December 17: May will make $12.5MM in 2026 and the partnership option is worth $20MM, per Passan.
December 13: The Cardinals are expected to sign a right-hander Dustin MayESPN’s Jeff Passan reports. One-year contract with same option for 2027. May spent last season split between the Dodgers and Red Sox.
May was sent to Boston at the trade deadline James Tibbs again Zach Ehrhardt. After making 19 appearances with LA, he battled injuries and poor performance with the Red Sox. He may have posted career highs in innings (132 1/3) and games (25) last season, but posted an unimpressive 4.96 ERA with an xFIP and SIERA in the mid-4.00s.
St. Louis desperately needed rotation depth after the trade Sonny Gray in Boston and watching Miles Mikolas hit free agency. The club also lost a swing Steven Matzwho signed with Tampa Bay. May is set to join the holdovers Andre Pallante again Michael McGreevy in circulation. May’s former teammate on the Red Sox, Richard Fittsit will probably be in the mix after coming to the Gray trade. The Cardinals are considering a conversion Kyle Leahy it was the beginning of recruiting workers.
The Dodgers used a third-round pick in May of 2016. He emerged as one of the top prospects in a program that is often full of high-profile arms. May made his MLB debut in 2019, working mostly out of the bullpen. He spent most of the 2020 campaign in the rotation, making 10 starts. It would be the only time he reached double digits until this past season. Injuries limited May to just 20 games from 2021 to 2023. He missed all of 2024 due to flexor tendon surgery.
May stayed healthy for the first time in 2025, making 19 appearances for the Dodgers. He stumbled to a 4.85 ERA over 104 innings. Without playing, May still got LA an interesting opportunity in Tibbs, a 2024 first-round pick (via San Francisco). The veteran righty made just six appearances with the Red Sox before right elbow neuritis cut short his season.
The Cardinals are betting on May pairing the flashes of solid production he’s shown in past seasons with improved health starting in 2025. The 28-year-old recorded an ERA under 3.00 in 2020, 2022, and 2023, albeit shortened campaigns. While he went down with an elbow issue in September, he still destroyed his previous career highs in terms of work. May totaled 101 innings in four seasons before pitching 132 1/3 frames last year. It was the first time in his six-year career that May showed the ability to stay on the mound for any kind of extended stretch.
May has a puzzling pitching profile. He has an arsenal worthy of a GIF titled sweeper with high spin and a fastball in the upper 90s. Sadly, the repertoire produced no whiffs or strikes for most of his career. May has increased his strikeout rate by 37.6% through five games in 2021, but he has been a dominant player throughout the rest of the season. He posted a 21.1% mark between LA and Boston last year. May has an average swing rate of 8.8% for his career. None of his five games had a high blowout rate.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post was the first to report that the contract is for one year. Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com was the first to note that the deal includes a 2027 club option.
Photo courtesy of Paul Rutherford, Imagn Images
