Reds Trying to Get Extension Done With Another Key Player

April 15, 2026
Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona reacts during 2026 game.

Sal Stewart told Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer that he's open to a long-term extension with the Cincinnati Reds, and president of baseball operations Nick Krall voiced mutual interest, though the two sides haven't had any substantive talks yet. 

Since being called up late last season, Stewart has hit 10 home runs and 19 RBIs in 130 plate appearances, slashing .283/.369/.593 while walking more than he strikes out this season, (13:12).

His batted-ball numbers, a 95.5 mph average exit velocity, a 19.6% barrel rate and a 55.4% hard-hit rate, is the kind of profile that doesn't come along in Cincinnati very often. 

The last time the Reds developed a middle-of-the-order force this organically was Joey Votto, and that name is already circulating in the conversation.

What an Extension Would Actually Cost

The only long-term deal extending club control over a pre-arbitration Reds player in the past decade is Hunter Greene's six-year, $53MM contract. 

Stewart's ceiling is considerably higher, which means that number is a floor at best. The comparable landscape runs from Ceddanne Rafaela's eight years and $50MM on the low end up through Corbin Carroll's eight-year, $111MM deal, with Stewart's early returns sitting closer to the Carroll tier than the Rafaela one. 

Stewart is repped by MVP Sports Group, the same agency that handled Votto's 10-year, $225MM franchise-record deal, so there's no shortage of institutional knowledge about what Cincinnati's checkbook can theoretically look like. 

On the cap side, the Reds actually have room to work with. Outside of Greene and Ke'Bryan Hayes, no one on the roster is guaranteed money beyond 2027, leaving Cincinnati on the hook for no more than $42MM in any of the next four seasons. 

The financial runway exists. The question is whether ownership is willing to run down it.

The Elly Problem Looms Over Everything

The Reds tried this before and couldn't close. 

Cincinnati made a franchise-record offer to shortstop Elly De La Cruz last spring that never came to fruition, and De La Cruz now heads toward free agency without a deal in place. 

That failure is relevant context for what happens next with Stewart. If the Reds can't lock up their most electric position player, it raises a fair question about whether they have the organizational will to pay what a bat like Stewart would command on the open market. 

Stewart, for his part, sounds like a genuinely willing partner, saying the city "means a lot" to him and that the organization "took a chance" on him when he was young. 

Photo Credit: Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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