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MLB MLB Offseason After multiple seasons of under 60 innings pitched, Dustin May tossed a career-high 132 1/3 innings in 2025. Rich Gagnon / Getty Images The rebuilding St. Louis Cardinals fortified the top of its relatively inexperienced starting rotation Saturday by signing right-hander Dustin May to a one-year contract, multiple league sources confirmed to The Athletic. The deal is pending a physical and the terms have yet to be reported. The Cardinals will need to make a 40-man roster move to add May once it’s official. Advertisement President of baseball operations Chaim Bloom has stated throughout the offseason his desire to bolster his group of starters. May, who made 23 starts last year between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox, should slot atop a Cardinals rotation that was upended last month with the trade of ace Sonny Gray to Boston. May should lead the rotation alongside returners Michael Mc Greevy and Matthew Liberatore. Andre Pallante is a bounce-back candidate. Kyle Leahy, one of the Cardinals’ most durable relievers last year, will report to spring as a starter. Richard Fitts, acquired in the trade for Gray, will also be an option. May ranked No. 42 on The Athletic’s free-agent Big Board. He was projected by Tim Britton to receive a two-year deal worth $26 million. Instead, he’ll go to St. Louis for one year. The Red Sox acquired May from the Dodgers at last season’s trade deadline in a deal for two minor-league outfielders: Zach Ehrhard, a 2024 fourth-rounder, and James Tibbs III, whom they acquired in the Rafael Devers deal in June. May never panned out in Boston, posting a 5. 40 ERA in six games (five starts) before landing on the injured list Sept. 9 with right elbow neuritis. He had struggled earlier in the season with the Dodgers, too, posting a 4. 85 ERA through 19 games (18 starts). May struggled to find his rhythm on the mound throughout 2025 after missing the entire previous year recovering from Tommy John surgery revision. It marked his second major elbow surgery since 2021. Surgeries notwithstanding, May has dealt with a slew of injuries over his career that have limited him to 71 games (57 starts) over six years since he debuted. This past season was the first in which he’d thrown more than 56 innings. May has potential with a mid-90s fastball, sweeper and sinker, but harnessing his pitches and staying healthy remain the key.