MLB Reacts - Tyler Stephenson deserves the next contract extension from the Cincinnati Reds

It’s a very, very 2022 Cincinnati Reds thing to acknowledge, but there’s no denying that having the player you think most deserves the next contract extension from the Reds is the one who’s on the shelf right now with a busted thumb. That, of course, would be one Tyler Stephenson, who admittedly looked the part of franchise cornerstone prior to his injury, and most certainly is the kind of player any decent baseball franchise would choose to build around for years.

This is all based on the results of our question from yesterday, where we asked you to pick between Stephenson, Luis Castillo, Jonathan India, and Tyler Mahle as the player most deserving of the next big contract from the Reds. They would all have different demands and costs, of course, but the response from you was rather overwhelmingly in favor of Ty Steves.

That Stephenson and India combined for 71% of the overall vote is pretty telling, I’d say, since they’re both much, much further from free agency than both Castillo and Mahle. At least, that sure would seem to suggest that the timeline for when the Reds are going to next be decent is far enough down the road that trading their veteran pitchers for players more in-line with India and Stephenson is the inevitability fans around here face.

It’s also of note that Mahle finished with the least support here despite being the only one of the four names listed who has yet to hit the Injured List so far this season.

Check out DraftKings Sportsbook, the official sportsbook partner of SB Nation.