3:10pm: It’s a one-year contract, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of The Cincinnati Enquirer.

3:01pm: The Reds have agreed to a deal with lefty reliever Caleb Ferguson, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The signing remains pending a physical.

Ferguson adds a crucial left-handed option to Terry Francona’s bullpen. With the Reds buying out Brent Suter at the start of this offseason, the team was left with just Sam Moll as their available lefty reliever. Moll’s performance has been inconsistent, having spent much of this year bouncing between Triple-A and MLB. In just 18 1/3 innings, he allowed 16 runs. Although Moll has shown the ability to generate whiffs and ground balls, the Reds couldn’t rely solely on him heading into the new season.

The 29-year-old Ferguson is coming off a noteworthy season, having split his time between the Pirates and Mariners. He made a career-high 70 appearances, posting a 3.58 earned run average through 65 1/3 innings. Ferguson tallied 14 holds while relinquishing five leads, showcasing his ability to handle high-pressure situations. Notably, he induced a significant amount of weak contact; however, he also benefited from an unusually low home run rate and batting average on balls in play, metrics that might see an uptick in 2026. Still, there’s potential for him to enhance his strikeout rate, which was at an 18.9% last season—his lowest career average.

Despite concerns regarding his strikeout rate, Ferguson maintained a 94 MPH average fastball speed, consistent with prior seasons. This season, he strategically reduced his four-seam fastball usage in favor of his sinker, particularly against left-handed batters. This switch resulted in fewer strikeouts but an increase in ground balls. Against southpaws, Ferguson performed exceptionally well, holding them to a .184/.261/.204 batting line with zero home runs in 115 plate appearances.

More to come.