St. Louis Cardinals sign Phil Maton

 

The St. Louis Cardinals have signed RHP Phil Maton to a one-year contract, worth $2 million. Maton, 31, was 3-3 with a 3.66 ERA, 71 games, 18 holds, 3 saves, 64 innings, 60 strikeouts, and 24 walks combined between the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Mets. The games, holds, and saves were all career highs for Maton. 

In 2021, combined between the Cleveland Indians and Houston Astros, Maton had a career high (85) strikeouts. 

Maton helped the Astros win the World Series in 2022. 

In 2023, Maton had a career high (66) innings. 

Overall, Maton has played 8 seasons in the MLB. Maton is 19-15 with a 4.16 ERA, 1 start, 64 holds, 5 saves, 411 innings, 458 strikeouts, 160 walks, and a whip of 1.29.

To make room on the 40-man roster the Cardinals have designated LHP Bailey Horn for assignment. 

Maton will replace Andrew Kittredge (who signed with the Baltimore Orioles, earlier in the offseason) as a setup man for closer Ryan Helsley. 

The Cardinals had interest in Maton last offseason before he signed with the Rays. 

Maton should be a good addition for the Cardinals bullpen.

St. Louis Cardinals 2025 Season Preview

 

Offseason additions: RHP Roddery Munoz, RHP Jawilme Ramirez, LHP Oddanier Mosqueda, LHP Bailey Horn, LHP Rob Kaminsky, RHP Zack Weiss, C Yohel Pozo, INF/OF Jose Barrero, OF Michael Helman, OF Ryan Vilade, and Miguel Ugueto.

Offseason subtractions: SP Lance Lynn, SP Kyle Gibson, RHP Andrew Kittredge, RHP Keynan Middleton, RHP Nick Robertson, RHP Adam Kloffenstein, 1B Paul Goldschmidt, and 1B/DH Matt Carpenter. 

Point team prediction: 70-80 wins (3rd place in NL Central). 

The win total can always change if the team plays above their heads like they did at times last season or if the offense hits better in 2025. To me I'm not worried much about the pitching. It's offense that is the concern. The Cardinals decided to hit a reset to try to get player development fixed. For whatever reason, the Cardinals front office has ignored player development for the past several seasons. Other MLB teams jumped ahead of the Cardinals in player development the Cardinals fell behind. It's nice to see the Cardinals finally trying to fix player development. It might take a few years, but the good thing is they have some good prospects already in the system. On paper the new guys coming in, should help get player development fixed. 

After 2025, Chaim Bloom will replace John Mozeliak as President of Baseball Operations. The Cardinals brought in Rob Cerfolio (from the Cleveland Guardians) to be Assistant General Manager, Player Development, and Perormance, Matt Piperpoont (from the Seattle Mariners) to be Director of Pitching, Larry Day (from the Cleveland Guardians) to be Director of Player Development, and Carl Kochan (from the Los Angeles Dodgers) to be Director of Performance. 

On the minor league side, the Cardinals brought in four coaches, only one of them is familiar with the organization. Those coaches are Ryan Barba (from the San Diego Padres) as Minor League Field Coordinator, Jose Leger (who managed the Springfield Cardinals for four seasons (2021-2024) as Assistant Minor League Field Coordinator, Austin Meine (from the Baltimore Orioles) as Minor League Pitching Coordinator, and Ethan Goforth (from the Pittsburgh Pirates) as Minor League Catching Coordinator. 

Brant Brown is the Cardinals new hitting coach and has had success before going to the Seattle Mariners. In Seattle, the Mariners had Brown as bench coach and offensive coordinator. Brown was doing two different jobs. Could that be why the Mariners offense wasn't good under Brown? Keep in mind the Mariners have had offense problems for a while. They keep letting go of different hitting coach. 

Jon Jay is back on the Cardinals coaching staff as the first base coach and working with outfielders. Willie McGee moved into a front office role (his decision). McGee will still be around at times and be able to go help outfielders out in the Cardinals minor leagues. 

To me fans should just try to watch and hope the younger players improve. Don't expect much of anything this season. If the younger players improve, then Bloom will be able to decide what should happen in 2026. Fans be glad that the Cardinals didn't go out and get stuck in another bad contact. It helps Bloom a lot after 2025 with two bad contracts gone in Miles Mikolas and Steven Matz. Erick Fedde and Ryan Helsley can also be free agents. Do the Cardinals try to trade Fedde and Matz during the season? Mikolas has a no-trade clause, so the other two would be easier to trade. Do the Cardinals trade Helsley during the season or decide to sign him to a contract extension?

Does Nolan Arenado get traded during the season? I think he could, if he does well. To me he needs to do well for more teams to really want him. If Arenado does get traded, that also helps give more playing time to one of the younger players. What if Arenado does well and the Cardinals do well? That would be great for everyone. Just things to think about. I don't think the Cardinals do well this season, but we all can be wrong at time. 

Starting rotation:

Sonny Gray, Erick Fedde, Miles Mikolas, Andre Pallante, and Matthew Liberatore.

Bullpen:

Ryan Helsley, JoJo Romero, John King, Steven Matz (long man, if the Cardinals were to do this), Gordon Graceffo, Ryan Fernandez, Chris Roycroft, and Riley O'Brien.

Lineup:

2B Brendan Donovan, LF Lars Nootbaar, 1B Willson Contreras, DH Alec Burleson, C Ivan Herrera, 3B Nolan Arenado, RF Jordan Walker, SS Maysn Winn, and CF Victor Scott.

Bench:

C Pedro Pages, INF/OF Jose Barrero, 2B/3B Nolan Gorman, and OF Michael Siani. 

Fantasy Stud:

Ryan Helsley

Prospects to watch:

Quinn Mathews, Jimmy Crooks, and JJ Wetherholt.

St. Louis Blues extend Tyler Tucker

 

The St. Louis Blues have re-signed defenseman Tyler Tucker to a two-year contract extension, worth $1.85 million. Tucker, 24, currently has played 20 games with 2 goals, 2 assists, 4 points, and a -1 in 2024-2025. The goals are a career high for Tucker. 

Tucker also has spilt time in the AHL with the Springfield Thunderbirds this season. In the AHL, Tucker has played 19 games with 4 goals, 6 assists, 10 points, and a plus 6.

In 2022-2023, Tucker had career highs in games (26), assists (3), and points (4). 

Overall, Tucker is currently in his 3rd NHL season. Tucker has played 72 games with 4 goals, 6 assists, 10 points, and a -9. 

The contract is a good deal for both sides. Tucker is a young and physical defenseman. If Tucker can improve over the next two seasons, he can earn a bigger contract.