![\"Apr](\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_4301,h_2419,x_0,y_90\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/ImagnImages\/mmsport\/inside_the_orioles\/01jdx4pz1qk051aw90tx.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe St. Louis Cardinals are reportedly making a veteran starting pitcher available via trade as they try and cut payroll.<\/p>\n
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The Baltimore Orioles should be all-in on trying to re-sign starting pitcher Corbin Burnes. That is the franchise\u2019s easiest path to a successful offseason, even if they are unable to sign any other free agents of note.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s looking dicey out there. With Blake Snell already off the market after signing a five-year deal with the Dodgers, teams that were already interested in Burnes are likely considering ratcheting up their offers, which would be music to the ears of his agent, Scott Boras.<\/p>\n
There are connections to other quality free-agent pitchers as well, such as former Texas Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi, who has two World Series rings.<\/p>\n
But what if the Orioles come up relatively empty in starting pitching in free agency? What if they are unable to work out a trade for the pitcher that many insiders believe they covet, the Chicago White Sox\u2019s Garrett Crochet? What then?<\/p>\n
Well, the Orioles may have to go the veteran retread route. And there is one veteran reportedly on the trade market.<\/p>\n
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported earlier this week that the St. Louis Cardinals are looking to deal left-hander Steven Matz in an effort to trim payroll.<\/p>\n
Matz isn\u2019t going make much next season, at least in baseball terms. He\u2019s scheduled to make $12.5 million, the final year of a four-year deal worth $44 million that he signed with the Cardinals in 2022.<\/p>\n
The 34-year-old comes with an expiring deal. That, along with his relatively average performance the past three years means the Orioles wouldn\u2019t have to give up much to get him.<\/p>\n
In three seasons in St. Louis he\u2019s gone 10-12 with a 4.47 ERA in 52 games (34 starts), with 185 strikeouts and 57 walks in 197.1 innings.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s won fewer games in three years with the Cardinals than he did in one season with Toronto in 2021, where he went 14-7 with a 3.82 ERA in the best season of his career.<\/p>\n
Before that, he spent six seasons with the New York Mets, where he went 31-41 with a 4.35 ERA.<\/p>\n
Injuries have, in part, led to the ineffectiveness. If you\u2019re the Orioles you make the deal for a couple of reasons. First, when healthy he can eat innings and give Baltimore something like his 2018 in New York, as he finished 11-10 with a 3.97 ERA and threw a career-high 160 innings.<\/p>\n
Second, as a reliever in St. Louis he posted an intriguing 2.43 ERA in 33.1 innings.<\/p>\n
File Matz under the category of \u201cin case of emergency break glass.\u201d But, if the O\u2019s lose Burnes, that may be their emergency.<\/p>\n
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