ST. LOUIS – Another experienced arm joins a transformed St. Louis Cardinals pitching staff.

Keynan Middleton officially signed a one-year deal with the Cardinals on Saturday. The deal includes a club option for 2025.

The Cardinals have not yet confirmed financial terms of the contract, but MLB Insider Robert Murray reports he will make $6 million this year and could make $11 million total if the Cardinals exercise his club option. Murray first reported the deal was close to getting done on Thursday.

Middleton has spent time with five teams over seven MLB seasons with a career 10-8 record, 3.84 ERA and 15 saves over 205 games. Middleton joined the New York Yankees at last year’s trade deadline and pitched to a 1.88 ERA with 17 strikeouts over 12 games.

Cardinals DFA minor league slugger Moisés Gómez

“Acquiring additional proven depth for our bullpen was something we have been focused on,” said Cardinals’ President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak via a news release on the deal. “Keynan’s experience in getting outs in the back half of games offers us another strong addition to the bullpen mix.”

Middleton had a 57.4 groundball percentage between the Yankees and Chicago White Sox last year, a positive development for an infield with Gold Glove candidates like Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt and Brendan Donovan.

Now 30 years old, Middleton joins a Cardinals pitching staff that’s seen quite a bit of transformation this offseason. With St. Louis finishing in the bottom quartile of several team pitching stats last year, changes seemed inevitable.

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Cardinals (Seasonal)

The Cardinals were aggressive in the starting pitcher’s market early, signing three new rotation pieces in Sonny Gray, Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson ahead of the Winter Meetings. St. Louis later acquired former All-Star Andrew Kittredge for the bullpen and pitchers such as Nick Robertson and Ryan Fernandez who might be ready to join the big-league squad this year.

From last year’s Cardinals bullpen, it seems the only four with security for relief roles heading into this year are Ryan Helsley, Giovanny Gallegos, John King and JoJo Romero. Add in Middleton, and take the depth in the minor leagues into consideration, it will make for some interesting competition for Opening Day spots come spring.

Pitchers and catchers are expected to report to spring training in Jupiter, Florida, by Feb. 14, with position players to follow soon afterwards. The Cardinals’ spring training schedule begins Feb. 24. Opening Day is set for March 28.

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