Cardinals ship reliever to Boston for highly-rated minor league slugger

With the Cardinals set to depart St. Louis for San Diego following Wednesday night’s game, Steven Matz read the state of play and opted instead to book a commercial flight to the west coast which was set to depart following Thursday’s trade deadline.

It was a prophetic decision, and hopefully one which came with refundable airfare, as Matz is instead headed east to meet his new team, a continent away from his now-former club.

Matz was traded to the Boston Red Sox late Wednesday night, the Cardinals announced, in exchange for Triple-A slugger Blaze Jordan.

Signed ahead of the winter 2021-22 lockout to a four-year, $44 million deal, Matz’s time in St. Louis was marred by inconsistency that largely came as the result of injury. He made just 36 starts as a Cardinal, despite hopes that he would secure the middle of the team’s rotation, and 84 total appearances, including 32 appearances (two starts) this season.

His stretch as a reliever in 2025 marked his best production as a Cardinal, as well as his longest uninterrupted period of health. He posted a 3.44 ERA working almost entirely from the bullpen this season, striking out 47 and walking just nine in 55 innings pitched.

That efficacy saw him rise through the team’s usage plans from a swing man and long reliever to a trusted lefty in leverage situations, and made him an appealing enough trade candidate that the Red Sox were willing to take on the approximately $4 million due on his contract before he reaches free agency this winter.

In return, the Cardinals received Jordan, a 22-year-old righty hitting first and third baseman from just outside of Memphis, Tenn.

As a young teenager, Jordan had a series of viral moments based around his prodigious home run power, including a round of batting practice at the Texas Rangers’ former park in which he, as a 13-year-old, mashed two balls measured at 500 feet in a home run derby.

A third round pick of the Red Sox in the 2020 draft, Jordan has largely carried that power potential into a laborious climb through the minors. Across five minor league seasons, he’s posted a .291 batting average and .462 slugging percentage, reaching Triple-A for the first time this season.

He struggled to just a .693 OPS at Double-A in 2024, though his season was disrupted after first breaking a finger on a slide into home plate and later enduring a concussion after being hit in the face by a pitch.

Those injuries and that production saw Jordan go unprotected by the Red Sox ahead of last year’s Rule 5 draft and subsequently unclaimed, leaving the Cardinals to presumably take that necessary step this coming winter.

That decision will ultimately be made by incoming president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, who was the chief decision maker in Boston at the time they selected Jordan in the 2020 draft. Indeed, Jordan joins a growing roster of Bloom’s once former charges who the Cardinals have made an effort to add.

Among that group is reliever Ryan Fernandez, who is a strong candidate to claim Matz’s roster spot after posting a stretch of strong results at Triple-A Memphis.

The late night trade of Matz was the second of the evening for the Cardinals, following their earlier move to ship Ryan Helsley to the New York Mets.

Those represent two of the three relievers in the team’s bullpen who are set to reach free agency this winter. The third, Phil Maton, is also expected to be traded by Thursday’s 5 PM central deadline.

Whether the Cardinals pursue any additional moves to the near-mandatory sell off of pending free agents will depend largely on market conditions.

Three prominent veterans with no-trade clauses – starters Sonny Gray and Miles Mikolas and first baseman Willson Contreras – have all expressed in recent days a desire to remain in St. Louis, at least through the remainder of the season. Mikolas, like the relievers, is set to become a free agent this winter.

Third baseman Nolan Arenado remains the team’s most enduring trade enigma, and the Cardinals would be content to move on from the significant financial contribution still owed to him if they’re able to do so.

Arenado, though, has struggled mightily at the plate this season, especially over the last month, and it’s difficult to identify the nexus between return assets and financial relief that would make such a deal make sense.

The third base market did begin to take full shape late Wednesday with Arizona’s trade of Eugenio Suárez back to the Seattle Mariners.

With the top rental hot corner option off the board, it’s possible that suitors circle back to the Cardinals and pursue more seriously the possibility of adding the ten-time Gold Glover, despite the significant financial commitment necessary to do so.