3 great trade destinations for Cardinals trade piece Phil Maton

With the St. Louis Cardinals' trade deadline plans becoming clearer by the day, one veteran is sure to draw significant interest from teams — Phil Maton. Signed during spring training on March 13 for just $2 million, Maton has been arguably the best and most consistent reliever for the Cardinals all season long.

Trade #1 - Houston Astros

The Astros are right back in the middle of contention as one of the AL's best teams. A big factor to their success this year has been their lights-out bullpen. The Astros have a definitive top 3 bullpen this season, as these are where they rank in all of baseball:

fWAR- 2nd
ERA- 3rd
FIP- 2nd
K/9- 1st
BB/9- 5th
LOB%- 1st

Their bullpen consists of an elite closer (Josh Hader), a star setup man (Bryan Abreu), a trio of good lefties (Steven Okert, Bryan King, and Bennett Sousa), and one solid right-handed MRP (Shawn Dubin). Dubin has been phenomenal this season, but went down with a forearm strain on June 20th and is still on the IL. On July 1st, Dubin was still not cleared to begin throwing. Even if Dubin were healthy, the Astros could still use another reliable RHRP to not depend all on Abreu.

Phil Maton could slide in perfectly as a middle-relief pitcher and can handle the later innings on days where Hader and/or Abreu are down. Maton had two of his best seasons of his career with the Astros during their World Series run in 2022 and the following year in 2023. All of these reasons create the perfect opportunity for a reunion with one of their most reliable bullpen arms during their World Series run.

Trade #2 - Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies are in real need of some upgrades to their bullpen, as they rank 23rd in baseball in bullpen ERA. Their big bullpen signing of Jordan Romano has been a disaster, and they'll be without lefty Jose Alvarado for the postseason due to his 80-game PED suspension that ends on August 18th. They signed 40-year-old David Robertson on July 21st, but he'll need some time to ramp up in AAA before he's ready for big league action. Needless to say, they are desperate for arms.

The Phillies rank T-24th in baseball in bullpen HR/9 at 1.21, tied with the Athletics. Phil Maton has only given up 1 home run on the season, and his .25 HR/9 would greatly benefit that pen. The Phillies' bullpen strikeout rate is 22.2%, ranking 16th in baseball. Maton's K% of 30.4% would add some sorely needed swing-and-miss. They are league average in their K-BB% at 13.4%, but Maton's 20.9% K-BB% is a big addition.

With Philly's window with their current core shrinking, POBO Dave Dombrowski needs to put the chips in if he wants to get that ring with this core. Zack Wheeler announced that he's retiring after the 2027 season, Kyle Schwarber will enter free agency this winter, Nick Castellanos is under contract for one more season in 2026, Alec Bohm will hit free agency as well after the 2026 season, and finally, J.T. Realmuto and Ranger Suarez will also become free agents after seasons end. If they want to win a championship with this current core, it's likely now or never.

Trade #3 - Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers are having a phenomenal season with a 60-43 record. They are among the frontrunners to make it out of the American League in October. While they have been great, they still need some bolstering of their roster.

The Tigers' bullpen ranks 21st in baseball with a 4.06 ERA, and their FIP (coincidentally enough) is also 4.06 and is the 18th-best mark in the league. Additionally, they have the 3rd-worst bullpen K% in all of baseball. They lack swing-and-miss in their pen, and Maton can help fix that issue. The Tigers also infamously like to use "bullpen chaos" where anybody, in any inning, in any situation, is available to come into the game. Maton can also fit this style perfectly as well.

While the Tigers don't exactly have a true "closer," Will Vest has had a good year in that role, and I don't necessarily see them going after a true closer. The Tigers will likely look to make value moves this deadline to not deplete their farm system which has come along very well the last two years. This is why I believe they'd prefer Maton over a Ryan Helsley due to his price tag being cheaper. The Tigers would get a big jolt into their bullpen in the final two months and postseason by adding Phil Maton, and I think it's a perfect move for them.