Tigers Rumors: Cardinals pitchers emerge as surprise trade targets for Detroit

The St. Louis Cardinals have made it clear that they intend to reset and rebuild by offloading some veteran talent to clear some payroll in 2025, drawing interest from several potential trade partners — including the Detroit Tigers.

While it's already been established that the Cardinals are looking to trade third baseman Nolan Arenado, they could also be open to moving some members of their aging starting pitching staff. That's where the Tigers come in.

Shoring up the starting rotation was priority number one for Detroit entering this offseason; but the only addition the Tigers have made there is 37-year-old free agent Alex Cobb, whom they signed to a one-year, $15 million contract. Given Cobb's age and his lengthy injury history, that hardly feels like a reliable piece to help stabilize a rotation behind 2024 American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal.

Bringing in another dependable arm would make sense for the Tigers, which is why they have reportedly already engaged in talks with St. Louis. John Denton, Mark Feinsand and Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reported last month that the Tigers have been one of the teams sniffing around veteran Cardinals starters Erick Fedde and Steven Matz.

Tigers Rumors: Cardinals' Erick Fedde and Steven Matz could be trade targets

St. Louis acquired Fedde from the Chicago White Sox at the 2024 trade deadline. He finished the season with a 9-9 record, 3.30 ERA, 1.162 WHIP and 5.6 WAR across 31 starts. Matz, meanwhile, was limited to seven starts and five relief appearances last season due to a back injury, going 1-2 with a 5.08 ERA, 1.444 WHIP and -0.2 WAR. Over his previous nine seasons with the Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays and New York Mets, Matz went 54-58 with a 4.25 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and 9.6 WAR.

Fedde and Matz are entering their age-32 and age-34 seasons, respectively. They are both pending free agents after this upcoming season, with the former set to make $7.5 million and the latter set to make $12.5 million in 2025. Given the Tigers' penchant for signing free agents to one-year deals (see: Cobb), it's easy to see why trading for one year of a reliable veteran starter would also pique their interest.

While St. Louis would likely be more willing to part with Matz to get his higher salary off the books, Fedde might make the most sense for the Tigers here. The catch, though, is that the rebuilding Cardinals are probably going to be looking for prospects and young players in return, and it feels unlikely that the Tigers would be willing to leverage any key pieces of their future in a trade.

Nonetheless, this will be a key situation to monitor — as will the contents of the Tigers' starting rotation on Opening Day.

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