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Not too long after the Cardinals and two veteran relievers made the call to not have them fly with the team to San Diego, one of those pitchers was headed in the opposite direction.

The Cardinals sent lefty Steven Matz to the Boston Red Sox late Wednesday night, a source told the Post-Dispatch.

The Cardinals confirmed the deal shortly before midnight 51���� time.

In exchange for Matz, who the Red Sox can use as a starter or reliever due to his versatility, the Cardinals received corner infielder Blaze Jordan. He was a power-packed amateur drafted by Boston during Chaim Bloom's first year in charge of the baseball operations at Fenway Park.

Jordan, 22, split his first 88 games of this season evenly between Class AA and Class AAA. Overall, he's hit .308 with a .377 on-base percentage and a .495 slugging percentage. He has almost as many walks (33) as strikeouts (38) this season, and he's hit 12 home runs in 321 at-bats.

Entering the 2020 draft, Jordan was a sought after slugger for the showcase shows he put on as an amateur.

He won the 2019 High School Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game, and he had several 500-foot launches that made for good highlight reels. The Cardinals were intrigued by him during the abbreviated draft in 2020, and it was the Red Sox who took him in the third round (89th overall). 

The Cardinals drafted four spots after Boston and selected a pitcher.

That prodigious power hasn't manifested as a pro, but Jordan has shown to be a more well-rounded hitter with solid bat speed and strong feel for the strike zone. Baseball America ranked him as the Boston's 24th-ranked prospect. 's Pipeline is higher on him, ranking Jordan 14th in the Red Sox system.

Matz signed a four-year, $44-million deal with the Cardinals near the start of the 2021-2022 offseason, and his first three years were complicated and limited by injuries. In his final year with the Cardinals, Matz moved into a swingman role and thrived. He made a few spot starts for the Cardinals, but his best work came as a reliever earning higher-leverage spots and pitching multiple innings to hold leads.

Matz, 34, went 5-2 with a 3.44 ERA in 32 games (two starts). He struck out 47 in 55 innings. 

At his locker Wednesday, Matz spoke about looking to return to starting when he becomes a free agent this winter.

"Starting is where my heart is," he said.

Matz also spoke with reporters about what working out of the bullpen did for him, his health, and his effectiveness throughout this season. Baseball writer Daniel Guerrero had that story in Thursday morning's Post-Dispatch.