The Reds and right-handed pitcher Johnny Cueto have agreed to a four-year contract extension worth $27MM, tweets Enrique Rojas of espndeportes.com.
Cueto was arbitration-eligible, and he and the Reds were about $900,000 apart on their submitted salary figures, per our Arbitration Tracker. The right-hander was seeking $3.9MM, while Cincinnati offered $3MM.
This buys out all of Cueto’s arbitration years, and one year of potential free agency. The kid is still 24 years old, and he put up a 110 ERA+ last year (12-7, 3.64 ERA), while demonstrating a new, mature focus on conditioning. Young pitchers with this talent don’t grow on trees.
Kudos to GM Walt Jocketty and the Reds. Nice signing.