Left-hander Steven Matz and the Cardinals have reached an agreement on a four-year, $44 million contract, a source told MLB.com's Anthony DiComo. The club has not confirmed the news.
The Matz deal can reach $48 million through incentives and he will receive a signing bonus.
Matz is the latest pitcher to quickly land a deal. Several other pitchers have already flown off the free-agent board, including Eduardo Rodriguez, Justin Verlander and Anthony DeSclafani.
The Mets had made Matz an offer, but so did seven other teams. St. Louis is a five-hour drive from his full-time home in Nashville, Tenn.
The 2021 season was a big one for Matz. The 30-year-old left-hander was a solid starter for the Blue Jays, posting a 3.82 ERA (115 ERA+). over 29 outings after injuries and subpar performances with the Mets caused him to fall from potential frontline starter status to potential back-end-of-the-rotation material.
Following the season, the Jays opted not to extend Matz an $18.4 million qualifying offer, which could have dampened his market due to the Draft-pick compensation that would have been attached.
The Cards were intent on upgrading the rotation entering this offseason after their depth was tested in 2021. Matz would join a rotation that includes Adam Wainwright, Jack Flaherty, Dakota Hudson and Miles Mikolas, though it remains to be seen how Flaherty will recover from a disjointed, injury-stunted season that saw him in the bullpen for the postseason.
Selected in the second round of the 2009 Draft by his hometown Mets out of high school, Matz arrived on the MLB scene with a splash in ’15. Over six starts that season, he turned in a 2.27 ERA, and followed that up by finishing sixth in NL Rookie of the Year Award voting the next year with a 3.40 ERA over 22 starts.
Injuries took most of the 2017 season from Matz -- he struggled to a 6.08 ERA over 13 starts. Over the next two seasons, he wasn’t able to replicate his early success, pitching to a 4.09 ERA in 314 1/3 innings from 2018-19, though he was pitching through nerve pain in his left arm in ’19.
Shoulder issues continued to plague Matz in the pandemic-shortened ’20 season, and he continued to struggle when he was on the mound, finishing with a 9.68 ERA over nine appearances (six starts) in what would be his final season with the Mets.
New York traded Matz to Toronto in Jan. 2021, and his performance this past season went a long way toward rehabilitating his perceived value moving forward, as did his improved fastball velocity -- his four-seamer averaged 94.5 mph, his best since ’15.
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Matz reaches 4-year deal with Cards (source) - MLB.com
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