Chase Burns Cashes In: Reds Ace Lands Record $105 Million Extension After All-Star Breakout
The Cincinnati Reds locked up All-Star Chase Burns on a record seven-year, $105 million extension, the richest deal ever for a pitcher with under four years of service time.
Chase Burns is no longer just one of baseball’s most electric young arms — he is now one of its richest. The Cincinnati Reds and their All-Star right-hander agreed Thursday on a seven-year, $105 million contract extension, a deal that immediately becomes the largest ever given to a pitcher with fewer than four years of major league service time. The news sent Burns rocketing up national trending charts, landing at No. 13 in the US as fans and analysts absorbed the scope of Cincinnati’s bet on its 23-year-old ace.
Burns was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft and debuted with the Reds in 2025, flashing dominant stuff but inconsistent results. That volatility is gone in 2026. Through 18 starts, Burns carries an 11-1 record, a 2.54 ERA, a 1.11 WHIP and 118 strikeouts against just 37 walks over 102.2 innings — numbers that earned him his first career All-Star selection this month, even though a groin injury ultimately kept him out of the Midsummer Classic itself.
Inside the Record-Setting Extension
According to reporting from MLB Network’s Jon Morosi, ESPN’s Jeff Passan and The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, the new deal runs from 2027 through 2033, with no deferred money and no club or player options attached. That structure hands the Reds two additional years of contractual control over Burns beyond his existing path through arbitration, which would have carried him only through the 2031 season. The contract ties Homer Bailey’s deal for the largest guarantee ever given to a pitcher in Reds franchise history and ranks as the third-biggest extension the organization has ever handed out.
For a pitcher who has yet to reach even his second full year of service time, locking in $105 million guaranteed is a landmark. It reflects both Burns’ rapid ascent and Cincinnati’s urgency to keep its young core together, joining fellow building blocks like Hunter Greene and Austin Hays as players signed well beyond the 2027 campaign. The Reds have made clear that Burns, still just 23, is meant to anchor their rotation deep into the next decade.
A Breakout Building All Season
Burns’ 2026 season has been a steady march toward this moment. He carries a 30.8 percent strikeout rate across his big-league career and has racked up double-digit strikeout outings multiple times this year, powered by a fastball that has touched the upper 90s and a slider that consistently produces whiff rates north of 40 percent. Over stretches this season, Burns posted an ERA under 2.00 across double-digit starts, helping steady a Reds rotation that leaned on him heavily during midseason losing streaks. Bettors tracking Cincinnati’s rotation depth through a DraftKings promo code or a FanDuel promo code have watched Burns become a fixture in the team’s best odds to win each series he starts.
His workload has been managed carefully given his limited professional innings, but the results have not wavered. Cincinnati’s front office pointed to that consistency — not just flashes of dominance, but sustained performance start after start — as the deciding factor in moving quickly on an extension rather than waiting years to test the market or navigate arbitration hearings.
What Comes Next for Burns and the Reds
Burns is expected to return from his groin injury shortly after the All-Star break and resume his spot atop the Cincinnati rotation for the stretch run. With the extension in hand, the Reds now have financial certainty on one of their most important assets as they continue chasing a playoff spot in a competitive National League Central. For bettors comparing a BetMGM Sportsbook review or a Caesars Sportsbook review for MLB futures, a healthy and locked-in Burns adds a layer of long-term stability that could influence how oddsmakers price the Reds’ rotation depth for years to come.
The extension also reverberates across the league as a new benchmark for pre-arbitration pitchers. Front offices around baseball will be watching how Burns performs against this contract, and whether it becomes the new template for locking up elite young arms before they ever reach free agency. Fans looking to back the Reds down the stretch can also check a Fanatics Sportsbook promo code for MLB markets. For now, Cincinnati has its long-term ace, and Chase Burns has the financial security to match the ceiling everyone in baseball already saw coming.