Reds' Matt McLain, Spencer Steer get combined $7.1 million contract update

Billy Heyen

Reds' Matt McLain, Spencer Steer get combined $7.1 million contract update image

The Cincinnati Reds have a ton of players up for salary arbitration this offseason.

Two of the most notable are the talented position players Matt McLain and Spencer Steer.

MLB Trade Rumors uses an algorithm to project arbitration values, and they released those projections this week.

Steer is projected for $4.5 million in arbitration, while McLain is projected for $2.6 million.

Other Reds projections include:

  • Gavin Lux $5 million
  • Tyler Stephenson $6.4 million
  • Brady Singer $11.9 million
  • Nick Lodolo $4.3 million
  • Will Benson $1.7 million
  • TJ Friedl $4.9 million

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The Reds have very few notable free agents. This is a team that can mostly run it back in 2026.

Cincinnati will either hope for improvements across the board, or maybe a key free agent signing, to push this from a team that just snuck into the playoffs to a team that is capable of winning a series or more in the postseason.

The NL Central is strong at the top with the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs, so the Reds aren't in an easy position.

But another year of seasoning will give Cincy the chance to be competitive yet again, especially if the Reds can avoid major midseason slumps that they dealt with in 2025.

This offseason will be mostly about keeping around the familiar faces with fair arbitration values before moving into the 2026 season.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle