Cardinals Rumors: St. Louis interested in Joe Kelly

The St. Louis Cardinals, who are looking for relief pitching, continue to show interest in Joe Kelly.

Entering the offseason, the St. Louis Cardinals had two pressing needs: pitching, both starting and relief.

They solidified the rotation, adding left-hander Steven Matz on a four-year, $44 million deal. They have not added a reliever and after losing right-hander Luis Garcia, who signed a two-year, $7 million deal with the San Diego Padres, their need for bullpen help has been amplified.

They have been connected to plenty of relievers, including right-hander Ryan Tepera. Another reliever the Cardinals have interest in is right-hander Joe Kelly, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Kelly, 33, is someone very familiar to Cardinals fans. He spent the first 2.5 seasons of his career in St. Louis and has since emerged into a quality reliever, posting a 3.83 ERA and 619/298 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 730.2 career innings. It’s a bit surprising that he remains unsigned after posting a 2.83 ERA last season, but his arm injury to end the season is likely a contributing factor.

Kelly, however, is going to be ready at the start of the season. He fits exactly what the Cardinals need — an established late-inning presence — and while he may not close games, he can pitch in the eighth inning while Alex Reyes or Giovanny Gallegos pitch the ninth.

What kind of contract might Kelly sign? He’s coming off a three-year, $25 million deal and considering 1) his current level of performance and 2) the prices for quality relievers on the free-agent market, he could be in line for a two-year deal worth $6-7 million per year.

Perhaps the Cardinals prefer signing Tepera to such a contract. But president of baseball operations John Mozeliak needs to sign a late-inning reliever and either Tepera or Kelly would go a long ways toward stabilizing what is currently their most obvious weakness.