The Cincinnati Reds and their ace pitcher are in deep negotiations over a long-term contract because Cueto’s current deal expires after the 2015 season and he can become a free agent.
In fact, Cueto laughed out loud before saying, “Good for him (Scherzer). But you never know what will happen. All I’m asking for is good health. You never know what will happen and I just can’t think about what is going to happen.”
What is going to happen is a contract that can be associated with a monotonous TV commercial we constantly hear in the Dayton area: “It is going to be huge.”
“If I have to ask for something, I’d ask for 300 ($300 million),” Cueto said with a laugh. He was kidding, wasn’t he? Yes, he was. “I mean if you are asking, you can just throw out any number, right?
“I just have to keep working and do my job. The people in charge, they are the ones who know if I can stay here. I would love to stay here and I want to stay here. I just have to let my agent and the Reds figure it out.”
Cueto, though, hesitated when asked if he might take less money to stay in Cincinnati, where he says he wants to stay:
“I don’t know, let’s just see what happens. I’ll just put my faith in God and see what happens.”
But money talks, and the question is if the Reds have enough money to talk loud enough.
Cueto and his agent have put a deadline on negotiations. If a deal can’t be made by Opening Day, there will be no more negotiations because Cueto doesn’t want it to be a distraction during the season.
“It would be good to have something done soon because that would take a lot of things off my mind,” said Cueto. “To be honest, though, all I have to do is play baseball, play my game. I came here to play baseball.”
And play he did last year. He was 20-9, the Reds’ first 20-game winner since Danny Jackson in 1988, and was second in the Cy Young balloting to Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers. His ERA was 2.25 and his 2.74 ERA over the last three seasons is the best in baseball.
There is, of course, no doubt the Reds want him back with all their heart and soul — but not for all their money.
Manager Bryan Price is not part of the negotiations, but if he could kick in a few million he certainly would.
“Johnny knows we appreciate him and would love for him to be here long-term,” said Price. “And I think he knows the challenges we have here over being able to compete with the big boys financially.
“I know (General Manager) Walt Jocketty and (owner/CEO) Bob Castellini are going to be as competitive as they can responsibly be to keep him here. And I don’t know what that actually means as realism. He has earned the right to be paid and paid well. Hopefully we can make something happen.
“There is no disrespect when it comes down to Cueto, but we have some different challenges when it comes to whether we can pay $210 million for a starting pitcher,” Price added. “I don’t know if that’s something we can do. But he has earned the right to be one of those top-tiered, top-paid starting pitchers.”
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