The Cincinnati Reds made it to the postseason in 2025 after some late-season heroics and a monumental collapse from the New York Mets, among others. They made some moves last offseason, but their roster wasn't good enough to compete for the postseason. As a result, the Reds missed out on October baseball and sat on the outside looking in for a large chunk of the season.

This offseason, the Reds need to rewrite the script. They need to make moves in the right direction if they want to find the success that the fans desperately want. But the offseason is off to a rough start after Emilio Pagánopted out of his contract with the Reds and agreed to a new deal with the Detroit Tigers.

The Reds haven't made any big moves in the right direction, but they recently agreed to a new minor league deal with outfielder Shane Sasaki, per the minor league transaction log. Sasaki elected free agency earlier this offseason, but will remain with the Reds next season.

Shane Sasaki Lands Back With the Reds on a Minor League Deal

Sasaki isn't a huge hitter, but he has a few solid tools. His speed is what makes him an interesting option for the Reds to keep in their organization. He's stolen 149 bases in his minor league career. This makes him a threat on the bases and a solid defender in the outfield.

But his power isn't there. He lacks power with the bat and isn't able to generate much pop at the professional level. He's able to draw a walk, which helps his on-base percentage quite a bit. His OPS is never going to be great because of the lack of slugging, but if he can float around .730 to .770 with his OPS, he could be a solid option in Double-A or Triple-A for the Reds.

In all likelihood, the Reds will never see Sasaki on the big league roster. But having him on the roster in case they have a slew of injuries makes sense. At the end of the day, this is a low-risk, low-reward move. The ceiling isn't very high, but it doesn't hurt the Reds to keep him around.

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