St. Louis Cardinals continue to explore free-agent relievers

The St. Louis Cardinals continue to explore free-agent relievers, with options being Ryan Tepera and Joe Kelly, among others.

After signing Steven Matz to a four-year, $44 million deal, the St. Louis Cardinals have turned their attention toward addressing the bullpen.

Ideally, they would like to add a high-leverage reliever. Among the available options include Raisel Iglesias, Joe Kelly and Ryan Tepera. But entering Nov. 30, which is the last day before MLB is locked out, the Cardinals do not appear close to adding such a reliever.

But they have explored the market, and have continued to do so. The Cardinals are showing interest in Joe Kelly, Ryan Tepera and continue to be interested in free-agent reliever Luis Garcia (stay tuned on that front), according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Jim Hayes of Bally Sports mentioned that while the Cardinals showed early interest in Kelly, there is nothing imminent on that front.

The Cardinals should have financial flexibility to add an impact reliever after freeing up more than $30 million by moving on from Matt Carpenter and Carlos Martinez. Of course, much of it went to Nolan Arenado, but there is plenty of payroll space left to add a high-end reliever.

Perhaps not of the caliber of Iglesias, who will want a contract close to Liam Hendriks. Tepera could land a two-year deal in the range of $12-15 million, which is affordable and would give them a presence in the late innings. He’s familiar with the division, having pitched for the Chicago Cubs, and has been an above-average arm for some time.

We should have more answers today. But the Cardinals’ focus is primarily on relievers — and the search will become more pressing later this morning. Stay tuned.