As reported by John Denton, Mark Feinsand, and Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, the Tigers and Guardian have both expressed interest in trading Cardinals starting pitchers. Erick Fedde again Steven Matz. Both pitchers appeared to be potential trades heading into the offseason, but this is the first report linking either pitcher to specific players.
As the Cardinals look to clear payroll and begin a rebuilding effort, nearly all of their veteran players look like potential chips. Nolan Arenado has generated a lot of noise so far, but his contract is not the only St. Louis may be looking to pull it off. After Arenado, the next highest paid players on the list Sonny Gray, Miles Mikolasagain 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 Fedde could be the next players that president of baseball operations John Mozeliak looks to turn. That trade wouldn’t come with as much salary relief — Matz will make $12.5MM and Fedde $7.5MM in 2025 — but it might be easier to pull off. Not only is there less money involved, but neither Matz nor Fedde have the right to refuse a trade.
Any trade involving Matz is likely to be a salary dump. In other words, the Cardinals shouldn’t expect to bring back any notable players. As he enters his age 34 campaign, Matz is coming off 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 ratio was an all-time low. To make matters worse, he missed four months of the year nursing a lower back.
Although Matz has been a productive first baseman in the recent past, he has struggled with injuries and inconsistency throughout his career. He has spent time in the IL every season since his freshman year and has never pitched enough innings to qualify for the ERA title. His 3.86 ERA and 4.19 SIERA over 105 innings in 2023 is a reminder that he can be a valuable contributor in the major league rotation. However, as Matz enters his thirties, concerns about his tenure and possible decline will increase. All that to say, his $12.5MM salary is probably more than he would command on the open market. If the Cardinals are looking for another team to pick up that salary, they won’t be able to ask for much.
As for Fedde, the Cardinals wouldn’t get that much salary relief in a trade, but they could bring back some talent to help in 2025 and beyond. Although Fedde has his share of injury and inconsistency issues, he is two years younger than Matz and is coming off two strong seasons in a row. He is also $5MM cheaper.
Fedde was more than just pitching innings for the Nationals from 2017-22. However, he reinvented himself in the KBO in 2023, winning the MVP Award and signing a two-year, $15MM deal with the White Sox last winter. While he wasn’t an MVP-caliber player in 2024, he produced 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 at either position, but he limited the walks and hard contact at better-than-average rates and threw at least five innings in 27 of his 31 starts. If he repeats that performance in 2025, he’ll be an upgrade for almost every contending team’s starting rotation.
As far as contending teams go, Cleveland and Detroit have two weak rotations. With Shane Bieber still recovering from Tommy John surgery, the Rangers have only three replacement kits: Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williamsagain Ben Lively. The Tigers are in the same situation with several question marks after that Tarik Skubal, Reese Olsonagain Alex Cobb. That being said, it is surprising to see both teams linked with Fedde and Matz. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reported during the Winter Meetings that the Tigers “didn’t plan to pursue other starting pitchers” after signing Cobb. He quotes general manager Jeff Greenberg, who said “I think we’re probably done for now.”
As for guardians, it’s a question of money as always. It’s rare to see this team spend big on pitching because they’ve done a good job of developing talented arms from within. Thus, Matz, in particular, seems to be an unlikely target; he would become the highest paid pitcher on the roster. However, a deal with Cleveland would make more sense if St.
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