Cardinals $6M Fireballer Makes It Clear Where He Wants To Play In 2025

Where will the Cardinals hurler end up signing this winter?

Jul 12, 2020; St. Louis, Missouri, United States; A view of empty seats as the St. Louis Cardinals play a simulated game at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images / Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals already have made a handful of decisions with the Major League Baseball offseason officially kicking off.

St. Louis had three decisions to make right away. Lance Lynn, Kyle Gibson, and Keynan Middleton all had club options on their deals for the 2025 season. St. Louis decided to decline all three of the options making the hurlers free agents.

This doesn't mean that none of them could return, but the Cardinals clearly wanted to open up payroll. While this is the case, Middleton reportedly "expressed an interest" in returning to St. Louis in 2025 on a new deal, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Derrick Goold.

"Signed to join (Andrew Kittredge) as a right-handed setup option, Middleton had a flexor tendon injury in spring that required surgery," Goold said. "He remained a presence in the clubhouse and at home games as he rehabbed, and late in the season he expressed an interest in reworking his deal to return. Though, at the time, he had not spoken to the team about its new direction."

Middleton is a seven-year big league veteran with a 3.84 career ERA across 205 appearances with the Los Angeles Angels, Seattle Mariners, Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago White Sox, and the New York Yankees.

In 2023, he logged a 3.38 ERA across 51 outings with the Yankees and White Sox, leading to his deal with St. Louis. A new contract at a lower value could make sense for St. Louis.

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