With the Winter Meetings right arounf the corner, the hot stove is starting heat up and the Minnesota Twins are hemorraging free agent players.
In the last four days the Twins have lost three free agents to other teams, all of them being pitchers the team used pretty prominently. Kenta Maeda and Sonny Gray are the biggest names to exit Minnesota, with Maeda signing in Detroit and Gray landing a $75 million deal in St. Louis.
Now the exodus has extended to the bullpen.
On Wednesday morning rumors started popping up that Emilio Pagan was nearing a deal that would make him the third Twins pitcher to leave over the last 72 hours. That became official when Pagan and the Reds agreed to an undisclosed deal.
The Reds have agreed to a two-year deal with RHP Emilio Pagán, per source. The deal is still pending physical.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) November 29, 2023
Twins fans don't need to hear about how dicey physicals can be, but the expectation is that Pagan will pass his and join the Reds.
Losing Pagan isn't as devastating as it is watching Meada and Gray leave, but it opens up a spot in the bullpen and adds another thing to the Twins offseason shopping list.
Pagan was the bane of existence at times for Twins fans last year, as it seemed whenever he entered the game something bad would eventually happen. That all started in Spring Training where he was lit up pretty bad, although he managed to hold it together for the World Baseball Classic -- albeit in a very small sample size.
Replacing Pagan will likely come from within, as the Twins have plenty of starters turned relievers they trotted out last year who might get a shot. Perhaps a guy like Simeon Woods Richardson or Jordan Balazovic would be able to step into that role and find his way to the Opening Day roster, although finding someone in free agency on the right price still be in the cards.