Reds Extend Jay Bruce On Six-Year, $51 Million Deal With Club Option
This is an example of a small-market team extending a star player through arbitration and through three free-agent years, which is a very team-friendly deal in my opinion. After 2011, we might want to lock up a similar five-tool star player after his third big-league season, and this is a template. We would probably have to pay more to get Andrew McCutchen into this type of contract, because another year will have passed, and Cutch has more perceived value than Bruce because of playing center field and better hitting numbers to date. (I'm not sure Cutch is the better player out of the two long-term, though). For the Reds to get 3 free-agent years is a huge blow to the Pirates, because we'll have to contend with Bruce for years to come and he is a heck of a player. He probably has the best outfield arm in the National League.