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While the Cincinnati Reds just missed out on the playoffs, their influx of young talent has their arrow pointing up moving forward. But the Reds know they must make some additions over the offseason to make their team complete.
The Reds have signed former Minnesota Twins relief pitcher Emilio Pagan to a two-year contract, via Jon Heyman of the New York Post.
In his second season with the Twins, Pagan put together arguably his best performance since the 2019 season. Over 66 games, Pagan held a 2.99 ERA and a 65/21 K/BB ratio. With the Reds already having a closer in Alexis Diaz, Pagan would work in middle to late relief for the team.
Which works excellently for Cincinnati. The team's bullpen held a collective 4.11 ERA, ranking 16th in MLB. They ranked 12th in batting average against (.236) and had the 13th-most strikeouts (617). Clearly it isn't all bad in the bullpen, but the Reds know they need to make adjustments.
Emilio Pagan is a strong addition, but he won't be the crown jewel of Cincinnati's offseason. The Reds enter free agency with the second-lowest payroll in baseball at almost $38 million. They'll have plenty of room to make a big-time acquisition.
If nothing else, Cincinnati's Pagan contract shows that the Reds plan on building off of their momentum. With Elly De La Cruz leading the charge, the Reds have one of the more exciting offenses in baseball. With a stronger pitching staff and bullpen, Cincy can make a run to the playoffs. The Reds will now have Pagan to join them on that postseason run.
