The Tigers and Guardians have both expressed interest in trading the Cardinals starting pitcher, according to John Denton, Mark Feinsand and Bryan Hoch of MLB.com Eric Feder and Steven Matz. Both pitchers appeared to be potential trade candidates heading into the offseason, but this is the first report linking either pitcher to a specific suitor.
As the Cardinals look to cut payroll and initiate a restructuring effort, nearly every veteran player looks like a possible trade chip. Nolan Arenado He’s drawn a lot of attention so far, but his contract isn’t the only one St. Louis could consider selling. After Arenado, the second-highest paid player on the list is sonny gray, Miles Mikolasand Wilson Contreras. However, all three have no-trade clauses in their contracts, and all three have expressed a desire to stay in St. Louis. Therefore, Matz and Feder may be the next players president of baseball operations John Mozeliak hopes to flip. These deals won’t bring as much salary relief — Matz will make $12.5MM and Fedde will make $7.5MM in 2025 — but they may be easier to achieve. Not only was there less money involved, but neither Matz nor Fedde had the power to reject the deal.
Any trade involving Matz could result in salary dumping. In other words, the Cardinals shouldn’t expect to get any big-name players in return. As Matz enters his 34-year-old journey, he is experiencing one of the worst seasons of his career. In 12 games (seven starts), he pitched to a 5.08 ERA and 4.63 SIERA. His strikeout-to-walk rate is the lowest ever. To make matters worse, he missed four months of training with a strained lower back.
While Matz has been a productive starting pitcher in the recent past, he has struggled with injuries and inconsistency throughout his career. He’s spent time on the IL every season since his rookie year but has never pitched enough innings to qualify for the ERA title. His 3.86 ERA and 4.19 SIERA in 105 innings in 2023 are a reminder that he can be a valuable contributor in the major league rotation. However, as Matz enters his thirties, concerns about his durability and potential decline will only increase. All things considered, his $12.5MM salary is probably more than he could ask for on the open market. If the Cardinals wanted another team to take that salary, they wouldn’t be able to ask for much in return.
As for Feder, the Cardinals won’t receive as much salary relief in the trade, but they can bring back some talent to help in 2025 and beyond. Although Feder has his own share of injury and inconsistency issues, he’s two years younger than Matz and has been outstanding for two straight seasons. His price is also $5MM cheaper.
From 2017-22, Feder was little more than an inning-eater for the Nationals. However, he reinvented himself in the KBO in 2023, winning an MVP award and signing a two-year, $15MM deal with the White Sox last winter. While he’s not an MVP-caliber player in 2024, he’s having easily the best season of his MLB career, pitching 177 1/3 innings with a 3.30 ERA and 4.19 SIERA. He didn’t excel in any one area, but he limited walks and hard contact at an above-average rate and pitched at least five innings in 27 of 31 starts. If he repeats this performance in 2025, he will be an upgrade in the starting rotation for nearly every contending team.
As far as competing teams go, Cleveland and Detroit have two weak rotations. and Sean Bieber Still recovering from Tommy John surgery, the Guardians have just three rotations locked in: Tanner Beebe, Gavin Williamsand Ben Lively. The Tigers were in a similar situation, but there were still some question marks after the game. Tarik Skubal, Reese Olsonand Alex Cobb. With that said, it’s still surprising to see these two teams linked to Feder and Matz. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reported during the winter meetings that the Tigers had no “plans to pursue additional starting pitching” after signing Cobb. He quoted general manager Jeff Greenberg, who said: “I think we’re probably done right now.”
As for the Guardians, as always it’s about money. It’s especially rare for this team to invest heavily in pitching, as they do such a good job of developing talent internally. So Matz, in particular, seems like an unexpected target; he’ll be the highest-paid pitcher on the roster. However, if St. Louis is willing to part with some salary to get more talent in return, a trade with Cleveland might make more sense.
