12:05pm: The two teams have announced the trade. The Cardinals will also receive a player to be named later or cash, per the announcement.
10:25am: The rebuild is underway in St. Louis. The Cardinals and Red Sox are reportedly in agreement on a trade sending right-hander Sonny Gray to Boston in exchange for righty Richard Fitts and left-handed pitching prospect Brandon Clarke. The Cardinals are including $20MM of cash to help offset Gray’s salary.
Gray, who turned 36 earlier this month, opted not to waive his full no-trade clause last offseason when the Cardinals laid out their plan to take a step back and focus on player development rather than their typical win-now mantra. Following the team’s playoff miss in 2025, however, Gray publicly acknowledged that he would “definitely” consider trade scenarios as the Cardinals lean even further into a multi-year rebuilding effort. “I signed here two years ago with the expectation of winning and trying to win, and that hasn’t played out that way,” he said in September. “I want to win.”
He’ll get that opportunity to win in Boston, joining a Red Sox rotation headlined by Cy Young runner-up Garrett Crochet and an offense anchored by budding superstar Roman Anthony. Boston secured a Wild Card berth in the American League this past season, and though they fell to the Yankees two games to one in that series, they’re a clear win-now club with postseason aspirations. The same cannot be said for the Cardinals.
Gray was heading into the final guaranteed season of a three-year, $75MM contract originally signed in St. Louis, when he was coming off his own Cy Young runner-up performance with the 2023 Twins. It was a heavily backloaded contract, paying the right-hander $35MM in 2026 plus a $5MM buyout on a $30MM club option for the 2027 season. The contract stipulated that even if the option was picked up, Gray could opt out and head back into free agency.
That deal has been slightly restructured. The new arrangement pays Gray $31MM in 2026 and includes a $10MM buyout on a mutual option for 2027. The amended deal reinforces the fact that Gray is a one-year rental — it’s been more than a decade since a mutual option was exercised by both parties in MLB — but it also comes with some perks for him.
Gray is now guaranteed an extra million dollars — likely a kicker for him to waive his no-trade protection — and he’ll now receive the full buyout on his 2027 option. Under the previous contract, if the Red Sox had picked up Gray’s $30MM option, he’d have forfeited the $5MM buyout by opting back into free agency. Now, he’ll receive a fully guaranteed $41MM for one year.
Because the Cardinals are kicking in $20MM, only $21MM of Gray’s $41MM guarantee will count against the Red Sox’ luxury tax total. Gray has already received a qualifying offer in the past (from the Twins in ’23), so he won’t be eligible to receive one from the Red Sox at season’s end.
Gray tossed 180 2/3 innings of 4.28 ERA ball in 2025 and had a more encouraging 26.7% strikeout rate and 5% walk rate. Metrics like SIERA (3.29) and FIP (3.39) feel he was far better than his earned run average.
By today’s standards, Gray is a workhorse. With the exception of the shortened 2020 season (when he made 11 of 12 possible starts), the former first-round pick has started at least 24 games every year since 2019, averaging 29 starts per 162-game season in that time. Gray hasn’t gotten back to the level of performance he displayed in that second-place Cy Young finish with Minnesota, but he posted a 4.07 ERA, 28.4% strikeout rate, 5.4% walk rate and 43.2% grounder rate in 347 innings across his two seasons in St. Louis.
Gray will join Crochet and Brayan Bello in the top three spots of manager Alex Cora’s rotation. The remaining two places will be sorted out either later this offseason or next spring. Rotation candidates include veteran Patrick Sandoval (who signed a two-year deal last offseason while rehabbing Tommy John surgery), righty Kutter Crawford (who didn’t pitch in ’25 owing to oblique and wrist injuries, the latter requiring surgery), Payton Tolle, Connelly Early, Kyle Harrison, Hunter Dobbins and Luis Perales.
The Sox have several other starting pitchers on their 40-man roster, including a few just-added names (David Sandlin, Tyler Uberstine, Shane Drohan) ahead of the Rule 5 protection deadline. It’s a deep crop of arms that positions Boston well, both in terms of navigating inevitable injuries next year and in exploring the trade market for further roster upgrades.
Of course, the Red Sox don’t have to exclusively shop on the trade market for upgrades. Including Gray’s $21MM, the Sox are now projected for about $176.75MM in 2026 payroll, per RosterResource. That’s more than $30MM shy of last year’s spending, and it’s certainly feasible that ownership would push the envelope even further. Boston has trotted out Opening Day payrolls as high as $236MM in the past. The addition of Gray leaves them about $21MM shy of the first tier of luxury tax penalization. The Red Sox have paid the luxury tax in two of the past four seasons, including 2025. Simply put, there’s ample room for additional spending.
For the Cardinals, the trade trims $20MM off the books and brings in a pair of promising arms. Fitts is big league ready and could step right into the St. Louis rotation. The 25-year-old (26 next month) made 11 appearances for the Red Sox in 2025, including 10 starts. He was tagged for a 5.00 ERA in that time due to an extreme susceptibility to home runs (11 homers, or 2.20 HR/9). However, Fitts posted a respectable 20.5% strikeout rate and 8.2% walk rate in the majors, and he was solid in the minors as well (3.60 ERA, 21.3 K%, 8.7 BB% in 30 innings).
Originally a sixth-round pick by the Yankees back in 2021, Fitts landed in Boston by way of the 2023 Alex Verdugo trade. (Though new Cardinals president of baseball ops Chaim Bloom formerly ran the front office in Boston, he’d already been replaced by Craig Breslow by the time of that trade, so there’s no prior connection between Fitts and Bloom.) Fitts ranked 11th among Red Sox farmhands in 2024 and 12th in 2025, per Baseball America, whose scouting report pegged him as a back-of-the-rotation starter or multi-inning reliever.
Fitts averaged a hearty 95.9 mph on his four-seamer in 2025 and complemented the pitch with a slider, curveball and newly implemented sinker. BA’s scouting report on the righty noted that he struggles to miss bats within the zone, and the numbers have thus far borne that out. Fitts missed bats off the plate with his sweeper/slider, but opponents made contact on 87.5% of his pitches within the strike zone — a couple percentage points higher than the 85.4% league average. The addition of that sinker/two-seamer looks to have helped Fitts bolster his ground-ball rate, as it enjoyed a nice bump both in Triple-A and the majors, now sitting at 43.6% — just north of the 41.8% league average.
Whether Fitts settles in as a fourth starter or moves into a bullpen role, he should pitch plenty of innings in St. Louis this season. He’s controllable for a full six seasons, as he finished the year eight days shy of one full year of major league service. Fitts also still has a pair of minor league option years remaining, which only gives the Cardinals more flexibility with him in the years ahead.
Clarke, 22, was Boston’s fifth-round pick in 2024. He sat fourth among Red Sox prospects (and 86th in the game overall) on the midseason rankings from FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen. Clarke ranked fifth among Red Sox prosects on MLB.com’s midseason rankings. He was not included in Boston’s top 10 on yesterday’s latest prospect rankings from Baseball America.
Though he was drafted in ’24, Clarke didn’t make his pro debut until ’25. He split this past season between the Red Sox’ Low-A and High-A affiliates, working to a combined 4.03 ERA in 38 innings (14 starts). Clarke sits 97 mph with his heater and draws praise for a plus-plus (70-grade) slider. He currently lacks an average third pitch, however, and his command is clearly a work in progress. That velocity and slider combo blew hitters away in the low minors (34.5% strikeout rate), but Clarke also walked a whopping 15.5% of his opponents — including an 18.1% walk rate in High-A against more advanced hitters.
Listed at 6’4″ and 220 pounds, Clarke has a starter’s build and two potent weapons in his arsenal. The new Bloom-led Cardinals will be tasked with refining Clarke’s command and perhaps incorporating a third pitch to help him more capably combat right-handers, who drew a walk in nearly 18% of their plate appearances against Clarke. If Clarke can’t find a third pitch or hone his command any further, it’s easy to imagine that fastball/slider combo playing up in a late-inning relief role.
Overall, it’s a nice return for the Cardinals, who secure an MLB-ready arm and a high-risk but high-upside prospect — all while trimming $20MM off the books. Today’s trade only further cements that the Cardinals are shifting their focus to the future. Further trades are sure to follow, with Brendan Donovan, JoJo Romero, Willson Contreras, Nolan Arenado and Lars Nootbaar among the possibilities.
As for the Red Sox, they’ll pay a relatively steep price (both in terms of dollars and talent) to add a durable veteran starter with plus rate stats and a nice postseason résumé (3.26 ERA in 30 1/3 innings). Gray clearly makes them better, and the Boston front office seems comfortable paying a higher short-term price to maintain some long-term flexibility. Whether they pursue further upgrades in the rotation or now turn their attention to the infield corners, the bullpen or their oft-discussed outfield logjam, the Red Sox have payroll space and a nice stock of young pitching to give them plenty of options in further augmenting their 2026 roster.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported that Gray was being traded to Boston. ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the Cardinals’ return. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported specifics surrounding the slight restructuring of Gray’s contract. MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo reported the specific amount of cash Boston was receiving from St. Louis.
Should be interesting to see how much money STL is sending to BOS along with Gray.
Please tell me it’s for a prospect and Yoshida.
I’m wish this is the case
Zero chance.
FPG gets 2 upvotes in less than a minute. Someone has multiple windows open.
Awwww, somebody sounds jealous of somebody else getting more likeys….
You got 2 upvotes in 1 minute too.. Lol. I think we know what FPG’s 2nd account name is today.
Reggie Smith: Why do you concern yourself with such nonsense? How does any of it harm you?
Everyone here is the same person except you. Imagine that.
Snark – Why would the Cards want Yoshida? His contract will expire before they come out of the rebuild.
Well I guess everyone can blame me for this trade, whenever I say “Anybody but such and such” the Sox end up acquiring such and such and it turns out to be a disaster. Last time it was Giolito.
Let’s hope this isn’t the “co-ace” that Sox management has been talking about acquiring. Obviously the dude doesn’t have a very good track record playing in tough environments.
Fever, do you see this as an overpay? First I understand but while admittedly I haven’t seen Clarke pitch, I thought he was a good prospect. Boston is a hotbed like NY and we saw how Gray did with the Yankees.
FPG
This cannot be the top of rotation piece the Sox need. We discussed Gray before. If they pencil him in as a #3/4 , that’s fine. I don’t want his money to interfere with the Sox acquiring a big time bat. Wow, did not see this coming. They still need a #2 pitcher. I will say I do think they improved,but must do more for the starting rotation.
dewey – Yes I do. This year he had his worst season since 2018, they are basically paying him $21M to be an innings-eater. Whereas I think only injuries can keep Biff from becoming a solid middle of the rotation starter, and Clarke has good potential.
Gray figures as a back of the rotation arm with upside at this point in his career. Lots of innings with solid numbers the last few years. Crochet, TBD, Bello, Gray, #5 roulette is a solid rotation if they fill in that TBD with the “true #2” they’re supposedly looking for.
cdc – That’s exactly why I’m concerned.
Let’s say Breslow wasn’t lying when he said they will be targeting a solid #2 SP because they already have enough #3-5 SP’s …….. if he was telling the truth, then Gray is the #2.
Let’s hope he was lying again.
To me, he’s Gio’s replacement and I’d prefer Gio with Clarke and Fitts available for another deal. Wondering what Giolito’s deal ends up like.
FPG:
“Last time it was Giolito”
——————–
No, actually the last time was Crochet. This is what you said:
“this is a horrible decision and I knew it was gonna happen when they refused to include Teel with Anthony & Campbell as untouchable. A blatant panic move because they are too damn cheap to pay market rates for guys like Fried and Snell.”
—————
Seems you only remember when youre right.
cdchi: They already have their top of the rotation piece. His name is Garrett Crochet.
FPG – this is my concern. I’d love for them to add another arm, but I don’t see it happening.
I hope I’m wrong but…
Mad
Crochet is the #1 . He is not enough. WS contenders and winners need more than 1 top of the rotation guys. IMO ,Gray at this point is not an ace or considered a #2. You need more than 1 top of the rotation guy.
Think you are right, Joemo. I wouldn’t object to another top arm, somebody who will slot ahead of Gray/Bello, but I don’t expect that at this point.
Reggie Smith: How do you even remember something like that? Do you keep some kind of spreadsheet?
And again, why do you concern yourself with nonsense? Don’t you have your own life?
Alot. Crochet is a stud, Bello is decent, the rest are average arms.
It better be for a prospect or two
Brandon Clarke is a stud. This was a bad overpay unless the cardinals pay for 80 percent of Gray
are we over hyping the sox propects. it seems that those two could have been part of a package that would have brought back a sub 3 era pitcher.
If we can’t trust SoxProspects, what can we trust?
Every fan overhypes their team’s prospects. It’s the 20 mill that closed this deal.
@Fenway, SoxProspects had Clarke as the #8 prospect with a 4.5 “middle reliever or swingman” rating. He is still in A ball, pretty far from the majors, so he could end up as more than that or less than that. Good reason to be excited about Clarke’s chances, but it is far too early in his career for him to be guaranteed of success.
That said, other sources have Clarke a bit higher, with a 50 rating and as an outside top-100 pick. If you were to ask me, his likely outcome is as a late-inning reliever. But as you say, if you can’t trust SoxProspects, then who can you trust?
Fitts and Clarke heading to SL
$20MM
Well thank god he ain’t goin to the Yankees!
99 capn I thought same thing if he wasn’t crazy about the Bronx and all that comes with it how is Boston gonna treat him? Not for us to worry about but when the Sox and Yankees are both very good everyone wins ….it’s great for the game and I hope for Sox fans that Sonny does a good job .
Oh Boy!!!
Hopefully this isn’t our number 2.
The Sox will have 15 SPs on the 40 man roster (counting Houck and Criswell) once they add Gray. How many more do you think they need?
Nice, but most are garbage.
How do you get 15?
Starters:
Crochet, Gray, Bello, Dobbins, Early, Tolle, Perales, Drohan, Uberstine, Houck (IL for 2026 season)
Swingmen:
Crawford, Criswell
———-
Even if you count the swingmen, who ideally should be long relievers, thats still only 12. A good ratio on a 40-man Id say.
It more than likely is lol. And will be the big name pitching acquisitim this off-season. Breslow is a joke.
Acquisition whoops.
Grr.
Joemo mad about Red Sox getting solid number 2 starter.
Joemo now pretend Sonny Gray is bad.
The dude has a career 1.19 WHIP in almost 2000 career innings and you’re all mad.
Fenway – He could very well pitch like number 2 for the Sox, time will tell.
If by ‘number two’ youre talking the thing you flush, id tend to agree with you.
@Fenway, I think this is our #2. And I think he has a decent chance of coming through in that role. (More of a #2 than a #1B, but that last may have been a pipe dream.) In some ways he is a better fit than Joe Ryan would have been.
Crochet, Gray, Bello, Sandoval, Crawford are all supposedly ready for the start of Spring Training. Harrison really needs a major league job (he is currently a fit as a #4/#5 but has the fastball to play up if he can make the necessary adjustments) and Early clearly deserves a ML role. Plus Tolle, who isn’t all that far away. I wouldn’t object to another addition, but at this point you would need to move Sandoval/Crawford to make room.
My ideal rotation:
1. Crochet
2. Gore/Ryan or a controllable young starter
3. Gray
4. Bello
5. Early
Gray probably slots ahead of Ryan.
But yeah, if you can find that controllable young ace, I’m all for it. Can find another home for Crawford/Sandoval. For that matter, Crawford’s stuff plays up in the bullpen, he could be a solid seventh inning arm.
The stove is goin guys. Hold onto your butts
wow… good job Boston
Didn’t he get a little overwhelmed with all the media and nonsense that comes with pitching in new york a while back?
The “he can’t handle the pressure of New York” story is so tired. Sure, it’s probably true for a few players, but it’s the default assumption about every player that doesn’t perform their best in the Big Apple. That happens with lots of players in lots of cities, and this is mostly is New York hubris.
gbs – I think it’s more because the only other teams he’s pitched for have all been very laid back environments. Personally I don’t see much difference between NY and Boston and Philly.
Maybe I just see AJ Burnett when I look at Sonny.
GBS, no it’s not. Media driven cities like NY and Boston have ruined many players.
dewey, if that’s true, how can it be confirmed, both in general and specifically with Gray?
GBS, it can’t be confirmed but you need to take it into consideration. Did the Yankees almost ruin him with the sliders or was that simply his excuse because the NY pressure got to him. Time will tell but hopefully, he’s matured a bit since then as well
Nah, he struggled their. It was just speculation on everyone’s part. I dont remember ever seeing an article with him saying it. People struggle at times and others make up reasons why.
Per AI, several factors including the pressure and the Yankees forcing him to throw more sliders. His home and road splits were vastly different so the short porch could also have been a factor. Either way, I’d have preferred to use those pitching prospects as part of a bigger trade.
AI, that beacon of accuracy…
If it was the Yankees forcing him to throw more sliders, that’s largely on the team.
It’s certainly possible the pressure of the NY market got to him, but defaulting to that assumption and putting it in writing just reinforces that unverified assumption and makes AI that much more likely to come up with that answer.
I love AI. I forget which celeb it was but AI had him as alive in his 80’s when he died fifteen years ago ..
*there
Yes he sure did. And now moving to another pressure cooker market like Boston may impact his on-field performance.
Gray said it was basically because of a difference in pitching philosophy. The Yankees wanted him to be more like Tanaka and throw his slider more overall. Gray said that his slider is something he likes to throw in 2-strike counts–down into the dirt. He had no confidence in it and they kept asking him to throw it.
It wasn’t pitching in New York, it was pitching at Yankee Stadium. He tends to get lit up when pitching in a hitter friendly ballpark.
What about his successful seasons in Cincinnati?
Unless the Sox gave up 15 cents and a pop tart, I don’t understand the why to acquiring a 36 yr old pitcher with a $35M salary in 2026
What flavor Pop-Tart? That’s a significant factor.
Frosted strawberry milkshake
There is only one worthy Pop-Tart flavor, and that is Brown Sugar Cinnamon.
A single unfrosted strawberry pop tart. The worse kind you can get. They threw in some clam chowdah too and the Cardinals aren’t sending a rack of ribs with Sonny to Bawston.
I noticed you said “unfrosted”. Throw some frosting on that strawberry pop tart and it becomes one of the best.
Gotta be unfrosted because of how boring St Louis is
Have you ever put butter on a Pop Tart? It is so friggin’ good, and if you’ve never put butter on a Pop Tart then I think you should.
That’s funny! My late wife craved grape pop tarts with butter on them when she was pregnant with our first child. Couldn’t stand it afterwards! LOL!
If it’s chocolate fudge, it is a HUGE overpay.
S’mores too would be a huge overpay
Yoshida is owed $37 million, with 2 years left. Gray is owed $40 million, with 1 year left, Why would St. Louis do that, unless Sox are sending money, too.
Red Sox 101: You might add that Gray pitched to a 1.4 bWAR last season, 1.8 bWAR the year before. But he struck out more than one an inning in each of those seasons, and he’s going to a better team, so for one year (btw at $40 million as he’s owed a $5 million buyout) it’s not a bad risk.
Red Sox are getting 20M from the Cardinals. That was in the very first paragraph.
Off to a good team couldn’t be more excited for him.
Worked out well the last time he pitched in the AL East lol.
That was my first thought when I saw this. I’d rather run Fitts out there every five days.
Thats dumb.
Heck yeah nice pickup for the Red Sox, was hoping the Braves would get him.
Yes! If for no other reason than to quiet any braves fans speculation that Anthopoulos would take on money to acquire his contract.
Don’t get me wrong, I think Gray is a decent enough hurler, but his contract is not pretty for his production.
@southi: Yep, all of that plus no reason to deal off the better pitching prospects for Gray. Need to keep them—-especially Ritchie, Fuentes, Caminiti, Murphy—–instead of trading for big contracts and declining production. Also, what kind of Braves fan wants to help StL? Nope. Never.
We’ll probably never see it be Sonny in Philadelphia… unless Boston plays there.
The Gang Goes to Boston.
would’ve liked him as a Met but not sure he’d survive NY part 2
Gray to NYM would’ve been so obviously LOLmets to the point he would invoke his no-trade clause.
It’s for Yoshida and Campbell Bob Nightingale said so
Please tell me Mada Yoshida is going to Stl
Oxymoron
For one year, if he’s anywhere near his established level of performance, he’s worth it to Red Sox to take a run at a WS. ‘
Signed, Disgruntled Yankees Fan
The Red Sox have plenty of pitchers who can fill Geay’s role in 2026. The money should have been spent on an actual top of the rotation arm.
I think we have plenty of arms who can do Sonny Gray numbers in 2027. But in 2026, that’s a stretch. Gray is very durable, first and foremost, unlike 80% of our pitchers. Also has much better command. His K/BB both in terms of last year on its own and in terms of career norms, is 2nd best on our staff by a country mile. By FIP he was perfectly good last year. Had a bit of a home run spike, don’t know if that was luck or something else, but aside from that this is a really nice add.
Good luck to Dick Fitts in St. Louis, but if he’s the centerpiece of a deal to acquire a quality veteran starter who is actually healthy and durable for once, that’s great work on Breslow’s part. Hats off.
They have Garrett Crochet penciled in at #1, and Brayan Bello is the presumptive #2. After that?
Kyle Harrison may be in the rotation next season, but it’s hard to say what his output will be. The small sample with Boston looked great, but he’s young and mostly unproven thus far.
Hunter Dobbins is an option, assuming he’s fully healthy, but he’s not exactly a proven major leaguer with only 61 IP’s so far.
Connelly Early is another young guy who probably has a shot in the rotation, but again, even more unproven with only 19 innings under his belt.
Giolito is a free agent.
Houck is out for the year with Tommy John.
Seems to me after the top two, they have no reliable arms with a track record. Gray gives them a reliable veteran presence somewhere in the middle/back half of the rotation to help balance off some potential youthful unpredictability.
It also doesn’t mean they can’t still sign a bigger fish for the rotation. The $20m they’re getting helps ease the financial load.
Yes, that is my point.
Early/Tolle are still too early in their developmental curve to expect Sonny Gray numbers out of them. That’s not to say they’re not good enough to do it, they have high enough ceilings that they could. But there is a difference between could and should. Planning on them to deliver results like that is planning to fail.
Houck could also give similar numbers when fully healthy. He won’t even be throwing a ball until 2027.
Dobbins was very interesting in 2025. I think he is very similar to Bello. Neither he nor Bello have shown the stamina yet to plan on them giving you 180-200 IP like Sonny Gray does on a regular basis.
It’s a one year deal so he doesn’t create a long term logjam for the younger and more exciting options. I love it.
Red Sox are getting 20M from the Cardinals. That was in the very first paragraph.
Give Chaim some time
cards – Agreed, give him 4 years to build the farm system and then hand off team control to someone else.
Willson Contreras and Donovan should have been the targets. Even Arenado under certain circumstances. The new #2 SP should have come from elsewhere (Miami).
Now that more details are in, we know the trade is an abomination. Unless Bloom is paying more than half the freight, he got the better of Breslow, which means the game is lost.
Chris Cotillo is saying Brandon Clarke and Richard Fitts going to STL. Boston is also getting cash. Per Olney, deal reworked to $31 million this year and $10 million mutual option for 2027.
Unless StL is throwing in half the cash, massive overpay from the Sox. Fitts may be a better pitcher in 2026 than Gray.
I fully expect the Red Sox to get at least that much cash. I think that may be a stretch on Fitts vs Gray…I don’t think Fitts will be more than a back of the rotation starter at least at the moment.
@Joemo Given how Fitts pitched this past season, I can’t see how that’s happening unless Gray completely tanks in value next year through either injury or massive underperformance.
Red Sox are getting 20M from the Cardinals. That was in the very first paragraph.
If that is true, this is a horrendous trade. I don’t know much about Clarke, but I would not trade Fitts for Gray 1-for-1.
Clarke is probably a borderline top 100 prospect next year
As long as STL pays about half of this, I like this. $20 million, a minor leaguer, and back end starter/middle reliever, for a number 3 starter? That’s not a bad deal.
Thats dumb.
The reworked contract confuses me.
I thought mlb/mlbpa made pretty clear they didnt allow that outside of adding years.
Wasn’t it a-rod they tried doing that with and the trade got nixed?
Good for the Sox. Gray is a solid rotation piece.
Chaim came in heavy as his tenure starts. Hopefully he can move Contreras and Arenado as well, good start for Chaim.
Please tell me Chaim got his boi Yoshida back and Red Sox offloaded Hicks
Chaim’s a smart guy. He’s not going to make the same mistake twice.
Ha, you don’t know chaim
“His boi” Yoshida is staying with the Red Sox.
No offense to Gray, but I hate this deal
STL found it hard to pass on aquiring Richard Fitts
He fitts their future plans.
bud – Fitts is gonna be a good one, just watch. I’m sad to see him go.
Now all Boston needs to is sign Devin Williams, and they’ll have a 3 headed monster of former Yankees in the pen and another in the rotation
You mean a formerly failed Yankee? Sonny couldn’t seem to answer the call in the pressure of new York. Boston is worse
Yankee Stadium seats 46,537 fans, and if you count the folks who swear they paid for standing room, it jumps to 52,325. Meanwhile, Boston is over there with the fifth-smallest seating capacity in MLB and the second-smallest overall. Translation: he will be just fine in that cozy little ballpark.
I have been to both parks, and yes, Boston fans are way more locked in than Texas Rangers fans like myself. But in that tiny, wide-open Fenway, the noise level sounds like a very committed Little League tournament. He is basically going from a stadium to a neighborhood cookout with bleachers.
Be grateful your team has money to burn on Gray! Some of us are just over here praying for a bullpen that does not need emotional support by August.
Welcome to your life!!!!!!
I’m not talking noise level. I mean media and fan scrutiny. This city will eat you alive if you’re weak
I hope this is not the move for a # 2 rotation piece. I don’t dislike the move. Lot of money. He is maybe a #3 at his best. Solid acquisition,but still need a #2.
Red Sox are getting 20M from the Cardinals. That was in the very first paragraph.
Ewwwww….
If the Richard Fitts…
They couldn’t get wait until January first and get Luis Castillo instead?
gray is getting $41mil for just 1 yr. his agent is a friggin genius
thats a great deal for the birds. getting a decent prospect in clarke, and moving that crazy contract. even if they pay off a portion of it, this is a W for STL.
so sox are on the hook for 21mil for 1 year
win-win for both
Well, Gray only got $10M in 2024 coming off his near Cy Young performance in 2023. That’s how a backloaded contract works.
yes coming off 2nd place finish in CY
but he was 34 yrs old. and got 75mil
and hasnt lived up to it at all
tms need to be more cautious about vets and even more cautious about vets coming off a contract year.
these ball players are receiving insane amounts of $. and sometimes for nothing. frankie montas is a perfect example. mets donated $34 mil to his bank account. for free.
Maybe not, but it was his age that capped him at $75M in the first place. If he were younger, he would’ve gotten well over $100M. Had it been a contract that paid him $25M each year instead of being backloaded, it wouldn’t look so odd. Still an overpay but not an albatross.
Gray is still quite good. He strikes me as a guy who struggled with the vapid environment of losing that ensued in StL last year (similar to Arenado). Can’t really prove it, but that’s the vibe I get from their personalities.
Boston will now (possibly) feature this rotation:
1. Crochet
2. Gray
3. Bello
4. Early
5. Dobbins
That’s a pretty solid group, especially if Early and Dobbins take steps forward. Gray will be far superior to Buehler (last year’s intended #2).
Dobbins over Tolle?
Yeah, my bad.
Tolle has high upside but he’s not a capable starting pitcher until he has at least one dependable breaking or off speed pitch.
Last year he threw his FB and cutter 84% of the time after promotion.
Harrison is likely ahead of Fitts, Early and Dobbins, but we’ll see.
Seems like that 5th spot is wide open then. I forgot about Harrison too, the upside with him is nice if he ever improves command.
Sandoval and Crawford are likely their 4th & 5th starters for now. They can keep the young guys in the minors till needed.
Even if that was true for Gray, Arenado struggled by playing hurt. That’s a completely different situation.
It will be interesting to see how Dick fitts in the rotation in Boringville.
It will be interesting to see how dick fitts
It will be interesting to see how dick fitts
Sonny will get his revenge against the Yankees
Dick Fitts. Epic name.
The rest of the Al East says thank you!
Derp
If Chaim helped draft a lot of Boston’s current farm system, you’d think he’d have a good feel for the value of a prospect-based return. Interesting seeing Bloom go back to the well in BOS frequently for specific prospects (thinking of the Blaze Jordan deadline trade, too)
Except the two players in the trade were acquired by Breslow, not Bloom.
This should show you what the price of starting pitching has ballooned to. I’d have thought either Fitts or Clarke alone would have done it, but not both.
I do like Sonny’s fire, but he was very up and down last year. Is he really an upgrade over Gio? I’m not so sure and I hope he is not viewed as the #2 they so desire..
Barring the unknown in $ from ST. Louis, it puts boston at 40 mill over the threshold. Do we say good bye to Bregman now?
It’s a lot to give up, by Gray is a sizable upgrade from Giolito. He was top 10 in both K% and BB% last year. Arguably better than any of the free agents available. That said, he’s 36 and on a 1 year deal.
Is this Fitts guy actually any good? Looking at his stats, he sucked in his Major League starts last year, and he’s only been decent in AAA over the last couple of years. Even Pallante might outperform him next year.
Hopefully Clarke turns into a stud.
He is almost a clone to what Priester was in Boston. Ground ball, low strike outs high command.
I thought the Cardinals were trying to move away from that profile and get pitchers with more swing and miss stuff. They’ve now traded away two of the rare pitchers they had who actually have good K rates (Helsley and Gray).
Clarke has swing and miss stuff.
@Landirac — Swing and miss costs money. The Cards aren’t spending money…yet.
@dbdmack Priester never pitched for Boston.
He’s an extreme GB pitcher who throws in the low-90s while Fitts is an average-to-above-average GB pitcher who throws in the mid 90s and I wouldn’t characterize him as a control pitcher (at least not yet). They each throw a slider as their primary secondary pitch.
His ceiling is probably as a decent filler pitcher. Either a long relief/mop up guy or a 4th/5th starter, depending on how a staff is constructed any given year. Won’t wow you but he can be effective. He can also have wildly ineffective stretches (see: 2025). As a pitch to contact guy you’re likely hoping he’s a better fit for the NL Central and their lower park factors than he is in the AL East.
Fitts is a decent pitcher who should compete for a back end rotation spot. He throws a mid-90s FB along with a slider as his primary pitches. Above average at keeping the ball on the ground. Has had an issue with HRs at AAA and MLB so far.
Clarke is a very good prospect. He’s a a good prospect (top-200 in baseball) with a high 90s FB and a plus slider. Needs to work on his other pitches and his fastball is flat. Upside of a mid rotation starter but may end-up as a backend reliever. Probably 1.5-2 years away from the majors.
Given that the Cardinals spent 55mil for 2 years of Gray, 5+ years of Fitts and a pretty good prospect and I think you should be quite happy with this.
It’s just that the Cardinals already have a few Fittses in their organization who will be competing for rotation spots next spring. Getting him seems pretty redundant compared to what they actually need.
@Lanidrac they do, but the other guys didn’t look so great last year and you never know who may make a tweak and take off. The guy is MLB-ready and sits mid-90s – there’s plenty of value in that.
That said, Clarke is the high-upside get here.
he’s just a guy, IMO. Long reliever, or 5th starter at best.
Wow the Cards eating a lot of money. Red Sox getting a good deal.
Gray isn’t a #2 on a WS team
he’s a very good SP and the Red Sox upgraded their 2026 rotation a lot today.
Yes but 10M for a good pitcher with STL eating 20M is a deal I would do all day every day.
If they are planning on Grey for a solid 3 or 4 then ya it might be ok. Cards sent 20 million with him to help pay down his price tag. It was really bad when he pitched for the Yankees, hope he does much better with the sox!
More to come from the Cardinal front office, stay tuned.
Wow.. what a huge overpay by the Red Sox for an aging pitcher who doesn’t do well in the AL East. Fitts was serviceable and Clark is a budding star lefty.
It was one season in what has been an excellent 13 year career. And it was 7 years ago. What a preposterous conclusion to suggest he can’t pitch in the AL East. He had a bad year in Oakland too once, does that mean he couldn’t pitch in the AL West either?
A guy who spent half in the season in AAA and posted negative WAR during his MLB starts was “serviceable”? Maybe he gets better, but you used “was” as in past tense.
I don’t hate the deal. Fitts didn’t seem to have much of a future here.
If you didn’t give away Quinn Priester last year, I don’t think you need to do this.
Well. I guess the Astros have to wait a few more years to get Gray.
I don’t see how he’s a clear upgrade over Giolito. I would be supremely pleased if he shows us
This is where he’s a huge upgrade:
By today’s standards, Gray is a workhorse. With the exception of the shortened 2020 season (when he made 11 of 12 possible starts), the former first-round pick has started at least 24 games every year since 2019, averaging 29 starts per 162-game season in that time.
Giolito isn’t dependable at all.
Clear out your schedule Sox fans, whenever Gray starts. and if you can have a family member come and check on you and give you a jostle to make sure you only fell asleep.
.
If Boston really wants to win, they should re-sign Bregman.
Big upgrade on Giolito. Guy is a workhorse where Lucas is made of glass.
NYY seems to like when he pitches against them, and surprised he would go farther east – He seems better away from that – his NY experience has not been good now he will see them more often.
Not as often as you think (and you can blame the balanced schedule for that).
Love this trade as a Cardinals fan. Fitts is a good back end of the rotation option, and Clarke has the chance to be a star pitcher who throws up to 100. Sad to see Sonny go, but this was a great move for the team. GO Cards!
Not crazy about it from the Red Sox pov. The whole “Im vastly overwhelmed by [Insert Major Media Market Here] does concern me, but Gray does have more swing & miss stuff than Dick Fitts…
As a Yankees fan I’m thrilled.
This is Lucas Gilito’s replacement. I see folks clamoring for a trade for a number 2 starter. Don’t need one. That’s Connelly Early. He pitched about 124 innings in total last year and was dominant and he’s ready for a full workload in 2026. Put Gray in as the number 2 to start the year and by playoff time next year, Early will be the number 2. This would fill 4 slots with Crochet, Early, Gray, and Bello. Let Tolle, Crawford, Harrison, Houck (if healthy), and Criswell battle it out for the number 5 slot. Concentrate on the offense now!
Munson – Breslow himself said he was targeting a “co-ace” because the team already has enough #3-5 starting pitchers …. it’s not just the fans deciding on their own.
As for Early, you’re gonna rely on a kid with just 19 career MLB innings and just 28 innings at AAA to be the #2 SP of a team with playoff aspirations? Seriously?
Yes. This time last year we traded for a guy, extended him, and the White Sox didn’t let him pitch past 4 innings after June in 2024 and made him our ace in 2025. How did that work out? Pretty well I would say. I’m hoping at some point Tolle steps it up by the trade deadline next year and we’ll have 5 darn good starters by years end, barring injury of course.
You’re forgetting about Sandoval. Also Houck isn’t healthy – off-chance he returns by September after TJ surgery.
Not high on Early as a #2 pitcher. It’s impressive that he throws 5 competitive pitches and mixes them to keep hitters off-balance but none of his pitches are great and his strike-throwing in AAA wasn’t as good as it was in his 5 MLB starts. Think his walk rate could balloon once MLB hitters get used to him.
Agreed, Early has more of a mid-rotation profile. Not that there is anything wrong with that!!!
Tolle has front line stuff if his secondaries improve.
As a Brewers fan, glad to see him leave the NL central!
If you have a working throwing arm, grab your glove and head to St. Loo. Cards have a LOT of innings to cover.
Some of the “fans” in here — and yeah, I’m being generous with that word — were going to complain no matter what. Professional keyboard warriors doing their thing.
St. Louis kicking in $20M completely changes this deal. Boston now gets Sonny Gray for effectively $20M in 2026, plus a $30M mutual option with only a $5M buyout for 2027. Financially? That’s a flat-out steal.
Would I have preferred Joe Ryan or another younger, controllable arm? Of course. But Boston didn’t have to unload top prospects or pay Cease/Valdez prices. This route buys the young pitchers more development time and keeps the future intact.
Someone in here said the Red Sox have deep pitching, and another guy jumped in with, “Yeah, but they all suck.” Buddy… 29 other teams would love to have Boston’s young pitching depth.
They gave up Fitts — good dude, back-end rotation type, very replaceable. Brandon Clarke has legit upside, but he hasn’t thrown a pitch above A-ball. Nice prospect, far from proven.
Meanwhile Boston gets to keep Tolle, Early, Perales (my pick for the best of the group), Harrison, Dobbins, Witherspoon, Phillips, and several more strong arms.
Now Duran becomes a real trade chip for another position of need — 2B/3B if Bregman walks (Hi, Ketel Marte?), or a prospect haul. And yes, they can still push for Alonso if they want to.
Red Sox “fans” are going to whine no matter what. Sure, I’d rather have Joe Ryan too. But looking at the actual factors, this move sets Boston up to improve elsewhere while letting the young pitching core keep developing.
Anything more than B-R links for the prospects?
Write-ups on both are in there now. Takes some time to get through a 1600-word trade piece! Haha.
Excellent move. That’s all.
As long as we get Cardinals Sonny Gray and not Yankees Sonny Gray this is ok
I know it’s facile, but I always slot the rotation into a mental rubric based off our 2004 rotation:
Crochet : Schilling
??? : Pedro
Gray : Lowe
Bello : Arroyo
??? : Wakefield
We still need Ace #2 and a dependable #5.
With the depth/upside, filling the #5 spot with a Wakefield-level starter is no problem – Sandoval/Crawford can easily do that.
But if you’re looking for someone equivalent to perhaps the greatest pitcher of all-time as your #2, you’re in for disappointment.
Very solid #2 behind Crochet at $21 million and Breslow gave up very little. All in all a real nice move by the Red Sox.
Traded our best Pitcher in the minors for a 36 yr old pitcher with a 4.3 era making 31 million. Wow…speechless
They traded their sixth best (per SP.com) minor league pitcher and are only paying 21mil. Also, I wouldn’t suggest evaluating pitchers based on ERA.
On a side note: who would you say ‘our’ while sporting a Pirates logo?
My gf is from near Pittsburgh, she refuses to root for the Patriots but she roots for red sox and pirates and so do i. Nutting is a terrible owner but im hopeful he sells the team.
he is going to get abused.
Pitching in the NL Central last year stats
.262 .302 .424 BA/OBP/SLG%
The stats are even worse against RHB
Now coming to the AL East in that ballpark. Limit data but still 6 starts, 0-4 6.83 ERA. his second-highest career stadium WHIP was 1.823 at Fenway
They will have to put a fresh coat of paint on the green monster after every one of his starts.
This seems like a fair deal for both teams. Red Sox get a reliable, mid rotation Gray (3.39 FIP) for their #5 (MLB) prospect Clarke still in high-A.
mlb.com/news/brandon-clarke-could-be-the-next-brea…
So much for all the geniuses who said he’d only waive to play close to home
Thank you for Clarke, Red Sox fans!!!
Gray is a good/great pitcher…I had no qualms over his stay with St. Louis..
He’s a bit of perfectionist/survivalist , so he’ll remove himself from a game if he doesn’t have it that night, or if he thinks he may injure himself. That didn’t happen much in 2025, but 2024 it took a little to get used to.
I think you guys will like him in 2026
If I were in charge of the Red Sox, I simply would not have paid $31 million and a couple prospects for a #4 starter
This seems like a win-win for both teams. I dont think Gray’s durability is being mentioned enough. The Sox have had some major reliability issues, knowing this guy is a capable #3 every 5th day is something they havent really been able to rely on for a long time. Fitts has some potential but I dont see him being anything more than a 5th starter, 4th at best. Clarke is not MLB ready, Sox needed a move like this and they can still add to the top of that rotation.
If you are St. Louis, and the idea was to off-load money, you just off-loaded. Not the value of then entire contract, but it’s a chunk of change on a team likely (although I never underestimate the Cardinals) to not be as competitive. If either of the pitchers they traded for are just decent, it becomes a better deal, but if money is what you were after, you found some. Gray was always going to be a tough trade.
If he thought his time NY was rough Boston can be worse, way worse
I think Gray is going to be better for the Red Sox than most of the fans in this thread seem to assume. His FIP has been much better than his ERA the last couple years and St. Louis was near the back of the pack defensively (19th in defensive run saved). Although I guess it depends at least a little bit on how good Boston’s defense is next year.
But he couldn’t pitch well in front of a bunch of vomiting drunks.
Terrible trade! I would rather have Fitts and Clarke. Breslow got taken again. Please don’t let him make anymore trades
How much better do you feel?? Nearly same salary as Lucas G would make and more of a workhorse… Love as a 3 but even so not knowing, Gray or Early staring a decisive game last year??
Gray
As a Brewers fan I’ll miss Sonny, as a 36 yr old pitcher he scared nobody anymore.
I really like this rotation. It replaced Giolito and is an upgrade from last year.
Yup. And last year’s rotation was pretty good, #9 in ERA- and #9 in innings.
This is the year the youth begins to arrive, so we are less likely to end up with retreads and bullpen starts. The deadline acquisitions of Paxton and May the last couple years were a disaster.
Hopefully Harrison, Early, and Tolle save them from that fate this year.
Love them battling for #5 spot (or even depth). Then we also have Sandoval to slot in if needed for a number 4. But I still feel we NEED a bonafide #2. Trade Duran or Abreu.
Yeah, they will get their chances. I’ve got no problems making the kids fight for their slots (and they could potentially help in the bullpen if the rotation is full).
Even when young pitchers are successful, they typically need a light innings load their first season in the majors. Easiest way to achieve that is to begin the season in the minors, wait until May or June to be called up. Also reduces service time of course.
I believe Gray is a legit #2, his peripherals are still very strong, better than his actual ERA last year. Cardinals defense is weak. But I’m not going to object to adding another great pitcher if they can swing it.
I feel this is just to replace Giolito. We should really pull the trigger on Ryan or Greene and I’ll feel really good about this rotation. Then spend some money on Bregman and Alonso and I feel really good about this year!
Let’s see if Ricky Fitts can pitch like an American beauty.
Here’s a mock trade for Brendan Donovan.
Yanks send of there young starters Gil or Warren plus one of there top SS prospects who they emptied international money to draft Roderick Arias for Brendan Donovan. Donovan fills a super utility roll unless the Yanks decide to trade Jazz
I see a lot of Red Sox fans are sour on this trade, referring to Gray as a back of the rotation inning eater. His last 3 seasons his FIP’s were 2.83 (led league), 3.12 and 3.39 and his strikeouts were 183, 203 and 201 and he doesn’t walk people. That’s looks more like middle to top of the rotation to me. You’re only paying 20mil for him this season plus you get the guy for a 25mil net option in 2027 if he pitchers well. I’m just bummed the Giants didn’t get him because most of the good FA starting pitchers accepted the QO.
The Bieber and Woodruff decisions were puzzling (maybe there are some bad medicals?). Those two and Gray were my top 3 choices of available pitchers.
All in all a good move for STL. They have been stuck in the middle for to long. The minors are very light on good pitching depth. 2-3 year rebuild the NL Central is not the AL East.
Gray is still living off his 2023 season. 1.8 bWAR in 2024, 1.4 bWAR in 2025. He’s gonna get better in his age-36 year? Good luck, Red Sox.
Don’t use bWAR for pitchers – it’s like saying ‘ERA’ and is heavily luck related. 3.8 and 3.6 fWAR the past two years.
It hurts to lose Clarke but the Red Sox farm is so deep in arms. Fitts really had no place on this team but has some upside.
The real question is, is Sonny Gray really a #2 at this point? I’m not real sure but I am pretty sure at this point the rotation is:
Crochet
Gray
Bello
It’s then a competition between Sandoval, Crawford, Early, Dobbins, Harrison and outside change Tolle. My guess is they start Tolle in AAA to continue to work on his secondaries. If I had to guess now It’s going to be Crawford and Early at the back of the rotation with Sandoval as the 6th starter but it’s just a guess.
The rotation in AAA is going to be loaded as well Tolle, Harrison, Dobins, Perales, Drohan, Sandlin and Uberstine. I do think there is a strong chance Drohan emerges from spring training in the pen as a weapon. They have so many quality arms it’s a good gamble on Sonny Gray to be that compliment to Crochet but I expect Early, Tolle, Dobbins and Harrison to take big steps next season as well as a plethora of arms at AAA down to Single A Salem. Not all of them are going to pan out but when you have so many quality arms some will and I’m guessing at least one or two will take spectacular jumps. It’s pitching U now.
Dang, forgot about Dobbins earlier. 🙂 🙂 :). Love that they have so many live young arms to back the veterans. And I keep forgetting Perales, too, who looked really good (albeit wild) in his return.
Solid deal for both team.
The new numbers put Gray at a reasonable…not bargain, but reasonable.. cost for Boston. While Gray is no longer a CY contender, he is a dependable, durable MOR…something Boston needed.
St Louis cut costs on a starter who wasn’t gonna make a difference this year, and acquired a young starter, capable of replacing most of Grays innings. (Fitts threw 152.2 innings in 2023.)
They also recieved a solid SP prospect with the basic raw tools…FB/SL…that orgs covet. If he develops a third pitch, he’s a SP. If not he profiles as a back end relievers.
If I was a fan of either team, I’d be happy.
Nice add, Beantown… especially with the Birds throwing in 20 large.
My favorite former A’s starting pitcher going to my favorite MLB team outside of my region. Might have to attend a A’s and Red Sox game in West Sacramento next season.
Every year for the past 11 years we trade 90% of dudes for a couple of nobody pitchers. It’s like groundhog day. When are we going to get a guy who bats over .230?
He’s an average pitcher now, and not getting any younger.