Forgotten Guardians reliever cashes in via free agent deal with the Cubs 

For parts of three seasons, Phil Maton was a solid piece in the middle of the Guardians’ bullpen. 

While he didn’t get the same kind of attention as high-leverage arms like Brad Hand, Emmanuel Clase and James Karinchak, he held his own in the middle of the ‘pen (even if he was prone to the occasional blow-up). 

And although his time with the Guardians came to a bit of an unceremonious end when he was sent to Houston as a part of the Myles Straw trade, Maton has quietly turned into one of the best middle-relief pitchers in all of baseball. 

And he was able to turn that experience into a big payday earlier this week by inking a two-year, $14.5 million deal with the Cubs that includes a club option for the third season. 

While Maton may not get the kind of attention as some of the bigger names available in free agency, he’s a great pick up for a Cubs team that is restocking their bullpen after making it to the Wild Card Series in 2021.

Former Guardians Phil Maton signs free agent deal with Cubs 

We’ve been banging the drum for a Maton reunion in Cleveland for quite some time, and it looked like that could happen midway through the 2025 season due to Texas’ struggles ahead of the August waiver deadline. 

The Rangers ended up holding on to all their veteran players at the waiver deadline (in large part due to the fact they swept the Guardians at the end of August), which set up Maton becoming a free agent. 

He finished last season with a 2.79 ERA in 61 1/3 innings with the Rangers and Cardinals, marking the fourth straight season he finished an ERA under 3.70. 

Although Maton’s fastball doesn’t crack 90 miles per hour, he finished last year in the 99th percentile in exit velocity and hard-hit rate along with being in the 98th percentile in whiff rate and barrel rate. 

He finished last year with a strikeout rate of 32.7%, which is far and away the best mark of his career. 

The Guardians’ trade of Maton stands out as one of the worst deals in recent team history, as Cleveland dealt away him and catcher Yainer Diaz in exchange for Straw. 

Straw provided the Guardians with a Gold Glove-worthy season in 2022 but ended up being demoted (and subsequently traded away) after his offensive struggles became too much to ignore. 

Meanwhile, Maton posted a 3.67 ERA in three seasons with the Astros (and was nails for them in the postseason in 2021) while Diaz has slugged 59 home runs across four seasons. 

Even if Maton’s results since leaving Cleveland are better than what he did while he was with the Guardians,  seeing him thrive elsewhere while Straw isn’t on the roster will always serve as a reminder of how poorly his trade has aged.