December 16th: The Rays have now officially announced the Matz signing. Outfielder Tristan Peters has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move. Per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, it is indeed a $15MM guarantee, with a $7.5MM salary in each year. There’s also a $500K assignment bonus if he’s traded.
December 9th: The deal is for $7.5MM per year, according to Brittany Ghiroli and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Unless there are other factors such as bonuses or options, it seems to be a $15MM guarantee.
December 8th: The Rays are reportedly in agreement with free agent left-hander Steven Matz on a two-year contract. The signing is pending a physical, and salary terms for the VC Sports Group client have yet to be reported. Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times first reported the sides were closing in on what was likely to be a two-year contract. The Rays’ 40-man roster is full, so they’ll need to designate someone for assignment once the contract is finalized.
Matz spent the 2025 season working out of the bullpen. The 11-year big league veteran split the season between the Cardinals and Red Sox. He combined for 76 2/3 innings of 3.05 ERA ball. Matz has a long background as a starter and worked in a swing role with St. Louis as recently as 2024. He could compete for a rotation spot or work multiple innings out of Kevin Cash’s bullpen.
The 34-year-old just wrapped up a four-year, $44MM free agent deal that he’d signed with St. Louis. That didn’t go as the Cardinals planned. Matz had a difficult time staying healthy. He missed most of the 2022 season to a shoulder impingement. A lat strain shelved him in the second half of the following season, and a lower back injury wiped out much of 2024.
Matz combined for just 197 1/3 innings over the first three seasons. He posted a 4.47 ERA with an average 21.9% strikeout percentage. The Cards only gave him a pair of spot starts this year. He still frequently worked into a second inning out of the bullpen but wasn’t tasked with as significant a workload. Matz managed to stay healthy and turned in arguably his best season since 2021.
Over his first 55 innings, the southpaw turned in a 3.44 earned run average while striking out 20.7% of batters faced. The Cards dealt him to Boston at the deadline. His already middling strikeout rate dropped another six points with the Red Sox, though he managed to outperform his peripherals with a 2.08 ERA through 21 2/3 innings. Matz ranked among the bottom 10 relievers (minimum 50 innings) with a 7.8% swinging strike rate. He succeeded with excellent control, issuing walks at a career-low 3.6% clip. He pitched particularly well as a specialist, holding left-handed batters to a .211/.242/.341 batting line in 129 plate appearances.
Tampa Bay has a pair of power lefty relievers in Garrett Cleavinger and Mason Montgomery. Cleavinger is quietly one of the best in the game. Montgomery has the stuff to be an impact arm in his own right, but his control remains a significant question. He still has a pair of minor league options and can bounce between Tampa Bay and Triple-A Durham. Matz provides a different look as a control specialist but has decent velocity, averaging 94.5 MPH on his sinker.
There’s a decent amount of uncertainty in the rotation behind Drew Rasmussen and Ryan Pepiot. The Rays have Shane McClanahan and Shane Baz lined up for spots. McClanahan will be on an innings limit after consecutive missed seasons. Baz was inconsistent and is at least a theoretical trade candidate. Ian Seymour is probably the in-house favorite to work as the fifth starter, but Tampa Bay is likely to add a veteran innings eater or two. It remains to be seen if the Rays will give Matz an opportunity to compete for a back-end rotation job.
Image courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images.
I’m surprised Boston didn’t want him back.
I think they are more in on fixating on a bat.
I was thinking the same thing. He was solid in Boston, seemed like he would be worth bringing back as it clearly was not a huge contract. Likely they have their eyes on some other relievers.
the probably decided…”don’t look back”
{rips up contest print-out}
So I wont lie, these are the kinda moves the Rays make that you kinda just shrug off and be liike “Okay this guy is cooked, they can’t really get anything outta him, right?” And then he goes and has some sort of wild crazy resurgent year and you’re left saying “What the french, toast?” I personally wont be shocked when it happens.
Yes they were so good last year. Old narrative that needs to die.
They always exceed expectations given their roster and payroll
A lot of Rays fans would now disagree with that sentiment.
you can’t justify attendance for last season since they played their home games at a minor league stadium
Actually, they were. espn.com/mlb/attendance/_/year/2024
This is an old narrative that needs to die too
And they would be incorrect…;-D
The Rays have won exactly how many world championships?
Why should any team that hasn’t won a “championship” sign a free agent? Sorry, “World Championship”.
They’ve only been around since 1997 so it’s no big deal. The Phillies were around when the modern era began for the National League in 1901. They didn’t win one until 1980, and only have 2 in 125 years. The White Sox were an original AL team in 1901. They have 3 titles and went from 1917 until 2005 without one. The Cubs likewise have only 3 in 125 years and went from 1908 till 2016 without a title. Cleveland has only two, none since 1948, and they’ve been around since 1901 also. The Rays are right on pace with a lot of the older franchises. Championships are hard.
Hammerin’ Hank: Tell that to the front running Yankees fans.
The same # as the Mariners
Rays have won the same amount of championships as the Padres, Pilots, Mariners, and Rockies.
you forgot to mention the brewers ,but you didnt since they were the pilots.
scruff, what did you do to get salty and saltier so upset?
Brother, I have no idea lol. But to be fair, the Rays have been a bit of a disappointment the last couple of years. They are still in my opinion, an organization extremely good (maybe even the best) at taking minimal talent and maximizing a return, mainly because of their scouting department since they operate a very tight payroll. It just hasn’t worked out for them in recent seasons. Not saying they’re going to be the best team in the AL next year but would it surprise folks if they made some really savvy moves that got them into the playoffs? Alls I’m saying is, it wouldn’t surprise me if this was one of those moves.
yeah they haven’t been their usual dominant selves, but that’s the thing people forget because they haven’t won a championship- they had regularly been one of the most dominant teams on a year to year basis
they’ve spent two years trying to walk this tightrope of trying to win now with established vets that every team would covet (yandy, b lowe, rasmussen) while, to my frustration, not investing too much capital into the team and allowing the young guys and reclamation products to try and fill in the gaps to no great effect
2026 could be another down year but they’re going to make bold decisions that seem weak and may well be, but zack littell wasn’t thought of as a big pick up in ‘23…and now he is gonna get paid as a solid starter after 3 seasons averaging nearly 3 WAR for the rays
but yeah, only the teams that win a championship are a success and all others are abject failures lol
True, if you aren’t the champs, you are a loser no matter how close you got to winning it all.
Scruff – Yes, at this point I am willing to say I would be very surprised if the Rays made really savvy moves that got them into the playoffs. The RFO has had a really bad 2 year stretch and I’m not liking what I’m seeing so far this offseason.
29 failures every year according to people like therealeman, lol
Thats a shame then, for quite awhile they were looking like an organization that was always 3 or more steps ahead of everyone else while always operating with an absolute minimum budget.
Look the Rays do a good job with limited resources, but “usual dominant selves”?
They’ve won their division twice in the last
12 years (1 in 2020 where they also reached the World Series) and finished 2nd in the East twice in the last 12 years.
Obviously I’m a Yanks fan but I don’t see seasons not ending as champs an abject failure. I know you’re joking and there are certainly Yanks fans that do feel that.
When your front office gets pilfered by other teams on a yearly basis, eventually it catches up.
3rd best regular season record in MLB since they rebranded in 2008 (behind the dodgers and your yankees)
I am so mad at your observation. Prepare yourself for my needlessly aggressive comment!
That’s pre-covid Rays. Post-covid Rays .. ehhh not so much
I wont lie though, whenever I see the AL East race going on, I’m always kinda just looking in my peripheral to see what the Rays are doing. I can’t just write them off after some of the things I’ve witnessed, even if they have been underwhelming recently. And as an O’s guy I know about underwhelming let me tell you lol.
I wonder who they lost that no one realized was super important to their success previously. Because there are always a few of those in any company or organization.
Rays in Bay
You left out “during COVID” Rays who narrowly lost to Dodgers in 2020 World Series.
I like this signing if he will be used as a reliever, not so much if he will be a starter.
scruffmcgruff: I have never said nor heard anyone anywhere say “What the French toast?”
Who actually says that? 🤣
lol Orbit gum had a series of commercials where the actors would make statements with emotion that would typically involve expletives. but would instead substitute other words. One of the back and forth ones was “Who are you calling a cootie queen? You lint licker!” Just some fun silliness from when commercials were actually kinda fun lol.
Shut the front door! You’ve never heard that?
Another Dodgers Fan: How is that relevant?
I appreciate alternative swear sentences.
Have you never watched the good place?
Highly recommended.
He had a comma between French and toast and did not capitalize French. I have no idea if that changes anything and prefer not to think too hard about it.
Well, Matz is definitely not cooked. He’s a really intriguing swingman option, especially if deployed correctly. His sinker is great and control has been elite recently. Doesn’t need a high K% when he has that. Could see him being great in a four or five inning role.
Wonder what the AAV will be — north of $10M but not by much?
Wow, 2/$15M! Seems like a great deal when Soroka just got that AAV for one year.
French Toasted! Like French Roasted
What the French toast will be my new go to exclamation. Much thanks!
I do think this is a decent under the radar move and I gotta hand to Matz to continually carving out a nice understated career.
They gonna French press another 4 WAR outta him this year. Hes good when hes healthy for sure
That’s the Dodgers
Rays had some bats go cold after June that were hot in April and May.
Brand new ownership now so it may play out different. Matz has been good when healthy. I don’t think the past owners would have went after him.
Does this not feel a little high.
I get he will probably get sorted with the rays and be top 10 in cy young, but while he is far from minor league deal candidate, the money feels a little high.
If they use him like last year as a bullpen and infrequent spot starter he should be good. If healthy, he could even be traded at the deadline again. That was the only year of his 4 years with the Cards that he stayed healthy all year.
They had a bad year last year and they have zero championships. They’re still one of the best run organizations in baseball.
Below .500 last two seasons.
Playing in a division with three of the top five or six spenders in baseball. Not bad. On July 29 of last season, the Rays were at .500. They were also in fourth place in the division, eight games behind the Jays and trailing two other teams each of whose payroll was at least 2.5 times tha Rays. At that point they made the sensible decision to see what they could do for future seasons. In the next two days they traded off the major league roster Zack Littell, José Caballero, Curtis Mead and Taj Bradley. The rest of the way they were eight games under five hundred. Not bad, especially considering that of their 52 games after the deadline, 31 were against teams that went to the post season and 30 were on the road.
Tampa was great in 2023 -99. wins and the playoffs but had to trade off glasnow, & margot & parades because they couldnt afford them in free agency and glasnow was inconsistent in health. They got burned by Franco ( or his accuser). Tough rebuild sometimes.
I dunno I dunno.. A lot of. the Rays FO’s high tailed it to the Doyers.
I might argue that their way of doing business is successful relative to their payroll level, but I might also argue that their constant roster turnover contributes to their inability to draw crowds. Revenue generation is part of organizational success too.
If one of the best run organizations in the game has only been able to accomplish two deep playoff runs in their existence something is wrong
Be nice if you had the numbers but it’s the rays can’t be too much
As the official. Boras deal announcer, I’m sure Jon will have them soon.
Oh, not a Boras guy. Hence Jon not knowing the numbers.
Too bad, I wanted him back in Boston but you can’t have everyone. I’ll settle for Alonso, Bregman and Bichette …lol
@Dewey. You don’t want Schwarber too?
MLB, I thought that wasn’t realistic…
congratulations!11yrs22M contract!
Matz had quite a debut with the Mets in 2015. Pitched 7+ innings giving up 2 runs. And went 3-3 driving in 4 runs! It’s been all downhill since!
Six starts, 4-0 with a 2.27 ERA.. 2015 as a fun few months to be a Mets fan.
Sure was!
It’s funny how they always manage to stay healthy in their walk years.
@Hammerin- Or have their best year.
The ones that don’t get forgotten.
not only castoffs rays help develop/resurgence .. where would the dodgers be without stealing friedman from the rays ?
Yes, because it takes a genius to sign the best players.
Pretty much a dead-level average pitcher with a career 98 ERA+. Lots of problems staying healthy but not godawful when he does make it onto the field. A typical Rays pickup. Maybe they can get some passable innings out of him.
Drew Smyly, eat you heart out.
Good sign by the Rays. Matz can fill either a starter or relieverelieve role. Experienced!!!
I never knock the efficacy of a guy that can give multiple innings out of the pen and starting. They save bullpens in blow outs and can start a game when needed. Matz is one of those guys.
It’s a good signing. IF he stays healthy, the Rays will manage to get him in enough of the right situations where he’ll thrive then they can flip him for 2 decent prospects.
It’s smart FO machinations by a budget team.
The season doesn’t start until next year, and you are already planning to trade away at the deadline. You, sir, are a true fan.
I suspect there might be a mutual option added here to lower the annual cost by a million or so and make the spend better fit if he’s in the pen.
And the retreads continue.
I worked in MiLB front offices for 3 years. I think Matz was the nicest guy I met during that time that went on to make mlb
“The deal is for $7.5MM year” – GRAMMAR is dead
GRAMMER is dead
Which is amazing given we live in the era of large language models.
And in typical Rays fashion, he will probably be traded at the deadline for some nice prospects. The cycle goes on.
I’ll group text all 11 members of the Rays fan club and see what they think of this deal.
Guess Vilade or Yoendrys Gomez – both out of options – are the likely goners here.
Despite his good arm he can’t pitchers under pressure.
Love those 44 million dollar deals that suck for the team
Must suck to get paid 44 million for nothing since the players do nothing but complain about being so abused and underpaid