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For fans who have closely followed the Cincinnati Reds over the past ten years, this discussion might resurrect painful memories best left forgotten. The hot corner has been a revolving door of costly mistakes for a franchise committed to keeping payroll in MLB's bottom third.
Rewind to 2016: the Reds selected Nick Senzel second overall out of Tennessee, a natural third baseman. But when Senzel's prospect star rose, the club blocked him by signing Eugenio Suárez to a seven-year, $66 million extension in early 2018. Senzel was shifted to center field, and that experiment flopped. Then, in late 2019, Cincinnati inked Mike Moustakas to a four-year, $64 million deal, hoping he could learn second base on the fly at age 31. That also failed. By mid-2023, all three players had been jettisoned, and the rebuild led to another costly fix: Jeimer Candelario's three-year, $45 million contract. Candelario posted -1.6 bWAR and a 78 OPS+ before being cut early in 2025, prompting the Reds to send prospect Sammy Stafura to Pittsburgh for Ke'Bryan Hayes and the roughly $38 million remaining on his deal.
Hayes has been arguably the worst hitter in baseball for three years, and his chronic back injury has limited his availability. Now over 30, he remains a sunk cost. In total, the Reds have burned approximately $220 million on third base options over the last decade—before factoring in another $15 million for Suárez's return in 2026, which ended with him playing 50 games at third due to roster chaos. Suárez is a free agent again, and Cincinnati once more enters an offseason needing to solve third base, with the running total exceeding $235 million.
The Case for Sal Stewart
All of this brings us to Sal Stewart. The 22-year-old played 38 games from August 17 through the end of the 2026 season, but not a single inning at third base. All but two of those appearances came at first base, even as the Reds languished in last place in the NL Central and were out of the Wild Card race. This, despite Hayes being sidelined with his recurring back injury. Stewart, who is still just 23, had played 203 of his 323 minor league games at third after being drafted in the first round in 2022.
Hayes was hurt. Suárez was a pending free agent. The Reds were in last, giving outfield time to Carlos Jorge and Hector Rodriguez, while Stewart was hitting his way to Rookie of the Year honors after an All-Star selection in July. Yet the club parked its most promising young player at first base—a position that can be filled cheaply, as evidenced by minor-league signings like Nate Lowe, Ty France, and Jake Bauers in recent seasons. Shopping for bargains at first base is easy; solving third base requires nuance, as the Reds have painfully demonstrated.
Everything was set up for Stewart to gain experience at the highest level doing what he's done most in his professional career, but the Reds simply didn't let him play third. Hayes will likely continue to get chances, hoping he magically figures it out, but the time to cut him loose was long ago. The best way to maximize this mismanaged roster while Elly De La Cruz is still around is to hand third base to Stewart, cementing the best left side of the infield the Reds have had in ages, and find a cheaper solution at first base this winter.
Maybe Stewart will stumble. Maybe he'll fail. But given how many chances the front office has had to solve third base—and how many they've botched—it's the least the kid deserves. You ride with him because there's nothing else in the pipeline, and maybe he proves capable enough to make it all worthwhile. You don't just give up and park him at first base at age 22. That's cowardly. Sal Stewart deserves the chance to show he can be the third baseman of the present and future, regardless of past mistakes. If he fails, the Reds lose nothing; if he succeeds, he makes his bosses' jobs infinitely easier for years to come. It's that simple.
Originally reported by yahoo.