Cardinals To Sign Matt Belisle

The Cardinals have struck a one-year deal with free agent righty Matt Belisle, Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com tweets. Belisle receives a $3.5MM guarantee, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets.

The deal has a bonus structure that maxes out at $4MM, Rosenthal further tweets. Belisle can take home $150K for making fifty appearances, another $150K for his next ten turns, and then $200K if he reaches seventy.

Belisle, a 34-year-old righty, had been a stalwart in the Rockies’ pen for the last five seasons since emerging with a strong 2010 campaign. Over the first three years of that run, Belisle worked to a 3.28 ERA over 244 innings with 8.0 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9, all while throwing half the time at Coors Field.

An uptick in his ERA in 2013 was offset by a still-solid FIP, but things took a more pronounced downturn in 2014. Belisle’s ERA shot up to 4.87 as he posted strikeout (6.0 per nine) and walk (2.6 per nine) rates that were his worst since moving to the pen full-time.

The Cards will hope for a return to form for the veteran, who will presumably fill some of the innings that are leaving with Pat Neshek and, to a lesser extent, Jason Motte. With Shelby Miller already dealt away, the St. Louis pen is likely to lose a late-inning arm such as Carlos Martinez. Of course, that swap also brought back a reliable veteran righty in Jordan Walden.