Red Sox Lose Only Good 2025 Trade Deadline Pickup To Division Rival

Steven Matz wasn't flashy, but he was a darn good pickup for the 2025 Boston Red Sox.

After coming over in a deadline trade with the St. Louis Cardinals for corner infield prospect Blaze Jordan, Matz pitched to a 2.08 ERA in 21 regular-season outings for the Red Sox, then added two scoreless innings in the postseason. He wasn't asked to fulfill many high-leverage duties, but he served well in his middle-relief role.

However, that trade wound up being the only good one the Red Sox made at the deadline, as the story of the week was the deals that didn't get made. And now, Matz is reportedly headed to a division rival.

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Steven Matz reportedly signing with Rays

On Monday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported that Matz and the Tampa Bay Rays were close to an agreement on a major league contract. Jon Heyman of the New York Post confirmed that the deal was happening, and was believed to be for multiple years.

Matz was, of course, the much more successful of the Red Sox's two trade deadline acquisitions, as starter Dustin May wound up having a 5.40 ERA in his six outings before sustaining a forearm injury and missing the playoffs.

It's the second-straight offseason that one of the Red Sox's trade deadline acquisitions has signed with the Rays, following catcher Danny Jansen's deal with Tampa Bay last offseason. Jansen, of course, was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers at the deadline and is now a free agent himself.

Matz picked up six holds, a save, and a blown save for the Red Sox in his two months with the team, and he did not get charged with either a win or a loss. He did give up a game-winning home run in August against the Miami Marlins, but in fairness, it came on a pitch to lefty Jakob Marsee that was well off the inside corner.

The Red Sox were fortunate in that they didn't have a lot of work to do in the bullpen entering the offseason, but they gutted their left-handed depth options just a couple of weeks ago when they trade Brennan Bernardino to the Colorado Rockies and Chris Murphy to the Chicago White Sox.

On the same day as those trades, Boston elevated Triple-A lefty Shane Drohan, who could be a candidate for the bullpen at some point this season, to the 40-man roster.

Will the Red Sox miss the 34-year-old Matz? It's too early to say and will be determined by how he performs in Tampa Bay, but it's clear that the Red Sox still have lefty arms on their wish list, and one decent option just came off the board.

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