Over the years, the Reds have been pretty good at signing their most talented players to team-friendly deals early on in their careers and, for better or worse, locking up those players for an extended period of time. It’s a necessary step that the Reds and other small market teams need to take in order to keep talent on the team. There are many examples of this working well: Johnny Cueto, Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips, and Jay Bruce all provided (or will probably provide, in Votto’s case) play that had value which exceeded the amount of money the Reds paid that player.
Contracts for the New Core: Eugenio Suarez
