Brett Cecil Signs With Cardinals, Boosts Bullpen

When it was announced that left-handed reliever Zach Duke would need Tommy John surgery, and be out for the 2017 season; the Cardinals knew they needed another lefty for their bullpen. The Cardinals accomplished that mission with the signing for free agent reliever Brett Cecil. Cecil, 30, signs a four-year contract, worth $30.5 million. On this years free agent market, Cecil was the third best reliever behind closers Aroldis Chapman, and Kenley Jansen. He spent his first eight seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Cecil, started of as a starting pitcher and then became a set-up man for the Toronto Blue Jays bullpen. Going to the bullpen, has made Cecil better. In three of his four seasons, he's had an era below 2.90. This season he had an era of 3.93. He's had a stirkeout rate of 11.5, and a walk rate of 3.68 with the Blue Jays. He is able to keep left handed hitters in check, holding them to a .226 batting average.

Brett Cecil's career stats: 41-42, 4.20 era, 330 games, 74 starts, 2 complete games, 1 shutout, 11 saves, 585 strikeouts, 228 walks, 656.0 innings, and a whip of 1.34.

Cecil will be the set-up man for closer Seung-hwan Oh. The Cardinals bullpen locks are: Seung-hwan Oh, Brett Cecil, Kevin Siegrist, Trevor Rosenthal, Matt Bowman. Jonathan Broxton, Miguel Socolovich, and Marco Gonzales seem to be fighting for two of the final spots.