The Reds are keeping their breakout ace in Cincinnati through 2033.
The Cincinnati Reds finally handed their fans some good news in a season that has been short on it.
The club and right-hander Chase Burns agreed to a seven-year, $105 million contract extension on Thursday, first reported by ESPN's Jeff Passan.
The deal begins next season and runs through 2033 with no option years, per Passan, which hands Cincinnati two extra seasons of control beyond the arbitration window that already ran through 2031.
Burns was the No. 2 overall pick in 2024 and reached the majors less than a year after signing, so the belief in his arm has never been in question.
What he has done in his first full season turned that belief into a $105 million commitment for a pitcher who is still just 23.
A Season That Forced the Issue
Burns went into the All-Star break at 11-1 with a 2.54 ERA, a 1.11 WHIP and 118 strikeouts over 102 2/3 innings, and he has completed at least five innings in all 18 of his starts.
His fastball has averaged close to 98 mph this season, and his slider has been one of the toughest pitches in baseball to square up.
That work earned him his first All-Star nod, though a groin tweak in his final start before the break kept him from pitching in Philadelphia.
The numbers only tell part of the story.
Burns held the rotation together through a first half the Reds spent without their ace, and he did it for a team sitting last in the NL Central at 43-52.
Terry Francona has praised him all season for handling himself like a veteran, including a scoreless seven-inning duel against the Pirates in May that Cincinnati still found a way to lose.
The Greene Pairing Is the Real Prize
Hunter Greene's six-year, $53 million deal runs through 2028 with a club option for 2029, so the Reds now have both of their former No. 2 overall picks signed well into the future.
Greene missed the first three months of the season after March surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow, and his July 4 return was ugly, but he answered it with 12 strikeouts over seven shutout innings against the Cubs in his next outing.
He posted a 2.76 ERA a year ago and is still only 26.
A healthy Greene next to Burns gives Cincinnati a top two capable of matching up with any rotation in the league.
Burns spent chunks of the first half with the second best ERA in the National League, and Greene at full strength has been one of the hardest throwers in the sport for years.
Few teams can put two arms like that on the mound in back-to-back games.
The first half did not go the way anyone in Cincinnati hoped, and the trade deadline could still shake up the roster.
The front office answered its biggest long-term question anyway.
Burns takes the ball again when the Reds open the second half in Colorado this weekend, this time with his future settled.
