Blue Jays: Steven Matz turns down multi-year deal; heading to free agency

Acquired by the Blue Jays at the end of January earlier this year, southpaw Steven Matz joined the organization after struggling through the shortened 2020 campaign with the New York Mets, posting a 9.68 ERA through 9 outings, six of which were starts. The Jays traded Sean Reid-Foley, Josh Winckowski, and Yennsy Diaz to bring Matz on board, who was in his last year of arbitration before being eligible for free agency this offseason.

The left-hander would begin the season in the rotation and would stay there all year long. He had a great start to the campaign, posting a 2.31 ERA with only six earned runs through his first four games. Matz then went through a couple of months of inconsistency where he had games with 5+ earned runs followed by games where he pitched well and limited the damage to three runs or less, eventually finding a groove in August and finishing the campaign with a 3.82 ERA through 29 starts with 144 strikeouts, 43 walks, and a 1.334 WHIP through 150.2 innings of work.

Overall, Matz had a pretty solid campaign and the big question regarding his free agency was whether the Blue Jays were interested in a reunion and if the club was going to present him with a qualifying offer like they were going to extend to Marcus Semien and Robbie Ray.

Blue Jays left-hander Steven Matz has decided to not accept a multi-year deal from the organization and was not presented with a qualifying offer.

As per Jon Heyman with MLB Network, the Blue Jays did offer Matz a multi-year deal but the New York product turned it down, deciding to test the free-agent waters instead. Following the contract rejection, it was also announced that the club was not going to present Matz with a qualifying offer, meaning if he signs elsewhere this season, he will not be tied to draft pick compensation (at least under the current CBA).

If the lefty was given a QO, I think he would probably sign the $18.4 million offer this season. It would be a significant upgrade over the $5.2 million he made this past year and although he did pitch well this year, the offer would probably be on the higher side of any contract he will be presented during free agency this year.

Although he did turn down the Blue Jays deal, there is a chance that he could still return next season and beyond, however, the current contract details have not been reported so it has yet to be seen on whether the deal was actually fair in value or if the front office short-changed Matz with the multi-year contract.

What do you think Jays fans? What type of deal do you think the club gave Matz that he turned down?