Reds reward phenom Chase Burns with $105 million contract extension
· Yahoo Sports
The Cincinnati Reds, who watched Chase Burns develop into a Cy Young candidate this season, made sure he’ll be sticking around by signing him to a seven-year, $105 million contract extension Thursday, a person with direct knowledge of the contract confirmed to USA TODAY Sports.
The person was not authorized to speak publicly because the deal has yet to be announced by the Reds.
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The contract is the largest for a pitcher with less than four years of major-league service, and it equals the third-largest deal in Reds’ franchise history. Tied with former starter Homer Bailey's $105 million deal from 2014, the contract trails only former All-Star first baseman Joey Votto’s 10-year, $220 million contract and Hall of Fame outfielder Ken Griffey Jr.’s nine-year, $116.5 million contract in Reds history.
Burns, 11-1 with a 2.54 ERA, is one of the front-runners for the NL Cy Young award this season along with Milwaukee’s Jacob Misierowski, Cristopher Sanchez of the Philadelphia Phillies and Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Burns, 23, the second pick in the 2024 draft, is only the seventh pitcher in Reds’ history to win 10 or more games with at least 100 strikeouts before the All-Star break, and the first since Johnny Cueto in 2014. He has made 15 starts allowing two or fewer runs, the most in MLB. In June, he became only the fourth Reds’ pitcher to allow 10 runs or fewer with at least 40 strikeouts and less than 10 walks in a calendar month.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Reds reward phenom Chase Burns with $105 million contract extension