Reds Retain Emergency Closer

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Dateline: 1,209 Kilometers from the Gulf of Mexico

Emilio Pagan re-upped with the Reds on Thursday.

Pagan took over as closer by default last season. Reigning closer, Alexis Diaz, was hurt in spring training and ineffective when he recovered. Diaz was eventually traded to the World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

Pagan became a free agent at the end of the season and decided to come back rather than maximize his paycheck. 

"Yeah, I mean, (I'm) super excited. And, yeah, pretty easy, pretty easy choice to come back. I like everything that we got going on here, and so I knew this is where I wanted to be," Pagan said. "Making the playoffs, I mean, obviously it played a factor, you know, the same way it did when I signed here after the 23 season. You know, I've said this a few times, I'm a baseball fan, and so during that 23 season, you saw these young guys come up, and I'm watching highlights every night, and it seemed to kind of consistently be Red's highlights there for a long stretch of that summer. And now, having been here with these guys. I mean, they've turned into some of my best friends. I talked to these guys every day. For the most part, I'm talking to somebody on this team checking in, talking smack about fantasy football, all kinds of stuff. And so, you know, I knew this is where I wanted to be. And I think, I think last year was just scratching the surface of what what we can become."

Pagan had his most impactful seasons of his career. He finished second in the National League and tied for fifth in Major League Baseball with 32 saves. It was one of the career highs he set this year. He also pitched in a career-high 70 games and finished a career-high 56 games. His previous high was 20 saves with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2019.

Pagan was the hero of the game against the Cleveland Guardians on May 18. Pitching in his third day in a row, Pagan nailed down a 3-1 win by navigating the middle of the Guardians lineup with tying runs on base. Pagan saved all three games of that series sweep.

His performance as an emergency closer made him a high demand commodity in the free agent market.

"It (free agency) kind of started a little bit faster. That was really the only difference. I mean, we had, you know, a lot of interest last time, but it took a little bit to kind of get going. And, you know, we got a lot of phone calls early, and I'm thankful for those." Pagan said. "Anytime a major league team is calling you and showing interest in you. Like, it's a humbling experience, you know, like, I've worked my whole life to play baseball at the major league level, and so I'm grateful for those teams that we're calling but, you know, again, I was pretty straightforward with my agent. You know, this is where me and my family wanted to be. And so for me, it was, it was always going to kind of come back to this place, and, you know, I was hopeful that we could get something worked out, and I'm glad that we did."

The 34-year old signed a $20 million contract for two years. It was an important signing in light of the free agency of Scott Barlow, Brent Suter and Nick Martinez. The Reds also granted free agency to Carson Spiers.

"I said this at the end of the year too, and might have shot myself in the foot a little bit, but, like, I don't play, I don't play baseball because of the money." Pagan said. "Like, the money is great and it provides a lot of things that I can do in my life, for my family and for other people. But, you know, I wasn't that concerned with the market, to be honest. You know, I do owe a little bit to the game and to, you know, future players."