Predicting what the Cardinals would offer for the remaining free-agent relievers

Phil Maton- 2 year deal for $28 million dollars

Maton is very underrated and an intriguing free agent. He has a career 4.25 ERA in 7 seasons with the Padres, Guardians, and Astros but is coming off his best season in the big leagues.

In 2023, Maton had career-bests in ERA ( 3.00), appearances (68), hits per 9 (6.7), ERA+ (141), and WHIP (1.12). Maton did not pitch in the playoffs for the Astros in the year they won the World Series in 2022 after he injured himself punching a locker in the final week of the regular season, but when he has pitched in the postseason he has simply been outstanding.

From 2020-2023 Maton has pitched in 20 playoff games and he has a superb 0.83 ERA, including in the 2023 playoff where he only allowed 1 hit and 2 base runners in 6 playoff appearances. Dating back to the 2021 World Series Maton has not allowed a run in his last 11.2 innings in the playoffs.

Like Robertson, Maton is a strikeout reliever, as he has a career 10.3 K/9 and has gotten over a strikeout an inning in 6 of his 7 MLB seasons. And he is much younger, he will turn 31 in March so you'd surely be more comfortable in giving him a multi-year contract, and he'll likely be looking for one. There have been multiple reports in the past month that the Cardinals are linked to Maton, seeing him as a good fit in a middle relief role, also one thing to note, Maton went to high school in Chatham, Illinois which is approximately 95 miles away from Busch Stadium.

Hector Neris- 3 year deal for $45 million dollars

Neris is another former Astros reliever that the Cardinals have reportedly been linked to, and he as well would be a welcomed addition to the Cardinal bullpen. After the World Series, Neris declined his $8.5 million dollar player option and opted for free agency, and he is one of the more attractive names remaining.

2023 was year 10 in the big leagues for Neris and he had a career-low 1.71 ERA and a 10.1 K/9 in just over 68 innings, his 8th straight season with a double-digit K/9. After failing to make the postseason in his 8 seasons in Philadelphia, he has been a part of two deep playoff runs with the Astros, including a run to the World Series title in 2022 when Neris only allowed one run in those playoffs.

In June Neris will turn 35 years old, but coming off a career year in some ways I could easily see him get up to 3 years and a decent annual salary. It's surprising to me that he is not signed yet but the Cardinals should continue to express interest in him because he is a durable arm ( has thrown at least 65 innings in a season 6 times), and provides swing-and-miss stuff that the Cardinals need more of in their bullpen in 2024. Investing in somebody like Neris who is reliable to pitch in high-leverage situations is something the Cardinals need to do if they're serious about going deep in the playoffs next year.

Robert Stephenson - 4-year deal for $40 million dollars

Robert Stephenson is very familiar with the NL Central, as he pitched in parts of seven seasons with the Reds and Pirates, but he saw a breakout campaign in 2023 with the Rays that has made him one of the better free-agent relievers available.

He began his major league career with the Reds back in 2016 as a starter and he did not find a whole lot of success. From 2016-2018 he made 22 starts and had a 5.47 ERA, a 5.7 BB/9 (walks per 9 innings), and a 9.4 H/9 (hits per 9 innings). Stephenson became a full-time reliever in 2019 and was solid in spurts but not for any extended period of time.

In 2023 with the Pirates, Stephenson had a 5.14 ERA in 18 appearances before he was traded to the Rays for minor league infielder Alika Williams and he had a resurgence. He had 42 relief outings with Tampa Bay and he hit career-bests in several statistical fields including win-loss percentage, ERA, ERA+, FIP, WHIP, H/9, BB/9, and K/9,

The risk you run in giving Stephenson a long-term deal like four years is if last season with Tampa was just a fluke, but with the way he ended last season could lead a team to overpay for him. Before he got to the Rays he had a career ERA of just under 5.00 across 7 seasons with the Reds, Rockies, and Pirates, which is obviously a larger sample size than just 42 games. But at the same time, you'd hate to miss out on a pitcher who will turn 31 next month, who may have discovered something that could make him a weapon for years to come.

Jordan Hicks - 4-year deal for $54 million dollars

The familiar name Jordan Hicks sees himself on the free agent market for the first time in his career. Hicks had his moments in his 5 seasons in St. Louis, when he is on his game he is arguably the most electric pitcher in baseball with his combination of velocity and movement on his pitches.

Hicks was not as effective as he was in his first two seasons in the bigs after he opted out of the shortened 2020 season, Tommy John surgery, multiple nagging injuries, and a brief attempt at turning him into a starter led to inconsistency for Hicks. 2023 got off to a very frustrating start for Hicks, after allowing 3 runs in extra innings to the Pirates in the 15th game of the season, he had a 12.71 ERA. Some speculated that he could've been sent down to the minors or even designated for assignment, but credit to the Cardinals for being patient with him and allowing him a chance to bounce back.

The Cardinals decided to use him in lower-stress situations and then let him gradually earn his way back into a late-inning role and it worked out. By the middle of June Hicks wound up being the Cardinals' closer, including recording 3 consecutive saves in New York against the Mets in 3 straight days. In 40 total appearances with the Cardinals last year he got his ERA down to 3.67, his lowest since 2019, and his rebound allowed the Cardinals to trade him to a contender at the deadline in exchange for minor-league pitching prospects. Hicks was sent to Toronto before the deadline and he pitched very well.

Hicks pitched in 25 games with the Jays in the stretch run and he had a 2.63 ERA, his strikeout numbers did drop significantly but so did his walks, which is promising since that was a problem with Hicks from time to time in St. Louis. Out of all the free agent relievers mentioned so far, Hicks is the youngest at 27 years old, Cardinal fans know more than anybody when it comes to what Hicks could become, the sky is the limit for him, I expect him to get a big contract in the next couple months, the question is would the Cardinals be willing to reunite with Hicks so soon after trading him.

Josh Hader - 6-year deal for $150 million dollars

There is no question that Hader is the best relief pitcher on the free-agent market right now. For most of his career, Hader has been automatic and lockdown in the 9th inning of games. He is a three-time winner of the Trevor Hoffman National League Reliever of the Year and a 5-time All-Star, every team would love to have him.

After an outstanding run with the Brewers, the baseball world was stunned to see Hader get traded from a first-place team to the Padres. He did not pitch well when he came to San Diego, as he had an ERA over 7 in the regular season, but in the postseason he made up for that where he was basically unhittable. In 5.1 innings he only allowed one hit, one walk, and he struck out 10, just showing how dominant he can really be.

That great postseason carried over into 2023 where he put up another stellar season. Across 61 games he had a 1.28 ERA (and a 321 ERA+), 33 saves, and 85 K's in 56.1 innings pitched. The Cardinals are in need of some more swing-and-miss arms, and there is nobody better than Hader, in his career he has a 15.0 K/9 rate, which is the best in MLB history for an individual career.

So what kind of money is Hader going to get? According to Jim Bowden with CBS Sports, Hader is looking for a contract " north of Edwin Diaz ". Last off-season Diaz re-signed with the Mets for 5 years and 102 million dollars, which is an average salary of $20.4 million a year. So I went ahead and put down a flat number of $25 million average salary for 6 years. It was also reported by Bowden that no team has hit the amount that Hader is looking for just yet.

I wouldn't expect the Cardinals to go all in for Hader right now, but we do know that they can offer what Hader wants, the only question is, will they? But at the end of the day, if the Cardinals want to show that they are serious about competing for a World Series in 2024, signing Hader would convince the fan base that they're all in.