Reds: Elly De La Cruz turned down a contract worth over $225 million

The MLB salary market is crazy these days. In this context, it will become increasingly difficult for Major League Baseball teams to sign contract extensions before their colts become free as a bird.

In fact, Cincinnati Reds President of Baseball Operations Nick Krell revealed at his team's fan festival that Elly De La Cruz turned down the biggest contract offer in Reds history in the spring of 2025.

We made Elly an offer that would have made him the highest-paid Reds member of all time. That's not where he is and we respect that. It's his career. We keep moving forward and working on what we can do today.

Had he initialed this deal, it would have surpassed the record contract for the Ohio-based outfit, Joey Votto's ten-year, $225 million deal signed in April 2012.

Last spring, the Cincinnati Reds made an offer to shortstop Elly De La Cruz that would have eclipsed Joey Votto's club-record 10-year, $225M contract extension in 2012.

De La Cruz turned it down. pic.twitter.com/f6ogXflqRr

– The Athletic MLB (@TheAthleticMLB) January 17, 2026

The main interested party responded to his manager's comments through the mouth of his agent, Scott Boras.

I let my agent take care of that.

De La Cruz is the Reds' best position player since Votto, so it makes sense for him to sign a more lucrative contract. But in the current market, it was the right decision to turn down his organization's offer.

The 24-year-old is expected to receive a salary of around $820,000 in 2026, his last season before becoming eligible for arbitration. He will be able to test his full autonomy after the 2029 campaign if he hasn't reached an agreement with the Reds by then.

In 2025, De La Cruz posted a .264 batting average with 22 home runs, 37 stolen bases, and 86 runs batted in over 162 games.

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