Cardinals Reportedly 'Expressed Interest' In Polarizing Reliever To Bolster Bullpen

St. Louis might not be done adding

Scott Neville | Feb 2, 2024

Cardinals Reportedly 'Expressed Interest' In Polarizing Reliever To Bolster Bullpen /

In this story:

St. Louis Cardinals

Will the St. Louis Cardinals make one more impactful move before pitchers and catchers report to spring training in a couple of weeks?

Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak set out this offseason to add three new starting pitchers and two high-leverage arms.

The signings of Sonny Gray, Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson filled the voids in the rotation. From there, Mozelaik traded for right-handed reliever Andrew Kittredge and, pending a physical, landed Keynan Middleton late Thursday night to presumably round out the bullpen.

However, could there be one more move on the way? St. Louis reportedly had interest in a polarizing hurler before signing Middleton.

"They also expressed interest this offseason in right-hander Ryan Brasier, a former (Boston) Red Sox reliever who had a breakout second half with the (Los Angeles) Dodgers in 2023," the St. Louis Dispatch's Derrick Goold reported Friday.

Brasier is coming off an extremely unusual season but his stock might be as high as it's ever been.

The 36-year-old started his season in Boston and posted a horrendous 7.29 ERA with an 18-to-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .286 batting average against and a 1.57 WHIP in 21 innings.

After being released, the Dodgers picked him up and added a cutter to his pitch mix, which led to other corrections coming into place. Safe to say, those adjustments did wonders.

Brasier posted a 0.70 ERA with a 38-to-10 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .140 batting average against and a 0.72 WHIP in 38 2/3 innings to close out his 2023 campaign in Los Angeles.

The report is phrased as if the Cardinals were seeking one final addition of note and picked Middleton out of a few options, including Brasier. The plan was always to add a pair of high-leverage arms and that mission has been completed.

With that said, Brasier caught Mozeliak's eye and he might come cheaper than expected as he's yet to find a team with spring training on the horizon.

Brasier likely will sign elsewhere for a semi-lucrative figure but until then there remains a glimmer of hope that St. Lous makes one more impactful signing.

If not, they still should have a top-10 bullpen in baseball after a successful retooling.

More MLB: Cardinals Reportedly Sign High-Leverage Reliever Coming Of Stellar Season

Published Feb 2, 2024

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the St. Louis Cardinals for FanNation's "Inside The Cardinals" on Sports Illustrated. Before starting "Inside The Cardinals", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." After a few months as the top Major League Baseball site in the program, Neville sought expansion and pitched "Inside The Cardinals," one of the newest additions to FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group. The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Cardinals" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu