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.
This changes everything…
{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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
This takes Eflin off the table for the Rays
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?
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!
It’s funny how they always manage to stay healthy in their walk years.