Cincinnati Reds GM Speaks Out on Elly De La Cruz Extension Talks

Cincinnati Reds GM Speaks Out on Elly De La Cruz Extension Talks

Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz is having the best season of his young career and it is not close.

The 24-year-old two-time All-Star is hitting .288 with 10 home runs, 29 RBI and nine stolen bases through the first quarter of 2026, putting him on pace for roughly 40 home runs and well over 100 RBI.

He has been the engine behind a Reds offense that has Cincinnati sitting at 22-19, though the club is still last in an NL Central where all five teams are above .500.

None of that, apparently, has moved the needle on an extension.

Boras Visits Cincinnati

De La Cruz had dinner with agent Scott Boras at Jeff Ruby's restaurant in Cincinnati on Monday night and posted a photo to his Instagram story that blew up almost immediately.

The image showed a Reds-themed menu item at the table, and it did not take long for fans to start speculating about what the meeting meant.

MLB reporter Jim Bowden reached out to Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall to ask whether the club had re-engaged in extension talks.

"Not at this time," Krall told Bowden.

No surprises there.

Earlier this offseason, Krall revealed that the Reds offered De La Cruz a deal that would have made him the highest-paid player in franchise history, topping the 10-year, $225 million extension Joey Votto signed in 2012. De La Cruz turned it down.

"I let my agent take care of all of that," he said at Redsfest in January.

The Company

The fact that Boras represents De La Cruz tells most of the story by itself.

Boras wants his top clients to reach free agency, where the open market can push contracts to places that pre-free agency extensions almost never go.