The first day of MLB's 2025 Winter Meetings passed relatively quietly, with no major signings or trades made. But just before the day officially ended, a noteworthy signing — at least in the eyes of some Boston Red Sox fans — occurred.
The Tampa Bay Rays and veteran starter-turned-reliever Steven Matz agreed on a two-year deal, first reported by Marc Topkin of Tampa Bay Times. The dollar amount on the contract has not yet been reported.
The Red Sox made deal for Matz at the July 31 deadline in one of Craig Breslow's first savvy deadline moves. Last offseason, Tampa Bay quickly signed Danny Jansen, one of Boston's 2024 trade deadline acquisitions that was less successful.
Matz spent most of his 11-year MLB career as a starting pitcher who made a few relief appearances here and there. He posted a 4.25 ERA and a 1.320 WHIP over 883.1 innings between 2015-23, before he began making regular relief outings. He played six seasons with the New York Mets, one with the Toronto Blue Jays and four with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Steven Matz signs two-year deal with Rays, preventing potential Red Sox reunion
Topkin noted that Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander was hoping to bring in a veteran starter to boost his relatively young rotation, and believes that Matz could've been signed to fill that role. He made 53 appearances in 2025, all but two of those came in relief.
Matz posted a 3.44 ERA over 55 innings and 32 appearances before St. Louis shipped him to Boston. The 34-year-old thrived in the Red Sox's bullpen to the tune of a 2.08 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP with six holds and a save over 21.2 innings.
The Red Sox's bullpen was one of the best in the league last season, and the club could've justified a reunion with Matz, especially after some of its early-offseason roster moves. Boston traded away three lefty relievers in the same day — Brennan Bernardino, Chris Murphy and Luis Guerrero, who was traded to Tampa Bay — and Matz could've made for an easy reunion to replenish some of those lost arms.
It hadn't previously been reported that the Red Sox were interested in re-signing Matz and it's uncertain if a reunion was ever on the table. Regardless, Boston will still see a lot of him as a division rival, and possibly as a starter.