ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The Cardinals have likely wrapped up their 2024 offseason plans late Thursday night with the addition of a reliever with prior major league experience.
On Thursday night, the Cardinals reportedly agreed to a deal with reliever Keynan Middleton, pending a physical. Fansided's Robert Murray was first to report of the deal. Terms of the contract have not yet been reported yet.
Currently the 40-man roster is full so a corresponding move will need to be made to make the Middleton signing official alongside the still-pending physical.
The Cardinals have obviously made this offseason focused on one specific area: pitching, pitching and even more pitching.
Over the past three months, the team has added three starters, including reuniting with Lance Lynn, and acquired relievers through a multitude of ways.
Now they continue to add to the bullpen with the addition of Middleton, who had a career-year between the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees in 2023, posting 3.38 ERA in 50.2 innings, striking out 30.2% of the batters he's faced.
The Cardinals have made it clear that searching for a reliever with major-league experience was a key target for them this off-season. While they were able to acquire relievers Nick Robertson, Josh James, and Andrew Kittredge, who all have major league experience, all three came with questions marks, particularly health with the latter two.
The Cardinals previously entertained the possibilities of going after Phil Maton and Ryan Brasier as potential additions to the bullpen, but the signing of Middleton will likely end those pursuits.
Middleton will likely slot in to the sixth or seventh inning, paving a path to the backend of the bullpen, likely Giovanny Gallegos and Ryan Helsley.
Currently, the Cardinals figures to have Gallegos, Helsley, JoJo Romero, Kittredge and Middleton as likely locks for the 2024 bullpen. The Cardinals drafting reliever Ryan Fernandez in the 2023 Rule 5 Draft will likely mean Fernandez gets a spot if everything goes smooth in Spring Training and one spot figures to be a competition between Zack Thompson and Matthew Liberatore. It likely means there's only one spot in the 2024 bullpen left, with Robertson, Andre Pallante, John King, and Riley O'Brien likely seen as contenders for that spot, but Packy Naughton and Wilking Rodriguez could have an outside chance to fight for it too as non-roster invitees.
Barring any surprises, the Cardinals have all but likely wrapped up their 2024 off-season with the signing of Middleton as the team prepares to head to Jupiter for Spring Training. Pitchers and catchers are set to begin working out on Valentine's Day, with the first full team workouts set for Monday, Feb. 19.
The Cardinals first Spring Training games will be on Saturday, Feb. 24 with split-squad action between the Miami Marlins and New York Mets. Both games will start right around 12 p.m. CT.