The Blue Jays are looking to bolster their bullpen and the Cardinals have arms available. The Jays were previously connected to Ryan Helsley, though he has now been traded to the Mets. The Jays and Cards clubs have also discussed right-hander Phil Maton, reports Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Maton, 32, is often underrated by fans and the baseball industry. Dating back to the start of the 2020 season, Maton has tossed 322 1/3 big league innings with a 3.69 earned run average. He has struck out 27.1% of batters faced, given out walks at a 9.2% clip and induced grounders on 42.8% of balls in play. He generally does very well in terms of limiting damage, as seen on his Statcast page. His average exit velocity, barrel rate and hard hit rate are regularly near the top of the league leaderboards. He also has a 2.57 ERA in 28 postseason innings.
Despite that generally strong track record, his market hasn’t always been robust, perhaps because his velocity maxes out around 91 miles per hour. He first reached free agency ahead of the 2024 season and signed a fairly modest one-year, $6.5MM deal with the Rays. He didn’t thrive in Tampa, posting a 4.58 ERA with that club. However, he got back on track after being flipped to the Mets, posting a 2.51 ERA with that club.
He returned to free agency ahead of this year and lingered unsigned into March. The Cardinals scooped him up with a $2MM guarantee on a one-year deal. That has worked out nicely so far, as Maton has a 2.35 ERA in 38 1/3 innings for the Cards. He has a 30.4% strikeout rate, 9.5% walk rate and 50.6% ground ball rate. He’s also still inducing all that weak contact, like usual.
The Jays are clear buyers, currently sitting atop the American League East, four games ahead of the Yankees. Their relievers have a collective 3.94 ERA this year, which puts them near the middle of the MLB pack. They already added one new arm, acquiring Seranthony Domínguez from the Orioles, but are still on the hunt for more.
The Cards, meanwhile, hovered in contention for a decent chunk of the season but have clearly moved into sell mode. In the past few days, they have flipped Helsley to the Mets as well as sending Erick Fedde to Atlanta and Steven Matz to Boston. Since Maton is an impending free agent, he should be on the move today as well.
Maton’s modest salary is surely appealing to the Jays. RosterResource estimates that they have a competitive balance tax number of $280.6MM. Cot’s Baseball Contracts has them a bit lower at $273MM. The third tier of the CBT this year is $281MM. Any team that goes over that line would have their top pick in the 2026 draft pushed back ten spots, in addition to incurring a higher taxation rate.
Perhaps the Jays are looking to avoid that line. The O’s reportedly sent them some undisclosed amount of cash in the Domínguez deal. Maton only has about $650K left to be paid out on his deal, so he wouldn’t be a huge hit. The Jays also have other targets, however, including starters such as Dylan Cease, Zac Gallen and Mitch Keller. Perhaps they would look to have other clubs eat money in any other deal they line up, like in the Domínguez swap, or they could theoretically move another player off their roster in order to free up some payroll space.
Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images
Hopefully we can get another third baseman!!!!
I dont think Jays need a 3B. Barger and Clement are more than fine. If anything you could get a 2B as Gimenez is not great. But really they need an impact RH hitter, it doesnt matter what position but OF is ideal
I think Luis Robert would look good in left field and lengthening the lineup.
Luis Robert would not be a positive addition to the lineup. The Jays play scrappy small ball mixed with average power, and rarely ever strike out. Robert strikes out way too often and doesn’t get on base much. They have plenty of outfielders who are decent enough and don’t need another who brings nothing new to the table – but strikes out a lot.
Did you notice that also?
Don’t be a bozo. Not gonna happen, fella.
“He generally does very well in terms of limiting damage…” until he punches a locker, breaks his hand and misses the playoffs.
Limiting damage doesn’t mean no damage occurs, just a limited amount.
Now consider how much damage he saved his arm from by taking that time off. Smart 🤓
Jays really need another quality starter if they want to win the AL East. The offense is definitely all there already.
They also need a power bat. This team lacks power. Grab a DH or something
He’s a sneaky good reliever. You get a little nervous about a soft contact pitcher who walks a fair number of guys, but this year he’s striking batters out so he can keep baserunners where there are. And given how much we hear about the importance of the long ball in the postseason, someone who keeps the ball in the yard would be very valuable. So many people have their eyes on the late inning options, but Maton feels like someone a team would rely on a lot in those middle innings where the game leverage could swing in one team’s favour or the other.
What would a romero, donovan and maton package fetch from the jays?
This one makes little sense to me as the bullpen has been pretty decent all year. With Varsho out and Santandar pooping the bed this season, another bat would be the better option if the two.
A backend starter also makes more sense than another relief arm.
They have gotten by, and injuries to Garcia, Burr and Sandlin have been tough to navigate. How many pen arms do you think they have to rely upon? You have some hotshot kids having great years in Fisher, Little and Rodriguez (the latter two are 28 but these are breakout seasons where none of the three are especially battle tested and experienced).
Then you have Hoffman, then bigger question marks that don’t give much confidence. They sorely needed Dominguez and another arm or two to fill the pen with weapons. Five guys and some injured arms isn’t enough to make it through October.
I don’t disagree that the Jays (and every other team) can’t have too many bullpen arms, it just shouldn’t be their top priority. The Jays pen is actually ranked as the best bullpen in baseball right now (bullpen ERA, ESPN rankings), which is why I believe that they should have more focus on a backend starter and another bat.
They got Shane Bieber pending medicals so there’s that to satisfy. They could certainly use a bat too.
They certainly can’t afford to be shy and patient.
today will be interesting. Jays need to do something. an SP, RP and possibly Power bat that can play OF or 2B.
Tigers need a 3B, SP and RP addition.
Rangers need an RP and possibly corner Infielder
I wouldn’t touch Maton. He pitched well for the Mets last year, but folded up badly in the playoffs.
Maton was brutal in the playoffs, wonder how much that plays into the thinking of an acquiring team looking to make a run.
That’s a lot of major leaguers included in one trade. Usually a team is going to do better making separate trades.
But any of those players would be of interest to Toronto I think. Toronto has a lot of high floor major league ready or close position players and a group of high higher ceiling pitching prospects a little further away who have broken out this year. I’d guess you would get a really diverse package of ceiling and floor with half a dozen or so pieces.
“Meanwhile” has to START the sentence, not come in its middle, between commas.