Former Detroit Tigers Veteran Pitcher Inks $30 Million Deal With NL Team
A former Detroit Tigers starting pitcher has landed a $30 million deal elsewhere.
Veteran left-handed pitcher Matthew Boyd has agreed to a two-year deal with the Chicago Cubs for $29 million guaranteed and worth up to $30 million with performance based incentives within the contract. The news was first reported by MLB insider Jon Heyman.
Boyd spent a total of seven and a half seasons with Detroit across two separate stints from 2015-2021 after the team acquired him from the Toronto Blue Jays in the David Price trade as well as more recently with the Tigers in 2023.
Boyd was not having anything close to a great season for Detroit in 2023 when his season ended in June as he had Tommy John surgery after posting a 5.45 ERA in 15 starts. Becoming a free agent following the 2023 season, he ended up with the Cleveland Guardians and performed better than he had throughout his entire Tigers career down the stretch for the division rival.
In eight regular season starts with Cleveland upon joining the team in August, Boyd posted a 2.72 ERA. His postseason numbers were even more impressive with a 0.75 ERA in four appearances and three starts, two of them actually coming against Detroit in the ALDS. Boyd started for the Guardians in Game 2 - a Tigers victory - and gave up five hits in 4.2 scoreless innings as well as the decisive Game 5 where he pitched just two innings but struck out 5 and gave up only one hit.
Before the 2024 season, Boyd's numbers were never anything that would blow you away. With a pedestrian strikeout rate for most of his career, he never had an ERA better than 4.39 in a full season of action.
In the six full seasons Boyd played with Detroit from 2016-2021, he made 133 starts and had a supremely average 4.75 ERA. Throughout his career, the soon to be 34-year-old has never been anything more than a decent back end of the rotation option, but the Cubs saw enough upside during his brief stint with Cleveland to financially commit to him more than would generally be allotted to a No. 3 or No. 4 at best starter.
After Boyd played a factor in eliminating the Tigers, seeing him wind up in the National League and out of the division was probably the best case scenario for a Detroit team that will attempt to win their first division title since 2014 next season.
