Former Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Rays Prospect Signs Minor League Deal with St. Louis Cardinals

Right-hander Curtis Taylor has toiled in the minor leagues and foreign leagues, awaiting his chance to finally make his major league debut.

Will it finally come this season in St. Louis?

The Cardinals announced Wednesday that they signed Taylor to a minor league deal for the 2025 season.

We have signed RHP Curtis Taylor to a minor league contract for the 2025 season.

Taylor, 29, owns a career 3.60 ERA and 10.4 SO/9 over 182 minor league games. pic.twitter.com/9XmIng6kqM
— Cardinals Player Development (@CardsPlayerDev) February 12, 2025

Taylor, a native of Canada, turns 30 in July. He was a fourth-round pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2016 MLB Draft after his career at the University of British Columbia.

The 6-foot-6, 235-pound pitcher has appeared in 182 games (20 starts) in the minors and has compiled a 16-21 record with a 3.60 ERA and 20 saves. He’s thrown 302.2 innings and struck out 351, giving him 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings.

Taylor is well-traveled, having played with minor league clubs for the Diamondbacks, Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, Washington Nationals, Chicago Cubs and Minnesota Twins. He also played for Canada in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

In the 2023 season, he pitched for the Triple-A affiliates of both the Twins and Cubs but spent the bulk of the season with Double-A Wichita (Twins), finishing 2-5 with a 3.98 ERA in 31 appearances (one start).

He pitched in Mexico in 2024.

Taylor is the most recent pitcher to sign a minor league deal with the Cardinals.

Earlier this month, the Cardinals signed by veteran Zack Weiss and fellow right-hander Victor Santos

Weiss, 32, was selected by the Cincinnati Reds out of UCLA in the sixth round of the 2013 MLB Draft but largely has been a career minor leaguer. He has made 25 relief appearances over parts of three seasons with the Reds (2018), Los Angeles Angels (2022-23) and Boston Red Sox (2023).

He has a career record of 1-1 with a 4.61 ERA, striking out 33 batters in 27.1 innings.

Santos, 24, was acquired in the trade that sent Tyler O’Neill to the Boston Red Sox in December 2023 and signed a two-year minor league contract to remain in the Cardinals system. He has yet to appear in a major league game and isn’t expected to play this season as he rehabilitates a foot injury that he apparently suffered while pitching in the Dominican Winter League.

Related MiLB Stories