St. Louis Cardinals Starter Could be Stopgap Option for Baltimore Orioles

The St. Louis Cardinals are reportedly making a veteran starting pitcher available via trade as they try and cut payroll.

Apr 23, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Steven Matz (32) pitches against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning at Busch Stadium. / Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

The Baltimore Orioles should be all-in on trying to re-sign starting pitcher Corbin Burnes. That is the franchise’s easiest path to a successful offseason, even if they are unable to sign any other free agents of note.

But it’s looking dicey out there. With Blake Snell already off the market after signing a five-year deal with the Dodgers, teams that were already interested in Burnes are likely considering ratcheting up their offers, which would be music to the ears of his agent, Scott Boras.

There are connections to other quality free-agent pitchers as well, such as former Texas Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi, who has two World Series rings.

But what if the Orioles come up relatively empty in starting pitching in free agency? What if they are unable to work out a trade for the pitcher that many insiders believe they covet, the Chicago White Sox’s Garrett Crochet? What then?

Well, the Orioles may have to go the veteran retread route. And there is one veteran reportedly on the trade market.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported earlier this week that the St. Louis Cardinals are looking to deal left-hander Steven Matz in an effort to trim payroll.

Matz isn’t going make much next season, at least in baseball terms. He’s scheduled to make $12.5 million, the final year of a four-year deal worth $44 million that he signed with the Cardinals in 2022.

The 34-year-old comes with an expiring deal. That, along with his relatively average performance the past three years means the Orioles wouldn’t have to give up much to get him.

In three seasons in St. Louis he’s gone 10-12 with a 4.47 ERA in 52 games (34 starts), with 185 strikeouts and 57 walks in 197.1 innings.

He’s won fewer games in three years with the Cardinals than he did in one season with Toronto in 2021, where he went 14-7 with a 3.82 ERA in the best season of his career.

Before that, he spent six seasons with the New York Mets, where he went 31-41 with a 4.35 ERA.

Injuries have, in part, led to the ineffectiveness. If you’re the Orioles you make the deal for a couple of reasons. First, when healthy he can eat innings and give Baltimore something like his 2018 in New York, as he finished 11-10 with a 3.97 ERA and threw a career-high 160 innings.

Second, as a reliever in St. Louis he posted an intriguing 2.43 ERA in 33.1 innings.

File Matz under the category of “in case of emergency break glass.” But, if the O’s lose Burnes, that may be their emergency.