MLB Rumors: Steven Matz ‘Prominently’ On Red Sox’s Radar This MLB Offseason

The Red Sox, maybe now more than ever, need help in the pitching department after the departure of Eduardo Rodriguez to the Detroit Tigers.

And Boston reportedly has its eye on one left-hander.

According to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier, the Red Sox have had “varying degrees of contact” with several pitchers on the free agent market. Check out this excerpt from his piece published Saturday:

The Sox are trying to shore up the rotation with Rodriguez gone. They have had varying degrees of contact with virtually all of the top starters on the market, including (Robbie) Ray. One pitcher prominently on the radar: lefthander Steven Matz. The 30-year-old went 14-7 with a 3.82 ERA, 22.3 percent strikeout rate, and 6.6 percent walk rate for the Blue Jays in 2021 — impressive given Toronto’s nomadic journey through environments hostile to pitchers. Matz, who did not receive the qualifying offer and won’t require the sacrifice of a draft pick, has many suitors. He’s hoping to choose a team before Thanksgiving so he can finalize a contract before an anticipated lockout on Dec. 2.

Matz would be a nice fit for a rotation that just lost a lefty who ate up 150-plus innings. Matz pitched 1502/3 Innings in 2021 for the Toronto Blue Jays, and pitched a career-high 160 1/3 in 2019.

The current Collective Bargaining Agreement is set to expire Dec. 1, though commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters the “No. 1 priority” is to get a deal done before that date.

It’s unclear if that will happen, but what is clear is that Matz wants to get a contract done before a potential lockout could take place.