The Cincinnati Reds reunited with closer Emilio Pagán on Wednesday, inking the righty to a deal worth up to $20 million over two years. It includes a player option for the 2027 season at an equal $10 million salary to the one he’ll earn in 2026, and brings back the guy who took the closer’s role and ran with it last year to the tune of a 2.88 ERA and 32 saves.

Gordon Wittenmyer of The Enquirer had some reactions from Emilio in the wake of the deal, with the closer noting that things ‘progressed over the last week, probably more like 72 hours.’ That’s an interesting revelation given that the Reds reportedly had interest in fellow free agent reliever Devin Williams, who signed on Monday with the New York Mets for some $51 million over a trio of years.

For the Reds, it secures a spot at the back end of the bullpen that will hopefully go as well as it did in 2025 and not so similar to how things went for Pagán in 2024. Or, is that exactly what we should expect – some volatility on the surface, but the underlying metrics just about the same? In 2024, Pagán posted a 10.4 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 1.4 HR/9, and 3.77 FIP. In 2025, those were 10.6 K/9, 2.9 BB/9, 1.3 HR/9, and 3.72 FIP.

I think the Reds are betting much more on those numbers than they are on the 2.88 ERA he had last year, a mark that was 4.50 the year before.

Over at Reds.com, Mark Sheldon put together a brief primer on what the Reds front office will have on its agenda when it heads to Orlando over the weekend in preparation for the Winter Meetings, which officially begin on Monday. Some more bullpen and a lot more thump would do!

Speaking of those Winter Meetings (and their proclivity for deal-making), the gang at MLB Pipeline listed the Reds as one of their highlighted teams who ‘have the prospects to swing a big trade at the Winter Meetings,’ and I couldn’t agree more. I just wish I could pinpoint a controllable outfielder with power on a team looking to rebuild who profiled as a match with the Reds, but I’m having a very hard time doing that.

Sam Dykstra and Jesse Borek put their heads together to come up with a list of Rule 5 Draft candidates from each MLB club, with Carlos Jorge the name highlighted from within the Cincinnati farm. That draft will effectively conclude the Winter Meetings on December 10th, and with Pagán’s signing officialy the Reds 40-man roster currently sits with just 39 – meaning they’ve got an open spot to draft a player.

(Or they could, y’know, use that roster spot to sign Schwarber.)