DENVER — While the 2026 season has been a disappointing one for the Cincinnati Reds, 23-year-old starting pitcher Chase Burns looks around the clubhouse and sees a lot of talent, people that he trusts and an organization that he has confidence in heading into the future.
On Saturday, July 18, Burns officially signed a seven-year, $105 million extension with the Reds.
“It doesn’t feel real yet,” Burns said. “Next year or the year after, it’ll start to hit me. I’m not really worried about all of that. I don’t play the game for money. I play the game for the opportunity. I just like to keep it mellow. It was what it is. It’s a great opportunity. The biggest thing is staying humble and staying hungry.”
The structure of Burns’ contract goes like this: $2.5 million in 2027, $8 million in 2028, $12.5 in 2029, $15 million in 2030, $17 million in 2031, $23 million in 2032 and $25 million in 2033. While the contract officially begins next season, Burns did receive a $2 million signing bonus.
“The contract has to start next year because it’s after the 21st day of the season,” President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall said. “But we gave him a signing bonus up front. And then we front-loaded a little bit of it. We tried to smooth it out a little bit from where the arbitration and zero-to-three process would have taken him.”
Extension talks really picked up in the middle of June, around the Reds’ series against the Yankees. With the deal, the Reds gain two additional years of team control and push Burns’ free agency back to after the 2033 season.
“Chase is an exciting young pitcher, an All-Star this year, and the sky is the limit for him,” Krall said.
It’s not very common for young pitchers to sign long-term extensions. There’s risk involved due to injuries, but the Reds did go through a process of taking out insurance on this extension with Burns to help protect them in case there’s an injury.
One of the only comparable contract extensions in baseball for a young pitcher like Burns, who hasn’t hit arbitration yet, is the extension that Hunter Greene signed with the Reds in 2023.
“(Burns’ deal) is very exciting,” Greene said. “A lot of peace of mind for him. For him to be able to get that is a testament to his work ethic and the position he has been able to put himself in. It’ll also give him a little more motivation to keep getting better.”
Sal Stewart remains an obvious candidate for the Reds to extend. Krall said that there aren’t contract extension talks with other players in process right now.
The Reds are the only team in all of baseball with multiple position players (Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart) as well as multiple pitchers (Greene, Burns and Andrew Abbott) who are 27 years old or younger and have been All-Stars over the last three seasons.
While they’re having a frustrating season, there’s still confidence in this young core.
“This organization put a lot of trust in me,” Burns said. “They drafted me two years ago. They put that confidence in me. They supported me. It’s family. There’s a reason why God put me in this opportunity. I’m thankful for it, and I hope to win a championship here.”
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