July 31st: The trade has been officially announced by the Red Sox. Righty Hunter Dobbins has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot. Dobbins suffered a season-ending ACL tear earlier this month.
July 30: The Red Sox and Cardinals have agreed to a trade that will send left-hander Steven Matz to Boston, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports. Corner infield prospect Blaze Jordan is headed to the Cards in return, according to the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier. The deal will become official once both sides sign off on the medicals of the players involved.
Matz is a pure rental for the Sox, as the veteran southpaw’s four-year, $44MM contract is up at season’s end. St. Louis inked Matz to that free agent deal on the heels of his successful 2021 season as a starter with the Blue Jays, but Matz has only started 36 of his 84 career games with the Cards. Injuries and ineffectiveness have hampered his time in St. Louis, leading the Cardinals to move Matz into more of a swingman role, and he came essentially a full-time reliever this year (save for two spot starts in April).
While Matz didn’t live up to the expectations of his contract, he pitched pretty well in both 2023 and during this season, as the southpaw has a 3.44 ERA over 55 frames in 2025. Typically a good control pitcher, Matz has taken it a step further with an elite 4.0% walk rate this season, and his 5.3% barrel rate is also excellent. This ability to limit mistakes and keep the ball on the ground (44.3% grounder rate) has helped balance out more ordinary strikeout and hard-contact rates.
Left-handed batters have only a .442 OPS against Matz this season, while righty hitters have a much more productive .814 OPS. The gap in splits will be somewhat hard for manager Alex Cora to work around since Matz has so much value as a multi-inning reliever, yet that same durability will help out a Boston pen that has logged a lot of innings bailing out its shaky rotation. It’s possible the Sox could even turn to Matz again as a part-time starter, though the Red Sox are expected to land more significant starting help prior to tomorrow’s deadline.
Matz is now the fifth left-handed in Boston’s pen, along with Aroldis Chapman, Justin Wilson, Brennan Bernardino, and Chris Murphy. This depth could give the Sox some flexibility in swinging a trade to a team in need of relief help, with Boston then addressing another need in return.
Chaim Bloom was Boston’s chief baseball officer back when Jordan was selected in the third round of the 2020 draft, and now that Bloom will be taking over at the Cards’ president of baseball operations starting next season, this familiarity undoubtedly helped pave the way for tonight’s trade. Jordan ranks 17th on MLB Pipeline’s list of Boston’s best prospect, and MLB Pipeline had the corner infielder 24th in their ranking.
Jordan struggled at the Double-A level in both 2023 and 2024 before hitting well this season, and earning his first promotion to Triple-A. This transition went more smoothly, as Jordan has hit .289/.333/.476 over 177 plate appearances with Worcester while seeing a lot of time at both corner infield slots (primarily third base). Scouts feel first base is his better position, so Jordan’s future potential will hinge on how well he can keep developing at the plate. His production in 2025 is a step in the right direction, as the 22-year-old has been much better at turning his raw power into results.
This is the second big bullpen trade of the day for the Cardinals, after Ryan Helsley was shipped to the Mets. Both deals have brought more young talent into the St. Louis pipeline, which seemed to be the organization’s stated goal heading into last offseason, yet Bloom and current PBO John Mozeliak chose to retain almost all of the Cards’ veteran talent. In Matz’s case, he wasn’t generating much trade interest given his $12MM salary and his rough 2024 production, so at least Matz’s bounce-back year rebuilt some of his value.
As for future trades, Phil Maton and JoJo Romero have both been rumored to be generating interesting, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see St. Louis move at least one or both relievers before the deadline. While the Cards are in sell mode, the Red Sox are pushing for at least a wild card slot and hope to make a run at the AL East title, with pitching known to be Boston’s primary target.
Bam, Saw this one from constantly refreshing passan for an hour
You can never have enough pitching and lefty pitching at that…
He has been a good reliever for my Cards this year for the most part.
I just find it strange how despite hitting and Boston’s need for a 1Bman, Jordan never got a shot in Fenway. Such suggests Boston didn’t feel he could duplicate his progress at least not now and they didn’t want to expose him so that his value would further decline.
Dewey- For me the bigger concern is using him for a bullpen rental and one that is more of a lefty specialist. I expected them to give up prospects, but hoped it would be for someone more significant.
Dewey- The disappointing thing wasn’t that they traded Blaze. We have some positional redundancies. Although, FIRST BASE, and catcher are very weak and shallow as a puddle in the organization for depth.
The disappointing thing is the return. This kid can hit. I look at him as a Matt Stairs type player on any team that can find him the AB’s and look past his look and defensive limitations. I package Blaze with others for quality, not a rental that doesn’t move the needle towards the goal of dramatically improving production from whatever role that incoming player fills, whether a starter, reliever, hitter, bench runner, or defensive replacement. If the bar doesn’t move, why trade? If Matz is the answer to any question anyone was asking in the organization then they have to explain the other half dozen pitcher depth moves that were made for this exact purpose. Mostly lefties too.
I agree, he just started hitting well over the past few months. Bringing him up probably would have been too early to see results.
William: What were you expecting to get back for Blaze Jordan? He’s ranked in the 20-25 range by the majority of evaluators and he’s projected to be a back up. If Jordan were part of a package it would have been the last player in the deal and ultimately wouldn’t make a break a trade.
I clearly stated what I expect from any deadline move to bolster the team. You can replace the name Blaze with any other prospect with legit expectations to be productive on a major league roster if promoted and played. I was not expecting or wanting a rental lateral move at the cost of a prospect. The cost is steep to make difference making moves, otherwise you end up just making depth moves at a cost. This team needs a bold rotation move. A noticeable upgrade that changes the pecking order substantially of the rotation and forces the upgrade in the pen by shuffling a starter to the pen and jettisoning the worst arm in the pen. That is two upgrades at the cost of prospects with potential, or a package of MLB rostered players and prospects.
In your view you are saying we traded a backup player, and that may, or MAY NOT be the case. What I did point out clearly was that trading him was not a shock, but I would have preferred it as part of a package for an upgrade, not our 5th bullpen lefty depth piece with 3 other lefties waiting in reserve. It doesn’t move the needle on talent and it’s a rental.
Just for comparison purposes, the Mariners gave up Jeter Martinez for Ferguson. I’d rather have Matz than Ferguson, and FG has Jordan as a 40 FV and Martinez as a 40+.
Comparatively speaking, this looks like a better deal. It’s also roughly what the Cubs paid for Soroka (who I also liked).
as I clearly said, Blaze isn’t a difference maker in part of a larger trade. You’re saying that Blaze COULD be a productive player on a MLB roster that may be the case but MAY NOT be the case which PROBABLY the more likely outcome. As for the legit exceptions of being productive in the MLB, that’s a bit of a stretch for a player with limited AAA time. Frankly if he is a backup that’s probably a win
Blaze Jordan whether part of a larger trade or individually wasn’t going to move the needle.
the Cubs traded their top international signing for Andrew Kitteridge who’s numbers are very similar to Matz this year and I’d argue that was a much more valuable piece than Jordan.
Dewey, jordan has had kind of a sine wave ride in the minors… clearly breslow saw this as another crest and felt he could sell high.
For my part, I wish they’d moved grissom instead of jordan, but, that’d assume the cards would *want* grissom which is a whole different story
The fact that we got Matz for Jordan indicates the Cardinals felt he had value. If other clubs had traded better prospects than Jordan for a reliever of similar value, maybe at least some teams did see Jordan as being more valuable than you think.
I disagree that he would not have been a piece in a trade that would have been desirable to some teams. If the Sox focus is on improving the bullpen add another prospect and get someone who is not a rental and has more impact. We have so many pitchers that are lefties that I don’t see how this improved the team. I guess it adds depth, but nothing like what some of our competitors are doing.
If we just do this and get a similar level rental starter, it is not going to help the Sox make the playoffs or improve them long term. Hoping the next move will be more impressive.
Blaze Jordan makes decently consistent contact, but without all that much impact. At the major league level he might look a little like Toro? Not impossible that he makes the majors and contributes a little in a bench role, but I very much doubt we’ll miss him. Is a reason he was barely in the Red Sox top 20, and I doubt the team wanted to spend a 40-man roster spot to protect him this winter.
Agreed. The comparisons being made here are based on several factors that I think people are ignoring. Just because other teams are willing to give up better prospects for relievers does not mean that any or all of those teams made sound choices, had the same issues, levels of need, or lacked enough prospect depth to deal from a lower selection to appease another team.
Some teams are in dire need of any qualified arm. Some teams may see mid-tier pitching as still being an upgrade. Some teams due to health may be looking to stay afloat by adding depth till pieces return. Some teams may simply know a pitcher can be counted on with pressure in playoff games not to fold. Some of the relievers in question are simply better than others as well, or the money equation and years of control may demand a higher return.
All I am stating is that the Red Sox bullpen was not in need of another mid-tier lefty reliever to join the other 3 after Chapman. We made this level of signing several times already THIS YEAR for lefty relievers for this very purpose. I am not saying you don’t trade Blaze to help the team. I am saying, once again, that a deadline trade heading into the playoffs should be to make either an improvement over what is on hand, or confidently replace what has been lost due to injury. If the needle doesn’t move, you’re better looking elsewhere towards what does make it move.
Perhaps the Sox were looking for another journeyman utility infielder with middling fielding and weak bat as their first option to add to the stockpile like the last few years. Perhaps we dodged that bullet and picked up another middle inning lefty instead.
I might be overrating Matz a little? In a bullpen role, I think he’s good for a 3.50 to 3.80 ERA, arguably on par with Justin Wilson. I can’t see one more veteran arm in the pen as a bad thing, though I absolutely agree that it doesn’t address the needs at 1B or SP.
Agreed that if this is all the Red Sox end up with that it is a very disappointing trade deadline. But I very much doubt that this impacts more significant trades. Blaze Jordan is a lower-value piece that is only of interest to a team with the right situation for him.
dewey – If the Sox analytics folks determine a minor leaguer will be a bust, they won’t give that player a shot.
That’s how you can tell a player has no future with the Sox, they don’t get a callup to show what they can do.
They didn’t call up Yorke, they haven’t called up Grissom, and they didn’t call up Jordan. That’s how you know how the Sox feel about those players.
They don’t believe in in-person evaluations, just like they don’t believe in in-person interviews for admin.
Also agree that the pen is getting a bit lefty-heavy. I would rank Matz behind Wilson, ahead of Bernardino and Murphy, but I could be off on that. Bernardino is more of a spot lefty, and Murphy gets tagged pretty hard when he misses his spots. Totally understand that others might see that ranking differently, though.
Any warm body to put between Zack Kelly and the majors…
william – 2 hours 45 minutes until the deadline, so far nothing other than a mediocre lefty reliever rental that didn’t seem to be needed.
You think they will come through with an impact player?
Or will this evening bring “We tried our hardest but no team was willing to align with us. No matter, we feel we already have a team capable of going deep into the postseason”.
Teams that are serious about winning usually don’t wait until the final few hours.
Fever – grissom had a shot – small sample, but a shot. He didn’t perform
Yes and no. The Sox are more than willing to bring up some minor leaguers with little to no upside ahead of other prospects. Last year was a good example. They are willing to obtain journeyman with no real success in their past and play them regularly in recent memory also.
I agree that evaluators in the system put a much higher value on position players being a jack of all trades and athleticism. I remember a time when if a player could play well and he threw up the numbers he would earn his spot by beating the other players. I am not sure having the best stats matters as much anymore as fitting into some preconceived notion of what they think that player should be. I would hate to think about a Kruk, Pedroia, Luzinski not getting a shot these days over a slick 5 tool guy with a .220 BA, .290 OBP that can play mediocre at 6 positions, runs like the wind, but can’t figure out how to steal bases.
Fever, I think that Mayer getting hurt, again, altered things greatly.
All of a sudden that young aoF depth that could but a *real* impact trade wasn’t as available…
The scuttlebutt is that Grissom can’t handle a better fastball. Less of a problem in AAA but more of a problem in the majors.
Not sure I believe that, though. His actual ML numbers on fastballs are pretty good. A career .998 OPS against fastballs! The problem at the major league level appears to be everything else, especially sliders and sinkers.
I might have understood if they were suggesting that he couldn’t handle a ML slider (and pretty much every ML pitcher throws a good one these days), but fastballs?!?
Is why I suspect they are relying pretty heavily on coaching evaluations rather than on statistics… Like every team in baseball they use both, but the kinds of stuff I’m hearing don’t seem to be supported by the analytics side. Unless their analytics say the exact opposite of what the publicly available ones do?
Wait – grisson’s real problem is his defense stinks. I haven’t watched him in the minors this year, but I saw him in person a lot in ATL and their AAA-farm team in gwinnett for several seasons, large sample size there.
And the further you moved him across the diamond, the worse his defense stunk.
No question there, GA. Mediocre baserunning as well. But we’re talking about a team that played Eaton at 3B for a couple weeks and uses Romy Gonzalez at 2B, so we know they can’t care THAT much about defense. Campbell wasn’t exactly winning a gold glove either…
Joe, Ace, et al – not singling you guys out, but this prospect comparison is happenning throughout.
the Cubs and Mariners are in entirely different boats than the Sox. The Mariners may have the best SPs (1-5) in baseball.They were willing to pay for offense. The Cubs have a good offense and moderate, or let’s say overperforming SP, and scored up the bullpen. The Sox need a righty bat at 1B (preferably) or a SP and so far got neither. Who cares what they paid for Matz in relation to what other teams have done. In a wide open AL our FO has so far completely punted. They could’ve given up my 9yo son for Matz and it still isn’t a good deal because basically we’re not any better no than we were on Monday.
Don’t even get me started on the whole Rule 5 aspect of this. The Yale Mafia has once again proven just how smart they are. Dealing for two months of a fifth bullpen lefty to say they won’t lose a guy in the Rule 5, when, oh yeah by the way, maybe hes not even taken….
GaSox – Between the illness and injuries, that wasn’t really a fair shot last year.
Just seems really strange they gave up so much to get him, hyped him as a longterm 2B, and then immediately gave up on him this year. I know he had a rough start in AAA this year, but he’s at .798 OPS now which is pretty good for a middle infielder.
Sad – And now O’Hearn is gone.
Well I know the Sox committed only to improving the pitching, so they’ve got 75 minutes to land at least one solid starting pitcher.
I might just check out for a couple hours and then come back and see if they surprised me.
FPG- holy cow, that is so right. The Spreadsheet Rules All!!
Fever- Down to 45 minutes and it seems like the Sox are one of the few contenders that have not made a splash.
I think he’s good for a 3.50 to 3.80 ERA, arguably on par with Justin Wilson.
========================
IMHO, the thing that separates him is that Matz can be a #6 SP, or can start against lefty-heavy lineups.
I was waiting for that darn three team trade before going to bed
Mariners get Suarez, right time to refresh
Just get push notifications for his tweets. Save your battery.
You need a hobby FF.
Cards “win” this deal.
MO is up past his bedtime
Bloom got the auto pen it’s all good
Chaim is handling the trade biz now.
Shuts lefty bats down
After the first three years and countless injuries, it is nice to get any type of return prior to the end of this contract. Good luck to him in Boston.
Idk how much value they’ll get out of Matz. Hes only pitched 55 innings this year. Might be better and shift him to the pen if anything hoping to get better value out of him. Cause they’ll probably spend more money filling IL paperwork than they will paying him to pitch.
He has pitched as a reliever.
Agreed. Solid season from the pen. And, even a lottery ticket is better than anyone thought at this time last year.
That shift will be seismic, as he’s already in the pen…
My bad. Should have clarified by pen I mean
1 inning type pitcher cause when you think pen of course first thing people think of is the multi inning long relief guys people can barely name instead of high leverage 6th 7th 8th inning guys.
They have him working as a long relief multi inning guy currently (32 appearances, 55 innings ) but who knows how that’ll hold up before he breaks down, again. Sticking him to 1 inning outings should be the goal to get most value out of him.
A fresh league could help him pull up from the downward trend. Not sure I love the fit in Fenway against righties. Maybe the Sox just need innings pitched to spell the rotation and the bullpen.
This comment section really does not know much about Matz. He’s got a 121 ERA+ this year. How exactly is that a “downward trend”, that’s quite literally the opposite of downward after last year’s 82.
This has been a resurgent season for Matz. The fact he has any trade value tells that story. I’m surprised to not see anything about salary. Is Boston paying the remainder of 2025?
Street – I hope not, he’s making more than Chapman and full salary would put the Sox very close to the CBT threshold.
The Red Sox are over the luxury tax threshold depending upon which site you look at.
stan lee the manly — I’m talking about how since June he’s dreadful. His last 22 innings are the problem. 5.73 ERA, 1.55 WHIP. Can’t seem to keep runners from scoring. And against righties he’s getting crushed. He makes righties look like MVPs.
Matz’s biggest redeeming feature is he’s good against lefties. That and taking on bad innings will be where he brings value to the Red Sox. And I’m optimistic with less familar AL hitters, he has a chance to pick up some easier outs.
I tried the same thing last night, but the sample size is too small. One could just as easily select his last 7 appearances with a 3.38/2.47 ERA/FIP.
I don’t think he’ll be special, but the price was okay. But more importantly, I think they will sneak him in 1-2 times as a #6 SP. That’s a nice perk.
Interesting. Wonder who the Cardinals are getting here.
Oh, Passan just tweeted it. Blaze Jordan.
Blaze Jordan–the guy the Sox wasted their first round pick on Nick Yorke so they would have slot money to sign this guy. What a joke–Chaim Bloom just keeps on giving
😂
Chaim Bloom delivered so many of the good young RS players on the team and drafted prospects used to get Crochet.
The hate never stops though lol.
*3RD round.
I like Chaim Bloom, red soxs fans are still sour over Mookie Betts to LA for Alex Verdugo… Not Chaims fault verdugo is allergic to his tattoos and batting gloves. Chaim definitely did that too him…
Jbigz, you got it right. Bloom’s fault though was not developing pitchers.
We flipped Verdugo for Fitts, so we really traded Betts for Ftiz….
Mookie on a downward trend this year abd has 6 to 7 more years of that contract
And Weissert.
Weissert blows…..anytime he comes in with the lead it never goes well.
Story of most Red Sox pitchers…
For so long as we’ve had the internet, we’ve had the same posters coming in to complain. They are all one-trick ponies.
Hilarious
I wouldn’t call a year where he started the season off by losing about 25lbs, down into the 150s, from an illness a trend or anything close to it. It would take anyone a full season to fully recover from that.
The main return for Mookie Betts was not the players. It was the $48M the Dodgers took on which was half of David Price’s remaining contract. Also, the Red Sox got Fitts and Weissert for Verdugo.
Like how close? Down the block at the traffic light…or like, just leaving the house on the way?
On the plane with Ohtani
That weird. I thought Matz was the guy that was badmouthing Boston, calling it “Philly with a missing chromosome”
I can’t wait for someone in Fenway to write Matz a sign: “SP with a missing chromosome” after a bad game.
Sorry, that was a guy I met named Matt Stevens. Steven Matz never said that.
Matz on the Mets said that Matt from Massachusetts was missing genetic material, according to this moron, CA.
WE TRADED BLAZE JORDAN
I hate that we parted with him. but he had to go. there was nowhere for him to go here. hope he succeeds as a cardinal.
Nowhere to go? There’s a gaping hole at 1B.
One that he wasn’t necessarily the solution for.
He didn’t get even though there was a huge hole. Speaks volumes of how invest the Sox were on Blaze.
Dude. Abraham Toro gets most of the reps at 1b on this club. How exactly, was there nowhere for him to go? I’m gonna hot-take that he may have played first base
@Bob I believe they like Campbell at 1B longterm instead of at 2B and he’s finally red hot in AAA the last 10 games.
Romy and Toro have been fine. Compare them to the rest of the league’s first baseman, combining their stats. It’s not awful.
Toro has been pretty awful for the past month or so. Romy has been excellent overall, though.
Chicken- yes, the aggregate of the two over 162 would be one ok 1B. The problem is this, and ask the Rays about it, they are just two “ok” or less players. In a pressure situation or in the playoffs, youre not sending the both of them to the plate, youre sending one just ok player. And, quite honestly, that doesn’t exactly strike fear in the hearts of your opponents
St.Louis seems to already have lots of options for 1B/3B. Surprised this was what they wanted.
I cant believe it either, steal of a deal for the Cardinals. Reminds me alot of the Jeff Bagwell deal and I mean alot
Is Blaze juiced?
Blaze is not ranked anywhere near where Bagwell was ranked.
Always good to have another lefty in the pen.
HOLY SCHNIKES! I AM TOTALLY OKAY WITH THIS. Chaim has taken over, right? Because I’ve liked both moves so far, so obviously they weren’t made by Mozeliak.
Pretty dang fair. Maybe fair as I seen today.
Nice bat with even more potential but 1b DH only and need to get more potential out to really be something. Lefty specialist at deadline aren’t cheap.
Blaze has played more games at 3B than at 1B in the minors, he is not only a 1B.
The Red Sox will do anything for a player that’s cheap and not good
Matz has been fine out of the pen and for the cost of a guy that wasn’t part of the sox future plans it’s not too bad.
Just because he’s not part of long term plans doens’t mean you settle for less. I feel like he could have netted more than a a non-closing lefty rental reliever.
then you’re not paying attention. Jordan is fine but not a top prospect and someone who needs a 4o man spot. His future is maybe as a platoon player with some pop and is at minimum a year away.
Jordan is like the 20th ranked prospect in the sox farm system. What exactly were you expecting to get for him?
@Acell…..I agree I think they got what they could. The person who was going to take the biggest flier on Blaze was always going to be Chaim Bloom.
To be fair, in a deep system. what number is he now in St. Louis?
probably like 17-20 range depending on what list you you check..
Can we bookmark these negative comments and re-post them in the future when Blaze is hitting 20 to 30 HRs every year?
Jordan is an OBP machine. Hard to let those guys go, especially for a rental.
In AA sure he was, he’d been there for awhile. In AAA he’s walking 6%. Imagine once he moves up to St Louis. Blaze is definitely a good season away and he’s rule 5 eligible.
I would very much doubt the Cardinals acquired Jordan just to leave him off the 40-man roster and lose him in the R5 draft. Even if he is walking less frequently, he is still batting .289/.333/.476 at Triple-A. He’d be the first selection in the draft if the Cards left him exposed.
Yeah but that means he needs to be on the 40 while in AAA. Blaze takes a while to figure things out. If the Cards have the time and patience it might work out. There is a good number of things they can do to open up the potential Blaze used to have.
How many Blaze’s in MLB?
Masyn Winn’s middle name is Blaze so at least two in the Cardinals now
How many Blade’s?
Blade Tidwell
Just Alexander, as of now. There was also a Michael Blazek at one point.
Don’t forget Blaise Ilsley. Before he was a Cardinals coach, he was a rookie Cardinals pitcher in 1994.
I can’t understand why these guys never liked Blaze.
I can’t either. I’m a Cards fan and had no idea who he was, but was happy we got *anything* for Matz. One look at the numbers, and I was grinning from ear to ear. He might not be the next Pujols, but that OPS and AVG has me excited. We already have a bunch of power hitters who can’t field (or hit) but this one, based on the numbers, can hit. That’s exciting!
The Red Sox didn’t like Blaze because they are idiots. Look at their past moves.
or you could just look at Jordan’s stats and realize he’s an Abraham Torro type of player.
Jordan is ML ready, but still blocked in St. Louis. Does this mean STL is going to succeed in moving Arenado this time?
Moving Arenado doesn’t do anything if they still have 3 right handed DH/1B-only bats
I know Contreras said he won’t lift his no trade, but maybe he will next year since its his last on his current deal. Then it will be blaze time
Yeah the Cardinals will have to do some reshuffling. Jordan should be starting for them somewhere in their lineup by 2026, and should be called up this year at some point.
Jordan is far from a sure thing at this point. But if and when hes ready by then the Contreras contract will be closer to ending and Herrera will perhaps be playing the outfield.
He’s clarified that he’s not going anywhere
It’s pretty clear the Cardinals need to be very busy this offseason. They can’t sit on this growing stockpile of infielders and DH/1B types. Chaim is going to move a lot of players this winter. The team is just getting the best available players for these rentals. They may or may not be with the team come spring.
I see the infield set with Contreras, Wetherholt, Arenado, and Winn. Donovan will either be traded or moved to left. It would be nice if they could trade Arenado. I don’t see it happening.
It’s a weird thought, but Bloom may have to just release Arenado this winter if they can’t find anyone to take him. They’re going to have to eat a lot of his contract to get rid of him anyway.
I don’t know if his value has gone that far down – see Hayes to CIN – but the Cardinals are going to need that spot in the lineup.
I’m not a believer in Jordan but they have no depth at 1b. This seems potentially short sighted.
Worst case the sox could always sign someone like Rizzo and make the fans that begged for that happen earlier happy.
That sounds horrible haha
The other option is Campbell which isn’t horrible. either way Jordan was likely to get traded at some point given the roster crunch.
I’m not sad about it, but I hope they have a real plan and not just half assed additions.
Bottom line is he wasn’t likely to be called up in 25 and would have been exposed in the Rule V draft.
I think he’s kidding. At least I hope so.
The rumors are they covet Yandy. Wonder what breslow will fork out for that, could’ve had Naylor for nada
I don’t blame them for not wanting a rental. Casas can’t be counted on
Would you Casas for Yandy? Or does Casas have too much control to dump for Yandy?
If the Red Sox don’t trade for a 1B, K. Campbell will be playing there in two weeks.
man that would suck all the value out his profile. Not sure he’s really all that good enough to be a stand alone 1B.
GM – Agreed, he’s looking good at 1B in AAA.
They will most likely try to get a firstbaseman in trade they also have gonzalez, toro, Cambel, and Vaughn grissom who could play first.
Romy and Toro have been fine platoon at 1B but it’s not a long term solution because who knows when they start struggling. Holding platoons in the playoffs is a recipe for disaster.
Grissom and Campbell have too many questions to be a good solution this season.
Cleve – Toro has been struggling badly since mid-June.
Burleson is a first baseman converted to the outfield. Outfield is where they have no depth.
Does anyone else think that Matz is not really an upgrade over what the Sox already have in their bullpen? Wilson, Bernardino, Murphy, Chapman? Where was Breslow when the Cards were giving Helsley away to the Mets?
Upgrade? This was purely about resting guys’ arms. Helsley brought the Cards 3 low minors guys. Not some throw in Rule 5 guy who is who he is.
That’s what AAA players are for. Matz doesn’t help the Red Sox get to the playoffs.
He helps eat innings. The Red Sox overuse their bullpen as they’ve had some real stinkers. And this will continue because it is Fenway. Matz can be a a great mop guy to eat innings on those days. It has it’s value as they try to rest and let guys catch up and avoid too many back to backs. It’s not sexy but someone has to and Matz is veteran enough to be composed in those situations.
He mops up innings in the blow outs. Helps rest bullpen and keep them fresh going into the autumn.
Cleve – the Sox didnt really solve a problem beyond getting extra innings out of the bullpen.
Based on this trade I would guess that a meaningful #3 type, or bwtter, SP is not coming.
Nothing against Matz, but the Sox needed a shutdown arm in the pen, this ain’t it
Yeah, a lefty reliever is the last thing Boston needed. Seems like a waste of a talented infielder. I get the Rule 5 thing, but wow, talk about getting nothing back (and going over the luxury tax threshold to boot).
The fact that Matz is healthy and able to get us someone back is practically a miracle. Don’t know much about this guy but Blaze Jordan seems like an MLB name.
Been following Jordan and he was starting to rake. I am not saying he was untouchable (obviously), but Matz, a rental at that? I can see for the Matz that looked very promising in his arrival with the Mets. This is the Matz he ended up being.
This is extremely underwhelming if this isn’t followed up with something big. I am not sure Matz is an upgrade for the pen. On the positive side, he throws strikes.
I agree that it seems like the Sox should’ve been able to get Matz for a bit less. But Blaze is also no sure thing to succeed at the MLB level.
No one is a sure thing. I have seen enough to know this kid can hit. I also know he is a first baseman/DH type if anything. I am not claiming he is a world beater, or anything of the sort, but I can see a team with a need, like a team with a major injury at first and no minor league depth at the position, giving him a shot 🙂 (too early for him this year, but Casas will probably get hurt or slump 2026, 2027, 2028, 2029, 2030………………)
I see a Matt Stairs comp who if you gave him 400 AB’s will give you some damage and OBP. A lot of the same defensive comps also for a guy that stuck around for 19 years with no real position, speed, etc. Just getting knocks lengthening a lineup with some pop.
Stairs walked 12% of the time throughout his career. Blaze Jordan was walking half that often at Worcester. He’s more of a “light contact” hitter, a ton of ground balls. When he hits the ball in the air it is a popup almost 1/3 of the time – and that’s at the minor league level.
Not to dump on Jordan especially, but Stairs was a pretty good player. I would be shocked if Jordan developed to that level.
I liked Stairs a lot. He was a glue guy in any lineup. Never “the man”, just the guy that lengthened the lineup and snuck up on you year after year. That is why I used him as a comp for what “I THINK” this kid could be if given regular AB’s in the future. HE IS NOT Stairs now.
What I like in him is the potential power coming with a better understanding of controlling the zone and taking what is given. He seems to be getting it, and the results are there. This isn’t the same hitter as even a year ago and it shows. I am speculating, but the trajectory is good. What is troubling is when they regress or seem out matched and the confidence goes. Not the case. He doesn’t have the chops to be “the man” but he could be that glue guy too.
Yeah, you could be right on that, but Jordan needs to take a step or two forward to be that guy. Most significantly he needs to cut down on the choppers and the popups. You can get away with some of those in AAA, but major league defenses have smaller holes. Is part of why Yoshida is struggling – too many ground balls and too few places for them to sneak through.
The Red Sox were at a decision point on Jordan. Too good (and too close to the majors) to leave unexposed in the Rule 5 draft. Not yet to the point where they can use him on their own 40. They have another 2-3 guys in that category like Castro and Bleis. Not without talent, but they haven’t made enough progress for the Red Sox to spend a roster spot on them, so they need to be traded for whatever they can fetch.
What I see from him touches on your point a bit. He isn’t disciplined enough yet on good counts and is too aggressive still on bad counts. A lot of pop ups, choppers, roll overs, and jam shots are simply swinging at a pitchers pitch rather than either going with what is given to drive it that way, spitting on it and waiting for your pitch, or worse, trying to do damage when the situation calls for just contact. When a hitter truly get it you see them taking strikes they know they can’t do anything with, or being able to spoil them when behind the count. He does have some good takes though, so that is nice. That has improved, but you are 100% that despite the good average and power advancing, the discipline to take the next step is still lagging behind a bit and not ready to face consistently good MLB pitching, right now. I would love to see him (old trope inc) have a plan up there for what he is looking to do and understand what the pitcher is trying to do TO HIM.
Can they not resign Matz?Is there a reason they can’t before his contract is up?
” The deal will become official once both sides sign off on the medicals of the players involved.”
Who are the Red Sox letting sign off on Steven Matz medicals? Stevie Wonder?
You ever wish Breslow pitched righty? After watching him build a harem of mid-tier lefties, I wonder.
JK. I have complained for 45 years about the Red Sox pitching development and scouting, I am glad someone finally noticed they are the worst team in the history of baseball at scouting and mentoring up quality pitching. Breslow is at least aware and trying to address it. So, hats off for trying.
The last decent LHP who came through the Red Sox farm system was….
Chris Murphy?
Josh Taylor?
Brian Johnson?
Robby Scott?
Henry Owens?
Kason Gabbard?
Jon Lester?
Not counting Booser, Bernardino, ERod, or Okajima, as those were acquired at/near the majors rather than a credit to the Red Sox development system.
Lester. Our pitching development is abysmal.
Let’s hope that Tolle becomes our next good LHP.
I haven’t felt this good about overall pitching in the minors as this year. We have had a handful of good pitchers in my life we scouted and developed with a huge gap underneath those rare pearls. We now seem to have nearly 2 or 3 potential MLB arms at each level. I am not saying they will be great, but saying we have more than 1 or 2 possibilities in the entire system is refreshing.
Red Sox going to the Matrezez
I know nothing of Blaze Jordan, cool name tho, but dont the Sox NEED a 1b?!
I guess Matz is worth more than Helsley. Blaze Jordan is definitely a hitter with power to go with his contact skills. Should be DH only because he is sure slow and can’t field. So I’m sure they’ll convert him to an outfielder.
5th lefty out of the Sox pen? I’m guessing someone is on the move tomorrow be it a trade or Murphy back to Worcester
Let’s go Matz!
Blah-Zay Jordan.. is he a decent return? Need to know if he’s gonna be a pita hitter against the Cubs the next few years.
Steve Cohen was POed when he lost out on Matz in 2021, but the Stems dodged a bullet with that contract.
The final piece! Kind of a nothing prospect for a middling return. It’s like an under 7’s sports carnival where everyone is a winner!
I will however reserve my final judgement until the end of the deadline but I was thinking that Suarez could’ve stood over at 1B and continued to hit homers for the BoSox(sure it would’ve been costly and they need pitching, etc, but geez he would’ve hit some bombs in Fenway)
A nothing prospect? He’s raked his way up the ladder.
Blaze Jordan is the coolest name ever
James- Sox draft pick Maximus Martin is good, too.. are you not entertained?
former Cubs minor leaguer Rock Shoulders is also a classic.
then there’s Dick Pole, Rusty Kuntz, Pete LaCock, and the all time best (IMO) Urban Shocker.
Razor Shines
Dick Fitz, Charlie Furbush
How about Dick Suchs?
While not as funny as the others mentioned, I always liked Coco Crisp.
Here’s a question.
If you are a prospect and get traded for an average reliever at the deadline, are you insulted? Do you think, hey I’m better then some mid 30’s hack who can’t even go more then 30 pitches an outing? Is your mother upset that an organisation can think so lowly of her son?
These are things I ponder sometimes….
Blaze Jordan is one of the nicest guys out there. If you send him his card to sign, he signs it and inscribes it to you. One of the best high school prospects in his draft. Hope he does well. The Sox clearly didn’t prioritize his development
The Sox never really gave Jordan a chance and his bat has been good coming up the ladder. I certainly hope this is not another Bagwell trade.
Breslow’s MO….how many guys can I acquire that have injury prone pasts
Red Sox have a need at 1B and trade away a potential answer (yes, promoting Blaze would be aggressive but wouldnt have been insane) for a mediocre bullpen piece.
Another stunning trade at the deadline by Breslow. Too afraid to make the necessary moves at the deadline.
Why do the Red Sox overpay for every single player they acquire?
“Why do the Red Sox overpay for every single player they acquire?”
… So they don’t have to overpay for the married ones.
Pitching is very expensive these days.
Hopefully this isn’t a Larry Anderson for Jeff Bagwell deal…
Blaze Jordan for two months of Steven Matz including the remainder of his contract? Holy overpay, Batman.
The comments on here crack me up…. you have to trade something to get something.
The key point is that Blaze Jordan would be eligible for the Rule 5 draft in the Off Season…. so he would have to be on the 40 man Roster if they wanted to keep him…. there are other players that they will need to protect like Miguel Blais, David Sandlin etc….
There’s a lot of openings coming to the 40 man and not many quality players to protect.
That really isn’t a big deal this year.
Coop – Agreed, the comments here are often quite silly.
Just a month or so ago people here were screaming for Blaze to take over first base in Boston. Why? Only because they read the articles and believe the hype ….. and prospects are ALWAYS hyped.
I don’t comment much on minor league players because I don’t watch or attend the games, so I trust the judgment of Red Sox staff when it comes to the minors. They have information I don’t.
It’s unfortunate some people here who never watch minor league players are commenting like they are experts on said players.
“so I trust the judgment of Red Sox staff ”
I think I found the problem.
wrong – LOL …. maybe I should reword that to “I have no other choice but to go by what the Red Sox staff thinks”.
Don’t remember “screaming for Blaze to take over 1B in Boston” but I did think he deserved a cup of coffee.
Sean – It wasn’t you, it was others ;O)
A cup of coffee wouldn’t have hurt – but I doubt he would be any better than Toro/Gonzalez. The Red Sox need a real 1B, not another fringe talent.
This is similar to last year’s trade deadline where they gave up guys with *some* talent (Lugo, Kavadas, etc.), but that were never going to be protected.
I think Steven Matz will pitch well for the BoSox and improve his free agency profile. I don’t have any vital statistics to make a logical argument backing my prediction. When I saw Matz pitch, I didn’t see why the results were so poor.
The Cards mismanaged every stage of their team the last few years.
Grades: Breslow – F, Chaim – A
Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb
After hearing all the BS after the Devers deal this tells you they are not going to make a big move. I expect the Red Sox will pick up one or two middling veterans for the pen. Then we will hear excuses on why they didn’t go get a bad or a decent starting pitcher.
Why are people so bent on blaze jordan we needed a bullpen arm ..Jordan was never the answer at 1b for Boston idc what the current depth looks like matz is doing well this year and Jordan was the 17th best prospect ..for anyone saying this is an “overpay” that’s what a good farm system does ..allow you to overpay for any one that helps the mlb club today..this deal does that.
Yes, a good farm system allows you to overpay but I’d disagree that’s what a good farm system is for. A good farm system is to graduate talent to the Major Leagues and spin off duplicative talent for the correct return to strengthen your big league roster. A 22 year old kid who’s raked at every level of the minors for an injury prone, impending free agent, expensive, duplicative lefty is not the correct return for cashing in this prospect imo.
I suppose we will agree to disagree on the farm.. I like Jordan as well but if you look at the trades of the past day or so this is the going rate for a rental having a decent season..whether matz is duplication sure I can count lefties on a staff as well but I have faith in the sox FO and coaches to know what they need.
Apparently that is matz..and the price was fair based on the market
Mang: it took Jordan 3 tries to start raking at AA and he;’s limited to 1B. His calling card is supposed to be his power but he hasn’t shown that yet. I’m sure blaze could be a fine backup 1B but that’s not even guaranteed. What were you realistically expecting to get in return for a player like that.
I don’t mean to sound like I’m bashing Jordan but lets not act like this return was so outrageous for a player who would most likely not make the 40 man seasons end.
Part of a package.
I don’t think Jordan is all that special. I’m just really biased against Matz.
that’s fine. You can be biased against Matz but Jordan isn’t moving the needle as part of a larger package either.
He hasn’t raked. He has 55 HRs in 1,718 ABs with roughly a 2:1 K/W. Plus he’s slow and will be a 1B/DH. He’s got enough to make the pros, but I’d be slightly surprised if he ever became a full-time starter.
good grief…………..
Because he hit a 500 foot HR with an aluminum bat when he was 13.
I’ve seen him on multiple occasions…. decent swing, kind stiff in field, not the most Athletic player.
His Comp in the Majors is basically Andrew Vaughn… with a little more Contact potentially.
Matz is garbage.
For much of his time in st Louis he was..this year..right now his numbers look decent..the sox aren’t marrying this dude..hes very much a summer fling
Good one
Perhaps, but he still has a 3.44 ERA.
I remember the days when teams had 1 or maybe 2 lefty arms in the pen. Five of them? Wow.
This is a product of the 3 batter minimum
It’s a Charlie Brown Halloween.
Mariners – I got Eugenio Suarez!
Red Sox – I got a rock 🙁
Lowey- isn’t that such a novel approach by the Mariners front office though?
“We’re in the hunt for a wildcard, we need a first baseman and a third baseman. Ok, let’s get Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suarez”.
Boy, isn’t that brilliant????
Sox front office says, “we need a first baseman, a SP, or a shutdown arm. Ok, let’s acquire the fifth middle inning lefty”.
It almost defies all of the natural laws. I think we need another outside audit and this time start with the Analytics dept.
What the heck
I don’t hate it but it’s strange to give up our only 1B prospect that has been having success in AAA. Good luck Blaze! I thought you earned a call up in june
Yes he reads this site btw. You would be surprised how many players are lurking. (Sorry not sorry guys!)
Boston’s front office has the sense that this isn’t the year to spend heavily at the trade deadline. Maybe they’re right. Duran is all but certain to be traded in the offseason, I think.
I’d like to see them get a pitcher that can eat innings and a first baseman. Pitchers that eat first basemen are hard to cone by, though.
Won’t be Naylor or O’Hearn.