Cardinals sign Brett Cecil to 4-year, $30.5 million deal

Lef-hander Brett Cecil agreed to a four-year deal with the Cardinals on Saturday afternoon, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan. The deal is worth $30.5 million over that span, as first reported by Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com.

While the market for Cecil didn’t seem to develop quickly publicly, Passan adds interested teams that offered three-year contracts learned that wouldn’t be enough to land the veteran lefty. As a result, the Cardinals weren’t hesitant to add a fourth year.

Cecil, 30, had a comparably down season with the Blue Jays, pitching to a 3.93 ERA and 3.64 FIP over 36.2 innings. That was his highest ERA since 2012, when that figure was 5.72.

Cecil will join a bullpen that was already one of the more effective units in the National League. St. Louis’ unit pitched to a 3.62 ERA in 2016, which ranked seventh in the NL.

Cecil’s contract could set the market for established relievers, who could capitalize on a weak free agent starting pitching class.