper Pratt. Neither rookie jumped off the page the same way that Chourio did, but with a $4.43 million AAV for Lara and a $6.34 million AAV for Pratt, neither player has to be a star for the math to work out in the Brewers' favor, and there's a very good chance that at least one of them becomes the All-Star they've been dreaming of.

The examples extend beyond the Brewers, too. The Detroit Tigers extended AL Rookie of the Year Kevin McGonigle, and the Pittsburgh Pirates extended the phenom known as Konnor Griffin. Both deals came back in April, before either had proven much at the big league level. The numbers are heftier here: eight years and $150 million for McGonigle, and nine years and $140 million for Griffin, but again the price is locked in, and if these players reach anywhere close to their full potential, these will be bargains.

To that end, the Reds already missed the boat on Stewart. He now has an impressive rookie campaign and some hardware under his belt. He's up for a Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award, too. Much like your grocery bill, the price is only going up.

Cincinnati dragged its feet, and now they'll have to pay up. And pay up they should. Things are only getting more expensive from here on out.

“I was open to it [an extension],” Stewart said back in June. “The Reds don’t feel like right now is the right time, which is 100 percent fine. I still have to prove to myself and prove to the league what I can do. I leave all of that [contract issues] up to my agent. I have him for a reason. I trust him. I trust his decision-making, as well.”

What's done is done; now the lesson must be learned. The Reds already have Chase Burns locked up, and Stewart is an obvious cornerstone to pair with him on the offensive side. Locking in the price means there will be more money to go around for other youngsters who could become part of the young core.

Building up that core should be the next most important action item after extending Stewart. Much of the Reds' top minor league talent is down in the lower levels of the minors. They need to maximize the window of their current foundational players, which, again, are Stewart and Burns.

That could mean trading Elly De La Cruz for a haul, specifically targeting prospects like Franklin Arias of the Boston Red Sox, who are ready to arrive in the majors in 2027, and then following the same aggressive extension blueprint. The same holds true for the few blue-chippers still in Cincy's minor league pipeline, such as Alfredo Duno.

Collecting young talent and doling out early, below-market extensions is the winning formula when you're ballin' on a budget. There might be a miss here or there, but they won't hurt much. At the same time, the cost controls create a situation where spending on supplement veterans is possible when the time is right. Transitioning to this strategy for the Reds starts with locking up Stewart, and after the Rookie of the Year win, the time to call his agent is now.

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