Johnny Cueto Thinks Big

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Johnny Cueto wants to stay in Cincinnati and the Reds want him to stay but his value on the open market could interfere.

"I want to stay here (in Cincinnati)," Cueto said through interpreter Tomas Vera on the day the Reds pitchers gathered for their first workout. "Honest, I'd like to have a contract before spring training ends but all I can to is play.  At this point, I just have to keep working hard and let them (the Reds and his agent) work it out."

Cueto, 29,  has established himself as one of the top tier pitchers in baseball. Since 2010, Cueto has a 65-32 record with a 2.73 ERA over 863 innings.

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He will be paid $10 million this season before he becomes a free agent and compares to a pair of pitchers that signed big contracts over the winter.

Clayton Kershaw, 26, signed a $208.4 million contract with the Dodgers for six seasons. He has a 85-36 record with a 2.26 ERA over 1,099 2/3 innings in the same period of time.

Max Scherzer, 30, signed for seven years at $210 million with the Washington Narionals. Scherzer is 82-35 with a 3.52 ERA in 1,013 innings.

"Good for him," Cueto said when asked about Scherzer's contract.  "I don't know what will happen with me. I can't tell you. If I have to ask for something it might as well be $300 million. I just have to put my faith in God because I don't know what will happen."

Bryan Price was Cueto's pitching coach before taking over as manager before the 2014 season.

"The contact is between Johnny and the club," Price said. "I have a long term relationship with Johnny.  He knows we appreciate him and want him to be here long term.  He has earned the right to be one of the top tier paid pitcher."

The numbers alone don't tell the true value of Cueto, the "Ace" of the Reds' staff.

"To be an ace you need to have the overall ability to impact the team," Price said. "He has to be the guy that consistently gets you to the back of the bullpen. When he pitches you never feel like you're at a disadvantage. In the second half of the season, when we hit the skids, He was still outstanding. It was as well a pitched season as I've ever seen."

The Reds traded away two starting pitchers from last season in part to save money for Cueto's contract.

Alfredo Simon was traded to Detroit after a break through season in which he won 15 games second to Cueto's 20 wins.  Mat Latos had an injury plagued 2014 season after two straight 14 win years in Cincinnati.  Latos was traded to the Miami Marlins in exchange for Anthony DeSclafani, who is competing for one of the vacated starting slots.