The St. Louis Cardinals cut ties with oft-injured
right-hander Kyle McClellan yesterday, ending the 28-year-old’s 10-year run
with the club, reports Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
"When you look at the situation from my standpoint you see that they have a lot of young, exciting arms coming up and they're excited about that and have every reason to be," said McClellan, who had the longest tenure with the Cardinals of any reliever in the 2012 bullpen.
"They have guys ready to contribute at the major-league level. They want to see them get that chance. And you can see how it makes sense for both sides to explore other opportunities."
McClellan was used primarily as a reliever prior to the 2011
season, posting an ERA of 3.23 over 202 appearances. St. Louis shifted him into
their rotation two years ago, and the right-hander showed promise over the
first half of the season.
However, McClellan would eventually fade down the stretch,
and he was limited to 16 appearances last season due to elbow and shoulder
injuries. Given the Cardinals bevy of young and talented arms both sides
figured parting ways made sense at this point.
Goold notes that McClellan has been going through a
long-toss program in recent weeks. He hopes to be ready to resume normal
pitching by the time spring training rolls around, and expects that he’ll have
to earn his spot with whichever team that ultimately signs him.
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