Elly De La Cruz contract buzz wildly overstates what Reds will pay

A rumor circulating over the weekend claimed the Cincinnati Reds were preparing to offer Elly De La Cruz a 13-year, $700 million contract extension, but the report lacks credibility and the Reds lack the financial resources to make such a deal. The $54 million annual average would place it among the richest contracts in baseball history, comparable only to those signed by Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto, and only four or five MLB organizations could afford it. De La Cruz enters his arbitration window this offseason and will reach free agency after the 2029 season, but the Reds may trade him before then if they shift focus to rebuilding rather than competing in the near term.

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