Rays Reportedly Sign Veteran Pitcher to Multi-Year Deal at Winter Meetings

The Tampa Bay Rays have reportedly signed a pitcher at the winter meetings.

Feb 15, 2024; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander talks with media at George M. Steinbrenner Field. | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

With the winter meetings starting up in Orlando, Florida, the Tampa Bay Rays have been active early and reportedly have signed a veteran pitcher to a multi-year deal. 

Coming into the offseason, the Rays had numerous needs, and the team figured to be busy this winter. Tampa Bay might not be a big spender in free agency, but they have been savvy in the past. 

Since the American League East is loaded with big spenders and some of the best teams in the league, the Rays know that it will be challenging to keep up. After finishing the year eight games under the .500 mark, the team obviously had some places to upgrade. So far, they have started that process. 

Before the winter meetings, the team added a couple of outfielders in Jake Fraley and Cedric Mullins to help them offensively. That was certainly a spot that the team needed help with, and the hope will be that those two veterans can make an impact. 

With the winter meetings just starting, the team has reportedly addressed a potential need for their pitching staff with the addition of Steven Matz. 

#Rays and Matz are in agreement on the 2-year deal. https://t.co/usILsPT8n9

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) December 9, 2025

What Will Matz’s Role Be?

Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The 34-year-old left-hander started his career with the New York Mets and had quite a bit of success as a starting pitcher. He was highly regarded coming up from the minors and was part of their exciting young staff with Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard, and Zack Wheeler. 

While he has been a starter for most of his career, he started to move to the bullpen in 2025, and the results were excellent. With both the St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox, he totaled a 3.05 ERA in 76.2 innings pitched. The southpaw isn’t going to strike out many batters coming out of the bullpen, but his first primary year in relief was successful. 

Assuming that is the role that he stays in with Tampa Bay, he could be a replacement for Pete Fairbanks. The Rays are no strangers to using a closer-by-committee to finish up games, and that figures to be the plan after letting Fairbanks go to free agency. 

While it doesn’t appear like a deal is official yet, with Matz’s physical pending, it does seem like it will be a multi-year deal. It will be interesting to see the numbers when it is finalized, and it is a bit surprising to see them sign someone to a multi-year contract. Perhaps new ownership will be willing to spend a bit more than expected, and that could be an interesting development.