Is It TIME for the Cincinnati Reds to Trade Elly De La Cruz? | Joey Votto Takes the Keys!

In this Give Me the Keys, Joey, I would trade Elly De La Cruz for as many prospects as possible. Do you want Joey Votto to have the keys, if that's his plan? It's a loaded question. Oh, yeah, it is. There's a lot here. Yes, is the answer. Because I think at this point in Elly De La Cruz's tenure, an extension with the current rules of baseball is not possible for the Reds. I don't see a path for an extension unless there are some drastic changes to the CBA, which could happen in December, but we have to operate with what we have right now. And if the Reds are not going to be able to get Elly extended, then the only option is to trade him for prospects. Letting Elly De La Cruz walk in free agency, I think, would be the worst thing this Reds organization could possibly do. Trading him would be second, only behind extending him. Obviously, no one wants him in a different uniform, but this is reality of baseball at this point. I think Joey Votto, if there's anybody I trust to make this move and evaluate talent, I think Joey Votto having the keys and leading this rebuild, if that's the direction the Reds have to go, is someone I would trust with these keys. This is a tough one. For me, I almost feel like it's too soon, because if you're going to do that now in this offseason, then what's 2027 going to be? That, to me, almost signals that you're not going to be a contender in 2027 And if you're going to be trading away your best piece, your best asset in Elly. De La Cruz and just everything that he brings to this team that he's meant for this franchise, I don't think we're there yet. So I had this one. It's tough. But if we get if it gets to a point where it's a little bit further down the road and those contract extensions have stalled with Elly, then I think that's the time. He said at the end there as well. I don't know what the timeline is here. And I think that is brutal for the Reds, but you don't know what the timeline is here. Could you lose a season in 2027, one of those few seasons of control you still have left over one of the emerging young stars in baseball? You see the numbers there. There's no way around it. 30-30 this year, highest average of his career. This was the best season of Elly De La Cruz's career, and those career numbers are pretty high as well. He has been an unbelievable player. I don't think it's crazy to talk about MVP expectations going into next season, and that is where my frustration really comes in with this whole point. This is why I think baseball is broken. Not because payrolls lead to championships. We see it this year with the Rays going to compete against the Brewers in the World Series. You don't have to have the biggest payroll to compete for a championship. But the fact that the Reds went and found Elly De La Cruz in the Dominican Republic and over the last three seasons he has turned into one of the best budding stars in baseball and now the conversation when he's just about to emerge is the Reds need to flip him for prospects to stay afloat, that is why the sport is broken. The whole goal should be to get an Elly De La Cruz in your team's uniform, especially for small market teams. And when they finally turn into what you think they can turn into, the first thought shouldn't be how can we move them.