Milwaukee, WI (My Sportsbook) - Pitcher Braden Looper officially signed a one-year contract with the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday.

The contract includes a mutual option for 2010, and the Milwaukee Journal- Sentinel reported earlier this week that the deal is worth $4.75 million guaranteed.

"Braden brings to our ballclub a veteran presence who takes the ball and gives you a chance to win," said Brewers executive vice president and general manager Doug Melvin. "His workhorse approach is something that we needed to fill out our rotation and make up for some of the loss of CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets."

Looper spent the past three seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals and has also pitched for the Florida Marlins and New York Mets in an 11-year big league career.

After posting a record of 9-3 with a 3.56 earned run average pitching out of the bullpen for the Cardinals during their World Series championship season of 2006, he was converted into a starter and worked out of the rotation for the past two seasons.

The 34-year-old right-hander was 12-14 with a 4.16 ERA in 33 starts last season and owns a mark of 24-26 while making 63 starts the past two years.

Looper, who pitched exclusively as a reliever before 2007, has a career mark of 58-58 with a 3.93 ERA. He also has 103 saves and was the closer for the Marlins' World Series title team in 2003.