ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Left-handed pitcher Steven Matz is heading to Tampa Bay after finalizing a $15 million, two-year contract with the Rays.
The deal will pay Matz $7.5 million annually. Matz would receive a one-time $500,000 assignment bonus if he's traded, payable by the acquiring team.
Matz, 34, went 6-2 with a 3.05 ERA and two saves last season in a career-high 53 appearances with the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox. He struck out 59 and walked 11 in 76 2/3 innings.
He went 5-2 with one save and a 3.44 ERA for St. Louis in 32 appearances, including two starts. After getting traded to Boston, Matz was 0-0 with one save and a 2.08 ERA in 21 relief outings with the Red Sox.
Matz walked only 3.6% of the batters he faced last season for the fourth-lowest percentage of any pitcher who worked at least 50 innings.
He is 60-62 with a 4.19 ERA in 246 career appearances, including 172 starts. Matz has pitched for the New York Mets (2015-20), Toronto Blue Jays (2021), Cardinals (2021-25) and Red Sox (2025).
Tampa Bay made room for Matz on its 40-man roster by designating outfielder Tristan Peters for assignment.
Peters, 25, went 0 for 12 in four games with Tampa Bay last season. He hit .266 with a .355 on-base percentage, 15 homers, 76 RBIs and 11 steals in 136 games with Triple-A Durham.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
“A dazzling delight for all ages” Read moreRodger's & Hammerstein's Cinderella
Discover India with Us! Read moreIndia Community Travel: Virtual Information Session
anna kuhre said:
Dirk van Ulden said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.