Rumors: Are Red Sox, Blue Jays, Dodgers on deadline with Steven Matz?

If the Toronto Blue Jays want to bring starting pitcher Steven Matz back in 2022, or if a team like the Boston Red Sox or Los Angeles Dodgers wants to sign the southpaw this offseason, reports say that the clock is ticking to get a deal done.

Here’s why Thanksgiving could be a key deadline for teams trying to sign Steven Matz

According to Alex Speier of The Boston Globe, Matz is hoping to choose which team he will be pitching for in 2022 and beyond by Thanksgiving so he can sign a contract before the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) expires on December 1. That means that time is ticking for teams like the Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, and Los Angeles Dodgers, all teams that have been mentioned as interested in bringing Matz on board.

After pitching six seasons for the New York Mets, Matz was traded in January to Toronto. The move paid off for the Blue Jays, with the left-hander making 29 starts and posting a 3.82 ERA (3.79 FIP) and 1.334 WHIP.

When the Blue Jays decided to not offer Matz a qualifying offer, the interest in acquiring him this offseason grew as teams would not have to sacrifice a draft pick in order to sign him. However, despite the Blue Jays not extending him a qualifying offer, Toronto is hoping to find a way to not only bring him back, but also resign fellow starting pitcher Robbie Ray, who captured the American League Cy Young Award in 2021.

MLBTradeRumors has predicted that Matz will earn a three-year, $27 million deal this offseason, a bargain compared to other early starting pitcher signings such as Houston inking Justin Verlander ($25 million in 2022) and the Los Angeles Angels signing Noah Syndergaard ($21 million in 2022). Lower cost is another reason why many teams have been linked to Matz.

Whichever team signs Matz, the move will likely come this week, giving that team more certainty about its rotation heading into a potential work stoppage.