Cardinals Hurler Out To Settle Personal Vendetta Against Mets & Rest Of MLB

The St. Louis Cardinals began their 2025 season with little expectations from Major League Baseball insiders but are on a mission to prove the naysayers wrong.

Although the Cardinals are 9-10 and two games behind the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central, they have one of the league's most productive offenses. They are in a solid position to make a legitimate run for the division title.

It's safe to say this year's St. Louis roster is determined to shock the league, including a Cardinals hurler out for blood against his former team, the New York Mets.

"(Phil) Maton, now a Cardinal, said he heard once from the Mets this offseason — in early November, when president of baseball operations David Stearns called to inform him the club was declining his 2025 option worth $7.75 million," New York Post's Mark W. Sanchez reported Thursday. "Maton said he wasn’t sure if he was surprised by the team’s decision but was 'obviously disappointed about it,' adding, 'It is what it is.'"

The Cardinals signed Maton to a one-year, $2 million contract in March, shortly before the 2025 season began. Despite posting a solid 3-3 record with a 3.66 ERA, 60-to-24 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .203 batting average against and a 1.11 WHIP in 64 innings pitched, during which he played for the Tampa Bay Rays and Mets in 2024, he spent most of this past winter struggling to land a new deal.

"He was at home and 'extremely frustrated' as he awaited a contract that finally crystallized when the Cardinals — in mid-March — became the first club to offer him a major league deal," Sanchez continued. "'Teams kind of seemed vocal that they’d rather have guys that throw hard than [a pitcher with] durability or consistency,' Maton said." Sanchez later continued transcribing Maton, who stated "'Every team we play — it is what it is, it’s personal.'"

After parting ways with 2024 National League holds leader Andrew Kittredge during free agency over the offseason, Maton has become a vital asset to the Cardinals' bullpen.

The 32-year-old has sacrificed zero earned runs on four hits, 11 strikeouts and one walk in 9 1/3 innings pitched across 10 appearances for St. Louis this year -- recording an elite .125 batting average against and a 0.43 WHIP.

The nine-year veteran was the only free agent the Cardinals signed over the offseason. Maton is undoubtedly proving his worth in St. Louis' bullpen and it should be exciting to see him dominate against teams who neglected to reach out to him this past winter.

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