Jays trade for Steven Matz

Rob Longley is reporting that the Blue Jays have traded for Mets RHP Steven Matz. Longley says Sean Reid-Foley, Yennsy Diaz, and Josh Winckowski are going to New York.

Matz didn’t have a good 2020, putting up a 9.68 ERA in 30.2 innings. The two seasons before that were better, he had a 16-21 record with a 4.09 ERA (with a 4.61 FiP) in 62 games, 60 starts.

FanGraphps says he averaged 94.5 mph on his fastball last year and threw a change, curve, and slider.

The Daily News had a scouting report on him from before last season:

Analysis: Matz has back-to-back seasons of 30 starts, finally providing durability, but while his results have been OK, it’s not ace-level. “People expected big things from him,” says one scout. “And there are times he’s great. But he hasn’t shown consistency like that. He pitches good enough to stay where he is. He hasn’t gone to that next level, but who’s to say he won’t?” Perhaps sharpening his curveball — Matz’s project during baseball’s hiatus — can push him there.

He isn’t the front of the rotation starter we were hoping to get. Matz is to make $5.2 million in 2021.

It looks like opening a 40-man roster spot was a side benefit of the deal. Diaz and Reid-Foley were both on the 40-man.