NEWSLETTER
A whole lotta teams are in on free agent lefty Steven Matz, who reportedly wants to decide on his next team before Thanksgiving. The Cubs are one of those teams, and they’ve made an offer.
Of course, all EIGHT teams have made an offer:
Giants offer to Matz is still on the table even after agreeing with DeSclafani, getting close with Wood and making progress with Cobb. All 8 of these teams have made offers. https://t.co/9003YCQINZ
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 23, 2021
If I had to guess, the combined impact of Matz wanting to sign before Thanksgiving and the three-year, $36 million deal Anthony DeSclafani signed was that teams had a good sense of how to accelerate on Matz. I’d also guess that most of the offers are roughly in the same range, and Matz’s camp is hoping that one team steps it up to four years. That could make for a sizable commitment to a guy who, realistically, is about a league-average starter, but if you believe you can unlock some additional upside, it might be worth taking the chance.
As we’ve discussed, I like Matz for the Cubs. He’s not going to be a front-of-the-rotation guy, but he is a hard-throwing lefty who isn’t that old, who misses barrels, and has dealt with enough injuries that it’s conceivable he hasn’t yet had a chance to really tap into that next level of potential. On a DeSclafani deal, that’s a no-brainer. Another year and a higher AAV? It starts to get a little more questionable at that point, especially when guys like Marcus Stroman and Kevin Gausman are out there (i.e., if you’re really gonna step up and pay). There’s also still Jon Gray, whom I really like for the Cubs.
In any case, stay tuned. We could get word on Matz very soon.
