St. Louis Cardinals: Steven Matz Injury May End Juan Soto Pursuit

The Cardinals lost Steven Matz to a knee injury in his first start returning from the IL, and it may have cost them their shot at Juan Soto.

The St. Louis Cardinals suffered a huge loss on Saturday as starter Steven Matz suffered an MCL injury during his masterful start against the Cincinnati Reds. 

This loss further compounds their need for starting pitching, as Matz will miss significant time, joining starters Jack Flaherty and Dakota Hudson on the injured list. For a team that desperately needed starting pitching, this injury furthers that desperation.

While the Cardinals pursuit for pitching has been known for months now, recent days have seen buzz around the club making a play for the biggest star on the market: Juan Soto.

Soto, the 23 year old superstar on the Washington Nationals, will cost any team who is looking to acquire his services for the next 2 and 1/2 years a historic prospect package, already making St. Louis’ interest something that confused those who follow closely how the team operates.

While St. Louis has the pieces necessary to pull off a deal and maintain a healthy farm system while also not harming their big league club, any move for Soto would likely take them out of the market for the arms necessary for the club to make a run.

Before the Matz injury, an argument could be made that adding Soto and relying on better health in the second half was a viable play for the club, but now one has to wonder if that can even be considered anymore.

Leading insiders continue to put St. Louis in the conversation for Soto, so there is no reason to believe they are out of the mix yet. But here are the reasons Cardinals fans should lower their expectations of that kind of blockbuster deal.

Patrick Corbin could help hold the club over

Although the club’s plans were to acquire a higher level arm, with a generational talent on the market, it makes sense to reconsider those plans.

If St. Louis is still interested in adding Soto, there is three ways they could patch together their rotation needs down the stretch.

The first is take back Patrick Corbin’s contract in the trade for Soto. Corbin has fallen from his status as one of the better pitchers in the game this year, sporting a 6.02 ERA in 20 starts for the Nationals. His contract is perhaps the worst in all of baseball, and is rumored to be attached to Soto in any trade.

The club can hope that their elite defense and pitching for a contender has a similar impact on Corbin as it did Lester and Happ. If so, Corbin could at least give them innings for a month or so while other arms regain health.

The second option would be acquiring another low level arm like Lester or Happ along with Soto at the deadline. If they add the superstar outfielder, lowering their sights for that additional starter makes a lot of sense.

The third option would be take back Corbin’s contract and acquire one more arm, likely that smaller name, to get by down the stretch. I find it very unlikely the Cardinals would part with most of their top prospects to bring in only two names at the deadline, but Soto, Corbin, and a low level arm could make sense.