Steven Matz Landing Spots: 3 potential destinations for 34-year-old lefty after short Red Sox stint

Steven Matz’s season never settled into one clean job description, but it might have saved his career anyway. When the Cardinals moved him at the trade deadline and Boston shifted him into a true relief role, it didn’t look like a long-term plan, more like a midseason patch.

But something clicked. Matz began stringing together steady innings, leaning into a simplified pitch mix, and suddenly he wasn’t the inconsistent back-end starter teams had grown tired of guessing on. He looked like a dependable bullpen piece.

His numbers in 2025 told the story better than any projection: 53 appearances, 76.2 innings, a 3.05 ERA, and a sharp 1.10 WHIP, his best run of health, command and consistency in years. For a lefty who’s had to reinvent himself multiple times, that kind of stability matters. It also reshapes his market.

The market doesn’t have many dependable lefty relievers, and that alone puts Matz on several contender boards. So, where does a reinvented Steven Matz actually fit? These three spots make the most baseball sense.

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#1. Toronto Blue Jays

Toronto knows Matz from his strong 2021 season there, so they want left-handed depth again.

They need someone to bridge short starts and the late-inning crew without blowing up games.

Matz brings familiarity and flexibility with a defined role; that and his history with the organization make this the cleanest fit.

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#2. New York Yankees

The Yankees look for exactly this type of pitcher every offseason, a lefty who can handle tough pockets of a lineup, give length when starters exit early, and keep the bullpen from burning out.

Matz doesn’t need to be perfect in New York; he needs to be predictable.

That’s what he offered Boston in 2025, and that’s what he’d offer the Yankees on a short deal.

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#3. San Francisco Giants

Oracle Park rewards pitchers who pitch to contact, stay low in the zone, and avoid big mistakes, a great match for what Matz does now. San Francisco also prefers stability over headline signings when it comes to pitching depth.

They’ve consistently added short-term veteran arms to manage innings, absorb workload, and keep the rotation and bullpen from being overstretched. Matz checks every one of those boxes.

He needs to be steady, calm, and capable of filling different types of innings depending on the week, a role he played well in Boston, and one that the Giants value highly.