Lean times for news have us scouring Twitter
Full disclosure, this is not a Jeff Passan rumor. This is a Twitter account of a small Cardinals-centric media company. But, they do seem to have a fairly good track record, and it was rumored early on by the national writers in the offseason that the Cardinals - who tried to trade Sonny Gray during the season only to be thwarted by his no-trade clause - wanted to do a little rebuilding and cost-cutting. So, the rumor below does make some sense:
There’s a few teams calling from the AL central calling on Steven Matz but some signs point that they’re using that as a door opening to see if Cardinals will unload Fedde.
— Cardinals Live (@Cardinals_Live) December 18, 2024
Guardians, Tigers seem to be the headline of interested teams.
I wasn’t sure the team would trade Fedde…
I would be encouraged if it is true that the Guardians are working on additional pitcher trades. Raising the floor of the rotation with some proven veteran innings would be very important for this roster.
As I emphasize that the rumors, such as they are, do not say anything is close, let's take a quick look at Erick Fedde and Steven Matz, the two pitchers the Cardinals are most likely to consider trading.
Fedde, a right-handed pitcher, pitched for both the White Sox and the Cardinals in 2024, 177 innings, 7.82/2.64 K/BB/9 with a 3.30 ERA and a 3.86 FIP. Fedde is 31 years old and owed $7.5 million for 2025, after which point he'll be a free agent. Fedde would fit quite nicely as the #3 starter in the Guardians rotation and give the team an arm that should be good for 175 innings, which is much needed. Fedde is going to cost any team who acquires him a notable cost in prospects, but he isn't a front of the line starter so he can certainly be had without touching Chase DeLauter, Travis Bazzana, or Kyle Manzardo.
Matz, a left-handed pitcher, is 33 and a half years old with a career ERA of 4.29 and a K/BB/9 of 8.55/2.72. Last season was a rough one with Matz missing a lot of time with reoccurring back issues. Matz is owed $12.5 million in 2025 and is then a free agent. Matz threw only 40 innings last year and they were not good, but the prior year he threw 105 innings with a 3.86 ERA with an 8.40/2.74 K/BB/9. His projections reflect that pitcher, so if there was any way to be confident in his back, Matz would be an interesting addition. I'm guessing any team acquiring him would want the Cardinals to send some money back in exchange for a better prospect.
We will see if anything happens but I hope, rumors or not, that the Guardians are pursuing all available avenues to add one more veteran starting pitcher. Erick Fedde, especially, makes as much sense as any available option. The Guardians were interested in him in July but unwilling to pay an intra-division tax, so perhaps they revisit the idea with the Cardinals.
