John B’s Sports Blog

By John Brown Jan-17-2026 4:05am

Per Cincinnati Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall, last spring Elly De La Cruz was offered and turned down a contract worth more than the club record $225 million for 10 years Joey Vatto signed in 2012.

Krall stated to the Athletic “ We made Elly an offer that would’ve made him the highest paid Red ever.” “ That’s not where he is and you respect that. It’s their career. You keep going and you keep working on what you can do today. ”

“I let my agent (Scott Boras) take care of all of that,” De La Cruz reportedly said when asked about the contract offer.

De La Cruz played through the 2025 season after a partial quad tear in July,

2025: 22 homers, 86RBI, 37 steals, .777OPS over 162 games.

2024: 25 homers, 67 steals, 76RBI, .809 OPS over 160 games.

Joey Vatto spent his entire 17 year career as a Red. The six-time all star winner and Hank Aaron Award recipient had a .294 career average for 356 homers and 1,144 runs batted in. Vatto declined after a torn rotator cuff in 2022 and announced his retirement in August of 2024.

With the Dodgers setting the bar high on the contractual and performance front, hard not to think the potential for a higher figure factored into Del La Cruz’s decision.