The Boston Red Sox woke up and felt like lighting the MLB hot stove with a familiar face on Tuesday, working out a trade for 36-year-old veteran right-hander Sonny Gray with the St. Louis Cardinals. Dealing with former executive Chaim Bloom, who's now the President of Baseball Operations for the Cards, the Red Sox are sending Top 10 prospect Brandon Clarke and young right-hander Richard Fitts to St. Louis as the return.
Expectations for Boston this offseason were that they would make meaningful additions to the rotation, and general manager Craig Breslow had promised that the Red Sox were in the market for a true No. 2 to put behind Garrett Crochet. Gray is probably not that guy at this stage of his career, but that also doesn't mean it's a bad deal for the Sox, while the Cardinals are leaning into an expected rebuild under the new front office regime.
Sonny Gray trade details for Red Sox and Cardinals
While the optics of this trade might seem a bit funky with the Red Sox giving up a high-upside prospect in Clarke and a usable and versatile righty in Fitts, the financials make things a bit more reasonable.
As part of the trade, Gray reworked his contract to no longer include a 2027 team option, making it a $31 million salary in the 2026 season with a $10 million buyout of the 2027 option. More importantly in that context, though, the Sox aren't paying that full $41 million as the Cardinals are sending $20 million in cash with Gray, effectively making this a one-year, $21 million commitment from Boston.
But is that still the right deal for both of these teams? The answer is pretty cut and dry for St. Louis, but perhaps a bit more complicated for Boston.
Red Sox worked a great deal — but only if there's more to come
Red Sox trade grade: B+
Look, I fully understand why some Red Sox fans might see this deal and be petrified that Breslow promised filet mignon as a No. 2 starting pitcher addition this offseason only to deliver cubed steak on a chipped plate. That's not necessarily the case, though, or at least it doesn't have to be for Boston.
For starters, the cash coming from St. Louis is a huge factor in this. The Red Sox declined to extend the roughly $22 million qualifying offer to Lucas Giolito already this offseason, and now they upgrade with a similar type of pitcher with a more effective recent track record (and under-the-hood numbers) than Giolito for $1 million less for the 2026 season. That makes the deal and giving up meaningful prospects more palatable in itself.
Beyond that, though, not taking on $30-$40 million in additional salary and the figures financially being much more reasonable ultimately gives the Red Sox freedom to keep spending and adding this offseason. The dreams of a Joe Ryan or a Freddy Peralta in another trade aren't dead, and there's still a real chance that Boston could end up with a rotation that goes Garrett Crochet, a true SP2, Gray, and Brayan Bello for the top four.
With the optimism of more moves to come for the Red Sox, not to mention the still-present need for another big bat or two in free agency, you have to grade this out positively and assume that Gray is a mid-rotation upgrade, not the high-end upgrade that the front office has been getting hopes up for. There is a real world where this is a stroke of genius, especially with Boston dealing from its surplus of young pitching prospects.
But it all depends on what Breslow does next before we deliver any kind of definitive declaration on this trade.
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Cardinals already getting the Chaim Bloom rebuild in full effect
Cardinals trade grade: A
Get used to moves like this if you're a Cardinals fan, because this is the plan that was set into motion the moment that Chaim Bloom was added to the front office. But having said that, if the goal in St. Louis is to start tearing things down in the ways of bloated veteran contracts only to rebuild into something better, this is what those moves look like — and it's a great start!
St. Louis rightly is in the business of shedding salaries and deals that were signed with a win-now mentality under John Mozeliak. Gray was part of that, and this trade almost guarantees (if it wasn't already) that Nolan Arenado will be on the move sooner than later as well. The key to this, though, is working out trades wherein the Cardinals still get something meaningful in return.
Just on the surface level, Bloom's history with the Red Sox organization makes any deal between the two interesting for the Cardinals. But beyond that, the willingness to pay $20 million of Gray's money in this allowed the organization to get back a Top 10 prospect from one of the best farm systems in baseball currently, Clarke, while also getting a young option in Fitts as well.
Both Clarke and Fitts have flashed great potential. The former has been a bit boom-or-bust, but the stuff is electric and could develop into near-ace level productivity, especially at 22 years old. And while injuries derailed Fitts a bit this past season, we've seen the velo continue to tick up and the potential for him to work as either a starter or reliever as that's happening.
In any case, the Cardinals are getting two more-than-usable arms for their future in exchange for cash and a player who obviously didn't fit into that future with the veteran Gray. That's good business, and exactly the type of move that St. Louis should be targeting in its current state of affairs.