2. Phil Maton
Maton signed with the Tampa Bay Rays last offseason for $6.5M with a club option for 2025. At the time, it was surprising Maton didn't land a multi-year deal as he was coming off a 3.00 ERA season in 66 innings with Houston.
Maton's season stats aren't great, but it was a tale of two halves. In 35.1 innings with the Rays, Maton had a 4.58 ERA and a 5.63 FIP. He would be traded to the Mets in early July as a salary dump, but Maton sneakily became one of the Mets' better relievers in the 2nd half. In his 28.2 IP with New York, Maton posted a 2.51 ERA, 2.57 FIP, and a 21.2% K-BB% - a drastic change from his 7.9% K-BB% he had with Tampa.
Maton was connected to the Cardinals last offseason and is from Illinois. Could there be mutual interest again possibly? Maton's contract is tough to predict. I look at Jorge Lopez as a comparison for Maton. Both players were awful early in the season, switched teams, and returned to dominance. Lopez recently inked a 1-year $3M deal with the Nationals with incentives. Maton may have a slightly higher floor than Jorge, but I like Lopez's stuff more than Maton's.
I see a similar contract to Lopez as a comparable prediction. 1-year, $4.5M? It's a low-risk move the Cardinals can certainly take.
3. Paul Sewald
Sewald was traded to the Diamondbacks in 2023 and played a pivotal role in their World Series run. Sewald struggled in 2024, however, and was even demoted from his closer role.
Sewald threw 39.2 IP to the tune of a 4.31 ERA and a 3.95 FIP. Paul had drastically different halves though which paint a better picture. In Paul's first 16.2 IP, he posted a 0.54 ERA, a 3.05 FIP, and went 11 for 11 in save opportunities. In his next 23 IP, Sewald posted a 7.04 ERA, 4.60 FIP, and blew 4 of his 9 save opportunites. Easy to see why he was removed from his closer role.
Overall, the stuff isn't going to blow you away, but his low release height creates too weird of a look to not be effective. This is a great buy-low opportunity the Cardinals can take for a pitcher who can become their 8th-inning guy. He also could be a valuable trade chip towards the deadline for bullpen-needy teams looking to sure up their backend of games. A 1-year deal worth $5M with a few incentives seems fair for both sides.