Tigers agree to terms with free agent reliever Emilio Paganreports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. This would be a one-year contract worth around $11 million for the Ballengee Group client. Detroit has a full roster of 40 players and will need to make a corresponding decision once the signing is official.
This is the first significant movement this year on the free agent market. Pagán’s market has moved quickly, as he finds a new landing spot within two weeks of declining a $10 million player option with Cincinnati. Pagán cashes in an extra million dollars and will likely enter the season as AJ Hinch’s primary.
The deal was reached hours after Detroit president of baseball operations Scott Harris told reporters he was looking for a right-handed reliever who could improve the team’s strikeout ability (links via Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic and Jason Beck of MLB.com). Pagán has fanned 25.9% of opponents this year and has a 28% strikeout rate over his career, which will make him one of the team’s best swinging arms.
Detroit’s bullpen was 19th in strikeout rate and 21st in whiffs last season. They were also among the last in the league in that regard in 2025. That caught up to them this year, as the Tigers led the American League with 31 blown saves despite having a middle-of-the-pack earned run average. Their high-leverage arms tripped too often.
Kenley Jansen had some early struggles in the closer role and was bought out late in the season. Will vest And Kyle Finnegan had very bad seasons and both ended the year on the injured list. Vest underwent surgeries following a stress reaction to his elbow and hip. (Harris provided an update today, saying Vest is pitching and should be ready for the start of next season.) Finnegan missed the last two weeks with a left groin strain.
Vest is eligible for arbitration again. He’ll likely be back, as it seems likely the Tigers will offer him a contract (projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to be around $4.4 million) as long as he’s on track for the start of the season. Finnegan is signed for $10.25 million, including a buyout option, so the Tigers would have a hard time moving on from him unless there is another underwater contract swap.
Pagán will join his seventh big league club for his age-36 season. He spent the last three seasons in Cincinnati, playing defender for Terry Francona the last two years. Pagán recorded 32 saves a year ago and was 25-28 in save chances last season. There’s a good chance he would have made it to age 30+ if not for a Grade 2 left hamstring strain that cost him seven weeks between early May and late June.
This injury initially seemed even more serious, as Pagán went down in obvious pain at the end of his delivery and had to be carried off the mound at Wrigley Field. He admitted he expected it to end his season. Pagán had struggled early and had a 6.43 ERA over his first 14 innings, so it would have essentially been a lost season if that had been the case.
Pagán instead recovered faster than expected and was lights out throughout the streak. He pitched 28 2/3 innings of 1.88 ERA ball in his return, striking out 30.5% of opponents against a 4.5% walk rate. Pagán allowed five runs in the second half, all on home runs (three solo shots and one two-run shot). He held opposing hitters to a .189 batting average and .230 on-base mark during that span.
It’s essentially a microcosm of Pagán’s entire career. He has been a generally effective reliever with an excellent strikeout and walk profile who doesn’t have drastic platoon issues. He is also one of the game’s most prone leverage arms, allowing an average of 1.51 long balls per nine innings during his career. Pagán’s typical season isn’t much different than what Jansen managed in 2026, although he should do a better job of controlling walks. Detroit’s Fifth Third Park also has a spacious outfield that could alleviate some of the concerns with Pagán’s fly-ball approach.
MLBTR predicted Pagán would receive a two-year, $20 million contract. The market did not keep its promises in the second year, although it came out slightly ahead of the value of the option. The Tigers entered the day with a projected payroll of $149.18 million and a luxury tax number of $178.54 million, including arbitration estimates (via the MLBTR Payroll Tracker and contributor Ethan Hullihen). These numbers will rise to approximately $160 million and $190 million, respectively. Detroit could still be looking for another back-end branch and numbers to monitor rotation and interior markets
Image courtesy of Imagn Images.
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