The St. Louis Cardinals are looking to wipe away the lingering stench of their putrid 2023 season with some solid offseason moves, with one of them coming at the New York Yankees' expense. On Thursday, Robert Murray of FanSided reported that the Cardinals have agreed to a deal with relief pitcher Keynan Middleton in free agency. This report has then been confirmed by the likes of New York Post's Jon Heyman, and The Athletic's Katie Woo and Ken Rosenthal.

At this point, Middleton's deal with the Cardinals isn't yet official. The 30-year old reliever still needs to undergo his physical. But the 30-year old reliever's move to St. Louis is as good as done, although it's not quite clear yet what the terms are of this agreement.

One thing's for sure: the Cardinals acquired a major bullpen upgrade in acquiring Keynan Middleton. Middleton split time with the Chicago White Sox and the Yankees in 2023, and it's with the latter that he emerged as one of the best bullpen pieces in the majors.

In 14.1 innings with the Yankees, Middleton put up a sterling 1.88 ERA and he struck out 17 batters, bringing his season averages to a 3.38 ERA across 50.2 innings pitched. He has strong underlying metrics as well (his 11.37 strikeouts per nine innings stand out) and his velocity remains healthy (95.7 average fastball), and these factors could lead to an even better season from him with the Cardinals in 2024.

Keynan Middleton doesn't have that good of a track record, but his 2023 season should give Cardinals fans some hope that they are assembling one of the league's most underrated bullpens. Joining Middleton in the Cardinals' relief corps are JoJo Romero, Giovanny Gallegos, and Ryan Helsley, giving St. Louis a plethora of weapons to use late in games.

With Spring Training approaching, the Cardinals may not have too many moves left in their back pocket. Perhaps as we inch closer to the February 24 start of the MLB preseason, St. Louis feels a greater urgency to settle contract extension talks with Paul Goldschmidt. But even then, the Cardinals have already made a few solid moves to help make sure that there will be no repeat of their nightmare 2023 season.