With less than a day remaining before the MLB trade deadline, the Red Sox have made their first move.
The Red Sox have acquired left-handed reliever Steven Matz from the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for infield prospect Blaze Jordan, a team source confirmed.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan was first to report news of the trade.
Matz has spent the majority of his career as a starting pitcher but has recently found renewed success out of the bullpen as a multi-inning reliever. This season Matz has a 3.44 ERA with 47 strikeouts over 55 innings in 32 appearances, and he’ll now join a Red Sox bullpen that is already loaded with lefties, including closer Aroldis Chapman, Justin Wilson, Brennan Bernardino and Chris Murphy.
The 34-year-old is currently in the final year of his four-year, $44 million contract and is due to hit free agency this winter.
The Red Sox have not yet announced a corresponding move to clear space for Matz on the roster.
Jordan was Boston’s third-round pick in 2020 and is in the midst of a breakout year at age 22. Coming off an injury-plagued 2024, Jordan is batting .308 with 12 home runs, 62 RBI and an .872 OPS in 88 games split between Double-A and Triple-A.
The corner infielder ranked as Boston’s No. 17 prospect at the time of the trade according to MLB Pipeline, but with Jordan due to become eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this winter, the Red Sox would have soon had to decide whether to add him to the 40-man roster or risk losing him for nothing.
With Triston Casas expected to return next season and Kristian Campbell now getting significant playing time at first base, Jordan may not have had a path forward with the Red Sox. Now he will get a new opportunity in St. Louis, where he will reunite with former Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, who led the Red Sox front office when Jordan was originally drafted five years ago.
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