Ryan signed a minor-league deal with the Cardinals on Friday which includes an invitation to spring training, source reports.
Ryan owns a solid 4.05 ERA over parts of seven major-league seasons. While that might ordinarily be good enough to earn a left-handed reliever a major-league deal, he hasn't been nearly as good over the last two years, struggling to a 5.90 ERA in 29 innings of work while striking out just 14.8 percent of opposing batters. If he bounces back in his age-30 season, he'll be a perfectly capable middle reliever, but he's unlikely to find himself in a high-leverage role.