St. Louis Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak said weeks leading up to the MLB trade deadline that the team’s performance in July would dictate the direction of being buyers, sellers, or staying put. Fast forward, and the team decided to sell, sending three key relievers from the bullpen to other teams: Steven Matz, Phil Maton, and Ryan Helsley. Even though Mozaliek said that it didn’t indicate the team gave up on trying to win, the writing was on the wall.
Despite that, the Cardinals still find themselves in the race for the wild card, even if their odds are very slim and unrealistic. A big reason for that is the performance of the bullpen, which somehow looks even better post-deadline than it did before with guys like JoJo Romero, Riley O’Brien, Matt Svanson, and Kyle Leahy.
It’s always interesting to look at what past players are doing on new teams since their departures. While trying to figure out if they made the right moves post-deadline, it’s even more interesting to check in on those players. For the individuals traded by the Cardinals, it’s been an up-and-down experience so far as a whole post-deadline, with some really good performances, then some really bad. It’s been just a few days since the deadline, so it’s a small sample size, but let’s take a look at how these former Cardinals’ performances are going in their new cities.
Performances of Former Cardinals Post-Trade Deadline
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Phil Maton
The last domino to fall at the trade deadline for the Cardinals was Maton. There was a lot of interest in the right-hander after his performance with St. Louis. He pitched 38.1 innings over 40 games with the Cardinals, posting a 2.35 ERA with 48 strikeouts and a 1.12 WHIP.
Interestingly enough, signing Maton was the ONLY move that the Cardinals made this offseason, and it was a smart one, signing him to a one-year, $2M contract.
On deadline day, he was traded to the Texas Rangers for two prospects, left-handed pitcher Mason Molina and right-handed pitcher Skylar Hales.
Maton has had an up-and-down experience with the Rangers so far. In his first three games with Texas, he went three innings, gave up one hit and one walk, had three strikeouts, and recorded a save. In his next outing after that, he gave up his first run but then followed that up with another scoreless outing with no hits given up and a strikeout, recording his first win with the Rangers.
The Maton experience in Texas was going relatively well until his last two outings. He started it off well against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday, entering with two outs in the eighth along with a 3-2 lead and striking out the next three batters he faced on just nine pitches. Then it went downhill fast, as with two outs in the ninth, he imploded as he gave up a game-tying home run, an HBP, a walk, then gave up a go-ahead three-run home run to record a blown save and a loss.Â
In his last outing, he had another blown save as he entered the eighth inning with runners on first and third and a two-run lead. He went on to allow a couple of walks to bring home a run and then gave up a two-run single to give the Toronto Blue Jays the lead.
Prior to those two appearances, Maton had only allowed one home run in 43.1 innings. His ERA with the Rangers has spiked up to a whopping 7.36. He now has a 3.15 ERA in 45.2 innings between St. Louis and Texas, but still supports a WHIP of 1.139 and has 57 strikeouts.
Maton was a valuable asset for the Cardinals and was one of the few consistent bright spots all season for the team. He will look to put his last couple of outings in the back of his mind and continue to put forth a good campaign out of the pen.
Ryan Helsley
From the last piece to be dealt on deadline day by the Cardinals to the first. After seven years in St. Louis, the Cardinals dealt one of the best closers in franchise history to the New York Mets in return for three prospects: infielder Jesus Baez, right-handed pitcher Nate Dohm, and right-handed pitcher Frank Elissalt. Many of the top teams in baseball were interested in Helsley’s services to put them over the top, and the Mets jumped out in front at the deadline.
As for this trade putting them over the top, it hasn’t gone to plan whatsoever to this point. In his 5.1 innings pitched in seven games for the Mets, Helsley has given up nine runs on nine hits (five earned), three walks, and has two blown saves. His ERA with the Mets has bloomed to 8.44 and has allowed at least one base runner in six of his seven outings.
He has been in the middle of what has been a downfall for the Mets. This has been a disaster from what he did in his 36 games for the Cardinals this season, when he pitched to a 3.00 ERA with 41 strikeouts. Overall, he now has a 3.70 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 41.1 innings and a career-worst 1.50 WHIP.
Between 2022 and 2024, Helsley put up great numbers for the Cardinals, tallying ERAs of 1.25, 2.45, and 2.04 while getting Cy Young votes in 2022 and 2024. Last season, he even set the all-time Cardinals single-season saves record when he posted 49 saves, beating Trevor Rosenthal’s record of 48.
He has a new role with the Mets, as now he is a setup man in the 8th instead of the closer in the 9th, which he spoke to by saying, “Trying to figure out that role and that routine to be ready when my name is called. I just haven’t been good.”
It was bittersweet to see him go for Cardinals Nation, but with the direction of the team, it had to be done. Helsley is a free agent after the season and has expressed his desire to stay in St. Louis before the trade deadline.
Steven Matz
Let’s end on a high note, as Matz has performed the best out of the three relievers traded post-deadline. He was dealt to the Boston Red Sox for first base prospect Blaze Jordan. Matz has appeared in five games for Boston, and in the 5.2 innings he’s pitched in, he’s given up no runs and has only surrendered one hit with three strikeouts.
His time in St. Louis didn’t go as planned when they signed him to a four-year contract before the 2022 season. He was signed as a starter, but his tenure was filled with injuries and poor performance. He was relegated to a bullpen role and had some bright spots, but they were few and far between. Matz has had a solid 2025 and did what was asked of him for the Cardinals as he had a 3.44 ERA and 47 strikeouts in 55 innings. He also posted an above-average WHIP of 1.18.
It’s a small sample size, but Matz’s overall ERA is creeping down to 3.00, and so far, he’s been exactly what the Red Sox have needed in their pursuit of a playoff run. Having a zero ERA isn’t sustainable, but if he keeps up the strong numbers, this will be one of the best deadline moves in all of Major League Baseball this year.
Main Image: David Frerker-Imagn Images
