Nov. 24, 2021 / 8:34 AM

Cardinals agree to four-year, $44M deal with LHP Steven Matz

Starting pitcher Steven Matz (pictured), who agreed to join the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday, played the first six seasons of his career for the New York Mets. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI

1 of 5 | Starting pitcher Steven Matz (pictured), who agreed to join the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday, played the first six seasons of his career for the New York Mets. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Free agent pitcher Steven Matz and the St. Louis Cardinals are in agreement on a four-year, $44 million contract.

Sources informed The Athletic, ESPN and MLB.com of the agreement late Tuesday. The Cardinals did not immediately confirm the news.

The contract can increase to $48 million in value through incentives.

Matz, 30, went 14-7 with a 3.82 ERA in 29 starts last season for the Toronto Blue Jays. The left-handed starter joined the Blue Jays in an off-season trade from the New York Mets.

Matz joined the Mets as a second-round pick in the 2009 MLB Draft. He made his MLB debut in 2015. He owns a 45-48 record with a 4.24 ERA in 141 career appearances.

He is set to join a Cardinals rotation that also features Adam Wainwright, Jack Flaherty, Dakota Hudson and Miles Mikolas.

Cardinals starting pitchers posted a 4.01 ERA last season, the 11th-best in baseball and sixth-best in the National League. They also tied for allowing the third-fewest home runs in MLB.

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