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The New York Yankees have missed out on another potential bullpen option after former Yankee Keynan Middleton reportedly signed with the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday.
The star free-agent reliever had a strong stint with the Yankees last season after the Chicago White Sox dealt him at the Aug. 1 trade deadline in exchange for minor leaguer Juan Carela.
Middleton made his MLB debut with the Los Angeles Angels in 2017 and remained with the Halos until 2020. A couple of brief stints with the Seattle Mariners and the Arizona Diamondbacks were followed by a minor league deal with the White Sox in 2023.
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The 30-year-old reliever's move to the Cardinals has seemingly angered the Bronx Bombers faithful as they were hoping for the former player to return to New York after an impressive stint last season.
Here are some of the reactions on X:
Fans lashed out at Brian Cashman for missing out on a possible reunion with the reliever, questioning the team's intent in the free-agent market as they previously missed out on Wandy Peralta and Josh Hader.
Kenyan Middleton had expressed interest in a Yankees reunion
The frustration of the Yankees fans can be justified by the fact that Middleton was interested in returning to New York in free agency. Yankees did make a few 'low offers, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post, but it wasn't enough to capture the 30-year-old right-handed pitcher.
“Honestly, there’s not too many other places I’m looking at,” Middleton said to The Post in October. “After being here, I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to be here. If it ends up working out, I’d love to come back here. But we’ll see what happens.
“There’s other guys around here — Gerrit Cole, Clay Holmes, Michael King — it’s just pure greatness. Being around these guys and being able to learn from them has been huge for me.”
It seems like the Bronx Bombers have missed out on a player who was keen to play for the badge and was looking to help the team bounce back after a torrid season last year.
