Cardinals Close to Signing a Lefty Reliever
December 17, 2018
The Cardinals are waiting upon decisions for two lefties to accept their contract offers, and a signing announcement could be made as soon as today.
The first of the lefties is Zach Britton. Britton, 30, is the long time Orioles closer, who was dealt to the Yankees last July. Britton carries a career 1.82 ERA as a reliever, and is coming off a year where he put up a 3.10 ERA. Britton has taken a step back from his dominance of 2016, where he compiled 54 straight saves and had an astonishing low ERA of 0.54. Britton’s agent, Scott Boras, however, is known for waiting as long as possible for his clients to sign, so that in itself might delay a signing. A fair contract for Britton stands at four to five years, at roughly 30 to 40 million a year.
The second lefty the Cardinals are looking into heavily is Andrew Miller. Miller, who carries a 2.21 ERA career as a reliever, hits free agency for the second time. Miller has had a very interesting career of up and downs, coming off one of those down years this season. Miller fought injuries and struggles to finish with a 4.24 ERA in 2018. While this is not awful, the previous two years Miller held ERA’s under two, which usually qualifies a pitcher to be among the best in the league. However, Miller is 33. It is hard to say if his 2018 struggles were truly due to injuries, or if he is on the declining part of his career. The injuries could also be costly moving forward as well. However, the reward his very high.
While these are the two most rumored and frequently mentioned names by Cardinal personnel, there are a few other options out there. If the Cardinals want a true LOOGY, left-handed one out guy, Aaron Loup could be an option. By way of trade, the Cardinals have checked in with the Giants about the availability of Will Smith and Tony Watson, both of who has very long track records in the majors.
The Cardinals have a plethora of options to look at for the lefties in the bullpen, as well of the righties for that matter, and seemingly, are a step away in any direction to making a move.