The Reds made Hunter Greene a 'promise' before he signed his extension

After the trade deadline in 2022, Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Hunter Greene initiated conversations in the clubhouse about what the future of the Reds could look like. He spoke with Jonathan India, Tyler Stephenson, Nick Lodolo and Graham Ashcraft.

They wanted to set a foundation. They spoke about long-term goals and the brand of baseball that they wanted the Reds to play. Greene wanted to be at the forefront of creating a winning culture during the low point of the Reds’ rebuild.

But Greene knew that the Reds’ young core of players couldn’t turn around the franchise on their own. To build a contender, the Reds need ownership and the front office to invest in the big league roster through free agency and trades. 

'I want to be at the forefront.'Why Hunter Greene signed a contract extension with Reds

Before signing his six-year deal on Tuesday night, Greene got that affirmation.

“The biggest thing for Hunter to understand and want was the promise to try to win,” Greene’s agent, Ryan Hamill, told The Enquirer. "This is the first step in that. (Reds general manager) Nick Krall and the front office have been amazing. They’re all centered in the same thing, that Hunter is a big part of the future of this team and the ability to win for this organization and the city. This is a great start for them to have that opportunity to win going forward.”

On Wednesday morning, Greene spent most of his press conference discussing his confidence in the Reds’ future. He said his vision is winning a World Series in Cincinnati. He said “you guys can assume” the individual accolades that he wants to achieve between now and 2029, but he spoke in-depth about the team chemistry and winning culture that he sees the Reds developing. 

Since the Reds traded Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suárez last March, Krall has expressed a clear vision for the Reds’ future. As the Reds tore down a playoff contender through a series of trades, Krall said that his focus was on building through the farm system and creating a sustainable model for success.

Greene signed a six-year, $53 million contract extension with a $21 million club option for 2029, and performance escalators could get the contract up to $96.2 million. Krall said that Greene’s extension is a validating sign for the plan the Reds are following.

“We’re moving in the right direction,” Krall told The Enquirer. “You’ve seen some of that talent. We’re very excited about that. We feel like keeping players like Hunter who have a chance to be superstar impact guys is what we’re looking at. He’s a great guy to build around. It’s a lot of fun to start establishing that winning culture.” 

Around 9:45 on Wednesday morning, word spread around the clubhouse that Greene’s press conference was about to start. About a dozen players stopped their pregame routines and went up to the club level of Great American Ball Park to show their support for Greene.

India said the turnout was another sign of the culture the Reds are building. He said he has always been a believer in the team’s long-term trajectory, but he’s even more confident in the organization than he was at the start of the year.

“This is a very good step for Cincinnati to show now that they want to get going,” India said. “Show that this is the team. Show that they’ll really keep parts on the team to make it happen. We’ll see what the future holds for everyone, but to have one of these guys locked up is pretty cool to see. You never know what happens next.”

Moments like these are what the Reds had in mind when the team’s young core discussed the Reds’ future last summer. Greene, Lodolo and Ashcraft all said that they’ve gained more confidence in the Reds’ future as the team picked up some gutsy wins early in the season.

“We have a lot of talent,” Lodolo said. “We still got to put it together and win more games, but you can see it coming together. We all believe that we can win here. This is where we feel like we can do it.”

Said Ashcraft, “There’s a lot of ability with this team. We’ve shown glimpses of it and are putting things together. We’re starting to chip away at it piece by piece. It’s nice when you can see it. We’ve had really good stuff. There’s a lot of positives that are going on. It’s been fun to watch.”

The next step for the Reds is building around Greene, who’s their only player with a guaranteed contract past 2023. Krall said that he has had conversations about contract extensions with some other young Reds’ players, but he said he didn’t want to get into specifics. 

“We’ve had talks,” Lodolo told The Enquirer. “We’ll see where it goes. It’d be fun. I do believe we’ve got something here, too. We’ll see where it takes us.”

“No (extension) conversations,” India said. “We’ll see what happens and what the future holds. I’m a guy who goes out and plays hard every day. Cincinnati knows that. They love the player I am. I know that. We’ll see what happens.”

Ashcraft said he’d “rather not say” whether or not he has discussed an extension with the Reds.

The pieces are starting to come together for what the next contending Reds team may look like. Greene’s contract extension was just one step, but it was also a sign to the rest of the team about what could be coming down the road.

“It’s great to see these guys believing in themselves,” Krall said. “I watch it every day. The young players are gelling. Older players are buying into what we’re trying to do here. It’s been fun to see younger players come up and learn from the veteran players. Joey Votto has been around. (Reds manager David Bell) has done a good job with this group of players starting in spring training. We’re excited to see where it goes.”