Maybe this lends more credence to the fact that the Chicago Cubs will eventually sign another high-profile reliever in free agency. It's a small nugget of information that you may have missed this week, but apparently the Cubs were in the mix to sign a closer from a division rival.
The Cubs jumped on veteran reliever Phil Maton relatively early in free agency, signing him to a two-year deal that was made official on Nov. 25. In search for another high-leverage bullpen arm, Sahadev Sharma reported in The Athletic that the Cubs proceeded to show interest in closer Emilio Pagan. The 34-year-old pitcher recorded 32 saves for the Cincinnati Reds in 2025, and re-signed with them, agreeing to a two-year, $20 million contract last week.
Based on information from league sources, the Cubs showed interest in Emilio Pagán late in the process before he signed a two-year, $20 million deal to return to Cincinnati.
Sahadev Sharma
Pagan had one of his better seasons in the majors, as the right-handed reliever posted a 2.88 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and struck out 81 batters in 68.2 innings. His 30.0 K% ranked 24th among 100 relief pitchers who threw at least 60 innings during the 2025 season.
The news of this pursuit comes after both Jed Hoyer and Craig Counsell addressed the need to add more to the bullpen heading into next year. Hoyer specifically mentioned the possibility of signing another reliever to a multi-year contract, which may not sound all that exciting, but considering Maton's contract was the first 2+ year deal since Craig Kimbrel in 2019, this development seems somewhat significant for the Cubs.
Maton's deal is worth $14.5 million over two seasons.
Sharma also noted that the Cubs continue to keep the door open for a reunion with Brad Keller, while former Tampa Bay Rays closer Pete Fairbanks remains a free agent favorite in the organization. You can read more about the top free agent relievers the Cubs may be targeting here.
Yeah, you're probably tired of reading or listening to reports about how the Cubs were going after this guy or that guy and ultimately not signing them, but I do think there's a great chance that the Cubs do end up with another solid reliever once the dust settles.
Counsell's comments on Tuesday regarding how the bullpen was not dependable to begin the 2025 season really makes you believe that he doesn't want to start another year with a bunch of question marks. Sure, he eventually found a great mix and after the trade deadline the Cubs had one of the top bullpens in MLB, but the team also blew several winnable games through the first five weeks of the regular season that ended up costing them in the division race.
Of course it would have been amazing to sign Edwin Diaz or Devin Williams, but the Cubs still have an opportunity to pounce on another good reliever in free agency. They have the resources, the need and looks like the motivation to do so. Stay tuned.
