Reds President Nick Krall Reacts to Emilio Pagan Deal

The Cincinnati Reds have their closer for the 2026 season and possibly beyond, after signing Emilio Pagan to a two-year $20 million deal on Wednesday night. The deal has a player option after the 2026 season.

On Thursday, Reds President of Baseball Operations spoke to reporters about the deal.

"It was our No. 1 choice to bring him back," Krall told Charlie Goldsmith of Charlie's Chalkboard. "We had to figure out what our payroll and budget was. We started working on it from there."

The veteran is coming off one of the best seasons of his career, pitching in a career-high 70 games, while saving a career-high 32 games with an ERA of just 2.88.

"Coming back and having a closer...this guy is going to be our closer...come into the year and then be able to fill out the rest of the bullpen, that's huge. It's great to have this done."

Pagan made it clear to the front office and the organization that he wanted to be back in Cincinnati.

“What made it an easy decision was the people in Cincinnati, the coaching staff, the front office, the team. I thoroughly enjoyed the last two years," Pagan told MLB.com's Mark Sheldon. "Given where I’m at in my career, there’s a few things that are really important to me. Cincinnati checks all of those boxes. I’m excited to be back.”

Now that the Reds have their closer, they should focus on improving their offense.