Cardinals Option Nolan Gorman, Select Blaze Jordan
The Cardinals have optioned slumping third baseman Nolan Gorman to Triple-A Memphis and selected the contract of corner infielder Blaze Jordan, as first reported by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Jordan’s first game for St. Louis will be his MLB debut. Injured infielder Ramón Urías has moved to the 60-day IL to make room for Jordan on the 40-man roster. In other moves, right-hander Hunter Dobbins is heading to Memphis, while the Cardinals have recalled righty Chris Roycroft.
Gorman, 26, made his MLB debut in May 2022 and has spent most of the past five seasons with St. Louis. The former top prospect showed promise in his first full season, hitting 27 home runs and finishing with an .805 OPS and a 118 wRC+ in 464 PA. His 31.9% strikeout rate was high, but that wasn’t hard to ignore when he was walking at an 11.4% clip with a hard-hit rate near 50% and one of the highest barrel rates in the league. He also held his own with the glove at second and third base, finishing with 2.3 FanGraphs WAR.
Unfortunately for Gorman, the swing-and-miss has become an even bigger problem, while his power has trickled away. In just over 1,000 plate appearances from 2024 to ’26, he owns a 34.9% strikeout rate, a .653 OPS, and an 83 wRC+. The Cardinals surely hoped that trading Nolan Arenado and Brendan Donovan this past offseason would give Gorman the consistent playing time he needed to figure things out. Yet, while he has appeared in 62 of his team’s 66 games this season, his .598 OPS and 69 wRC+ are the worst marks of his career. His ninth-percentile xwOBA (.279) doesn’t suggest things are about to get any better, nor does his 3-for-43 (.070) stretch over the last three weeks.
Somewhat surprisingly, the Cardinals are right in the thick of the National League playoff picture in 2026; with a .561 winning percentage, they’d be the NL’s top Wild Card team if the season ended today. So, they seem to have decided they can’t afford to give Gorman any more rope to work on his issues at the major league level. Instead, they’ll see if Jordan can offer the thump that Gorman wasn’t giving them. Third base is the rookie’s primary position, so he should be able to slot right into Gorman’s old role.
Jordan isn’t a top-ranked prospect. The Cardinals acquired him from the Red Sox last summer in exchange for rental arm Steven Matz. However, the 23-year-old has put up strong numbers at Triple-A this year, with 11 home runs and 31 extra-base hits in 57 games. Thanks to an excellent 11.5% strikeout rate, he is hitting .313, while his power has propelled him to a .921 OPS and a 137 wRC+. Some of that success might reflect good fortune in a small sample, but the Statcast numbers show he really has been hitting the ball significantly harder this year.
Dobbins, 26, pitched 13 innings over three appearances in his latest stint in the majors, striking out 15 and walking only two. He gave up four earned runs, three of which came in his outing yesterday. His demotion says less about his performance and more about his team’s roster needs. He was acting as a pseudo sixth starter, and evidently, the Cardinals decided they’d prefer a fresh, more traditional arm for the bullpen in Roycroft, rather than a bulk arm like Dobbins.
Urías has been out since May 5 with elbow issues. The veteran infielder will now be out until at least early July.
Cardinals Notes: Dobbins, Six-Man Rotation, Urías
Cardinals right-hander Hunter Dobbins will serve as a traditional starter in his next appearance, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Dobbins has worked as a bulk reliever in two appearances since being recalled one week ago. With his move to the rotation, Goold adds that St. Louis will adopt a six-man rotation for the time being.
Dobbins allowed a single earned run in 3 2/3 innings on May 31st. He followed that with five scoreless innings behind Kyle Leahy on Friday, earning the win in that game. Dobbins started 11 of his 13 appearances for the Red Sox last year, in addition to starting all but three of his career appearances in the minors. His long-term future is undoubtedly in the Cardinals’ rotation, so the six-man arrangement will help to ease Dobbins’ workload as a starter after his still-recent right ACL reconstructive surgery.
The change also benefits the Cardinals’ other starters beyond Dobbins. St. Louis has an off day tomorrow, followed by 32 games in 34 days from June 9th until the All-Star break. Cardinals’ starters have been surprisingly healthy in 2026, with Dustin May, Matthew Liberatore, Michael McGreevy, Andre Pallante, and Leahy all making at least 12 starts. That said, major league clubs rarely survive the entire season with just five starters. May, who leads the group with 1.4 fWAR, has an extensive injury history, including a lost 2024 (flexor tendon surgery) and season-ending right elbow neuritis in 2025.
Ideally, using six starters will keep Dobbins, May, and the others healthy during a busy stretch of the schedule. The Cardinals will also be hoping for improved performances from the group. Liberatore has a 4.48 ERA and an expected mark over 5.00, while McGreevy’s 2.98 ERA is nearly three runs below his 5.68 xERA. Leahy is in a similar spot, with an expected figure over 6.50. On the flip side, May has a 4.59 ERA but a 3.36 FIP, so he could be due for regression. Pallante’s 3.96 ERA is decent and right in line with his expected numbers.
It’s unclear from Goold’s report how long the six-man rotation will last. The Cardinals have more frequent off-days in late July and August, so they may only need five starters at that point. In any event, continued health and improved performance out of the rotation will be critical to the team’s playoff hopes. St. Louis is second behind the Brewers in the NL Central, and the Redbirds currently hold the top NL Wild Card spot. The lineup’s 102 wRC+ is middle-of-the-pack, while the rotation and bullpen both rank 20th in the Majors by fWAR. By that measure, the pitching staff is the clear area for improvement.
In other Cardinals news, rehabbing infielder Ramón Urías is now dealing with a left elbow issue, according to Brenden Schaeffer of MLB.com. Urías landed on the 15-day injured list on May 5th with a case of right elbow lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow). This new issue is similar to that injury, per Schaeffer, so Urías figures to be out for longer than expected, pending further evaluation in St. Louis.
Urías joined the Cardinals on a modest $2MM deal during spring training. He struggled in a small sample of 68 plate appearances before the right elbow injury, batting .158/.279/.316 with a 74 wRC+. That followed an 87 wRC+ in 391 plate appearances in 2025, which Urías split between the Orioles and Astros. He was average or better at the plate for Baltimore from 2021-24.
When he returns, Urías will factor in as a backup infielder. José Fermín can technically play the infield, but he’s mostly been used in left field this year. Fermín is also out of options. In contrast, Bryan Torres has three options remaining and could be sent down if needed. That would leave Urías as a backup infielder and Fermín and the out-of-options Nelson Velázquez as backup outfielders.
Photo courtesy of Jeff Curry, Imagn Images
Cardinals Designate Matt Pushard, Recall Hunter Dobbins
The Cardinals are designating reliever Matt Pushard for assignment, according to Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat. Pushard was a Rule 5 pick and will need to be offered back to the Marlins if he goes unclaimed on waivers. Hunter Dobbins is being recalled from Triple-A in Pushard’s place. The team’s 40-man roster is now at 39.
Pushard, 28, made his big league debut on March 29th, allowing three earned runs on 31 pitches. He then spent a month and a half on the injured list with right knee patellar tendinitis. Since being activated on May 16th, Pushard has made five more appearances, allowing a single earned run in six innings. That brings Pushard’s total output with the Cardinals to a 5.14 ERA in seven innings, plus six strikeouts against four walks.
It’s hard to analyze that small of a sample, but Pushard’s raw stuff may nonetheless be intriguing to other clubs. He uses a mid-90s four-seamer 45.0% of the time, and Pushard’s upper-80s slider and low-80s cutter give him decent secondary options. The Cardinals are in third place in the NL Central with a 30-26 record and have a 22.7% chance of making the playoffs, according to FanGraphs. Their bullpen is a clear area for improvement, as Cardinals relievers have combined for -0.1 fWAR and a 4.26 ERA.
In the end, Pushard may have been too much of an unknown to keep on the roster, especially if St. Louis adds to the bullpen as the season goes on. Now that he’s designated, Pushard will be offered up to other clubs on the waiver wire. If he is claimed, he would need to remain on that club’s active roster or big league IL through the end of the season. At any point, Pushard can be offered back to the Marlins for a $50k fee. If the Marlins decline, he could be outrighted to the minors instead.
Meanwhile, Dobbins returns to the Majors after spending a month at Triple-A on optional assignment. He arrived in St. Louis alongside Yhoiker Fajardo and Blake Aita via trade in December, with Willson Contreras heading to Boston. Dobbins missed the first month of the season recovering from last year’s season-ending ACL tear. He made one start for the Cardinals on April 30th before being optioned, allowing three earned runs in 4 1/3 innings. If he sticks in the Majors, Dobbins can be controlled via arbitration through the 2031 season.
As with their bullpen, the Cardinals’ rotation is a Bottom-10 unit this year. The group has a 4.17 ERA, and their 4.90 expected ERA suggests a bit of luck in that output. Cardinals starters have struck out just 19.3% of opposing hitters, ranking fourth-worst in the league in that regard. Michael McGreevy‘s 2.98 ERA comes with a 5.63 expected figure. Dustin May, Andre Pallante, and Matthew Liberatore have been serviceable at best. Dobbins won’t be a game-changer by any means, but he had a 3.94 xERA in 13 appearances (11 starts) last year with Boston and holds long-term promise. Per Jones, Dobbins is available out of the ‘pen today in a bulk role and figures to join the rotation if he doesn’t get used.
Photo courtesy of Jeff Le, Imagn Images
Cardinals To Activate Hunter Dobbins On Thursday
The Cardinals are three games into a stretch of 17 games in 17 days, and this busy schedule has presented an opening for Hunter Dobbins to make his Cards debut. Manager Oli Marmol told reporters (including Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat) that Dobbins will be called up from Triple-A, where he is pitching on a rehab assignment, to make a spot start on Thursday when the Cardinals wrap up their four-game series with the Pirates.
Thursday’s game will mark Dobbins’ first appearance in a St. Louis uniform, and his first MLB outing since he tore his right ACL during a fielding play last July 11 when Dobbins was still pitching with the Red Sox. Between that season-ending injury and an elbow strain that kept him on the injured list for three weeks, Dobbins’ first Major League season was limited to 61 innings.
The right-hander had a respectable 4.13 ERA and a solid 6.6% walk rate, though his strikeout and whiff rates were well below average. Between the ACL tear and the fact that the Sox had several other young pitchers ahead of Dobbins on the depth chart, Dobbins was one of three pitchers dealt to St. Louis in December in exchange for Willson Contreras. Prospects Yhoiker Fajardo and Blake Aita were more long-term projects, but in Dobbins, the Cardinals landed a big league-ready starter who was ready to contribute in 2026 once his ACL rehab was complete.
Over five Triple-A starts this season, Dobbins has a 4.37 ERA, 19.8% strikeout rate, and 9.4% walk rate in 22 2/3 innings. The end of his 30-day rehab period lines up well with this extended stretch of games for the Cardinals, so Dobbins can fit right into the rotation for at least one turn.
As expected for a rebuilding team’s pitching staff, the Cardinals haven’t gotten much out of their rotation to date. Michael McGreevy‘s elite walk rate has carried him to strong results despite one of the lowest strikeout rates in baseball, but Matthew Liberatore, Dustin May, Andre Pallante, and Kyle Leahy have all struggled to varying degrees. Dobbins may not be viewed as a front-of-the-rotation type, but a good showing on Thursday would both achieve some peace of mind for the righty after his long rehab, and likely earn him more starts down the road.
Hunter Dobbins To Open Season On Injured List
Cardinals manager Oli Marmol told reporters (including Dan Guerrero of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch) today that right-hander Hunter Dobbins will begin the season on the injured list. Dobbins is still rehabbing from the ACL tear he suffered back in July as a member of the Red Sox. That was always likely to be the case given the typical recovery timeline that comes with injuries of that sort.
There is good news to report regarding Dobbins’s progress, however. Guerrero notes that Dobbins has been able to build up his arm strength throughout Spring Training but is not yet fully built up in terms of fielding. He spent most of spring throwing live bullpens but appeared in a backfields game yesterday, his first in-game action of camp. Guerrero adds that Dobbins was held back from covering first base during the game but will continue his fielding progression moving forward.
The 26-year-old made his big league debut with Boston last year. An eighth-round pick back in 2021, he made 13 appearances (11 starts) in the majors, with a 4.13 ERA in 61 innings of work. That was good for an exactly league average ERA+ of 100, though his FIP was a more impressive 3.87. Dobbins did not strike out many batters (17.6%) but kept his walk rate down to just 6.6% and generated grounders at a strong 48.4% clip. It was a solid debut overall that offered some reason for optimism that Dobbins could be a quality #4 starter in the majors, though with Tommy John surgery and two ACL tears on his resume the biggest challenge for the righty might be simply staying healthy.
As for 2026, Dobbins’s timeline for return isn’t known just yet, though the fact that St. Louis has not felt the need to put him on the 60-day injured list to this point in the spring is certainly at least somewhat encouraging. The Cardinals are surely hoping to get Dobbins onto the roster sooner rather than later. The righty was a key piece of the return in the Willson Contreras trade this offseason and was brought in to help fill out a rather thin pitching staff.
With Dobbins sidelined, there’s relatively little intrigue in the team’s upcoming rotation decisions. Veteran free agent addition Dustin May figures to join Matthew Liberatore, Andre Pallante, and Michael McGreevy in four of the five spots in the Cards’ rotation to open the year. That leaves one spot available in the rotation that figures to come down to either Richard Fitts or Kyle Leahy with Dobbins starting the year on the injured list. Top prospect Tink Hence doesn’t appear ready for a big league debut quite yet with zero Triple-A starts on his resume, so the team’s starting depth will be rather limited after that group of six for as long as Dobbins is on the shelf.
Red Sox Acquire Willson Contreras
Less than a month after landing Sonny Gray, the Red Sox have acquired another prominent veteran talent from St. Louis. Boston has landed first baseman Willson Contreras and $8MM in cash considerations from the Cardinals in exchange for a package of three right-handed pitchers — Hunter Dobbins and prospects Yhoiker Fajardo and Blake Aita.
Contreras and his agents at Octagon negotiated an extra $1MM bonus for Contreras to approve the trade, as the veteran’s contract includes a full no-trade clause. The final two guaranteed seasons of Contreras’ contract and the club option on his services for 2028 have been slightly reworked, so he’ll now receive $18MM in 2026, $17MM in 2027, and the Red Sox hold a $20MM club option on his services in 2028, with a $7.5MM buyout. (The previous terms included salaries of $18MM and $18.5MM in 2026-27, plus a $5MM buyout on a 2028 club option valued at$17.5MM.)
The final accounting works out to $42.5MM in guaranteed money for Contreras over the remainder of his deal. Factoring in the Cardinals’ $8MM contribution, Boston’s commitment to Contreras is $34.5MM in salary, and his luxury tax number is $17.25MM.
When the Cards were first exploring a rebuild last winter, neither Contreras or Gray was open to waiving their no-trade protection. After a lackluster 78-84 season sent the Cards more firmly looking towards the future, Gray, Contreras, and Nolan Arenado (who blocked a deal to the Astros last winter) all indicated in recent months that they were more open to accepting a trade.
In Contreras’ case, he cracked the door open at the end of season by saying that “if something comes up…and it makes sense for me and my future, how about we talk about that?” Contreras said. The first baseman stressed that he was still eager to contribute as a veteran leader within the Cardinals’ rebuild, though reports emerged a few weeks ago that Contreras was showing an increased willingness to waive his no-trade clause and move on to a new challenge.
Contreras (who turns 34 in May) ends his St. Louis tenure with a .261/.358/.459 slash line and 55 home runs over 1416 plate appearances from 2023-25. Signed to a five-year, $87.5MM free agent deal back in December 2022, the idea was that Contreras would take over from Yadier Molina as the team’s regular catcher, yet in somewhat awkward fashion, the Cardinals reduced Contreras’ playing time behind the plate and used him regularly as a DH. Heading into the 2025 season, Contreras became a full-time first baseman, returning to a position he’d played only a handful of times earlier in his career with the Cubs. The Outs Above Average metric gave Contreras a positive +6 grade for his first base work in 2025, but he also received -1 Defensive Runs Saved.
Regardless, it would seem like Contreras is at least a passable defender at the cold corner, and the Red Sox can live with only so-so defense as long as the former All-Star continues to hit. Contreras batted .257/.344/.447 with 20 home runs over 563 PA in 2025, translating to a 124 wRC+. A career-low 7.8% walk rate was a concern and Contreras has always been prone to strikeouts, but he continued to make consistently hard and productive contact. Contreras is a right-handed batter, which helps balance out a Boston lineup that tilts to the left side.
Contreras’ final four seasons in Chicago overlapped with Craig Breslow‘s time working in the Cubs’ front office, before Breslow was hired to take over Boston’s baseball operations department following the 2023 season. Breslow’s tenure has thus far been defined by significant trades, ranging from the deals that brought Gray, Garrett Crochet, and now Contreras to Fenway Park, and last June’s surprising move that sent Rafael Devers to the Giants.
One of the many factors involved in the Devers trade was Devers’ displeasure over being asked to move to first base in the wake of Triston Casas‘ season-ending knee surgery in early May. While Romy Gonzalez and deadline pickup Nathaniel Lowe helped fill the first base void, there was little doubt the Sox were going to address the position in a larger fashion this winter. Pete Alonso, Isaac Paredes, Kazuma Okamoto, Munetaka Murakami, and Bryce Eldridge were among the first base candidates on Boston’s radar on the free agent and trade fronts this winter, and Cotillo reported last week that Contreras was another name under consideration.
With Contreras now in the fold, a Casas trade now looks increasingly likely. Casas has been floated in trade talks even dating back to last winter and prior to his knee surgery, and despite his injury-shortened season, rival clubs figure to have interest in the former top prospect. Conversely, if the Sox could figure out a way to dump Masataka Yoshida‘s contract, Casas could share first base/DH duties with Contreras.
Adding a first baseman solves another piece of Boston’s infield puzzle, and turns a position from a weak link into a strength. The Red Sox remain linked to such other major infield names as Bo Bichette or old friend Alex Bregman, and Contreras’ $36MM price tag shouldn’t prevent the Sox from spending big on either of those names, even considering Boston’s recent wariness about major financial commitments. Trading an outfielder could further shake up the position-player mix, and there have been consistent rumors about the possibility of the Sox moving an outfielder for pitching.
The Red Sox entered the winter with a lot of pitching depth in terms of young arms, yet were lacking proven frontline hurlers that could join Crochet and Brayan Bello in the rotation. Gray was one answer, and fellow trade pickup Johan Oviedo could be another after Oviedo was acquired from the Pirates. This has made Breslow more comfortable in trading from further down his pitching depth chart, and after moving Richard Fitts and prospect Brandon Clarke to St. Louis for Gray, Breslow has now parted ways with Dobbins, Fajardo, and Aida.
The equation has been pretty simple for Breslow. The CBO has been willing to move some (i.e. Jhostynxon Garcia, Kyle Teel) of Boston’s more highly-touted prospects while hanging onto the likes of Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony, and Kristian Campbell, and also moving some pitchers that no longer seem to be in Boston’s plans. In Dobbins’ case, he isn’t even going to be available for the Cardinals’ Opening Day roster, as the righty tore his right ACL last July. This was the second right ACL tear Dobbins has endured, plus he has a Tommy John surgery on his checkered health history.
Dobbins made his MLB debut in 2025, and posted a 4.13 ERA, 6.6% walk rate, and 17.6% strikeout rate over his first 61 innings in the Show. An eighth round pick for the Sox in the 2021 draft, Dobbins is more of grounder-heavy pitcher than a big strikeout arm, but his slider and curveball have good whiff rates as complements to his 95.5mph fastball. Significant questions remain about Dobbins’ durability, but the 26-year-old right-hander has less than a year of MLB service time and now projects to be a longer-term add to the St. Louis rotation.
Cardinals president of baseball ops Chaim Bloom is plenty familiar with Dobbins, as Bloom was running Boston’s front office when Dobbins came into the organization. Interestingly, of the five pitchers obtained by the Cardinals in the Contreras and Gray trades, Dobbins is the only one who was part of Boston’s organization when Bloom was still there.
Fitts and (when healthy) Dobbins can factor in the Cardinals’ rotation picture as early as 2026. Dobbins doesn’t at all fit Bloom’s desire to add another veteran arm to the rotation, yet finding an innings-eater is a short-term goal, whereas Dobbins is part of the bigger picture. That has been the story of this offseason in St. Louis, as with Bloom now fully installed atop the decision-making pyramid, the Cardinals are embarking on the rebuild they considered but then backed away from last winter.
Trading Contreras removes another big chunk of salary from the Cards’ books. An Arenado deal could be the next step, though that trade will be trickier due to both Arenado’s salary and the fact that (unlike Contreras or Gray) Arenado is coming off a rough 2025 season. Other players like Brendan Donovan and JoJo Romero have also been regularly mentioned in trade rumors. One player St. Louis wasn’t very willing to move is Alec Burleson, who now looks to step right into the everyday first base role with Contreras gone.
Fajardo was an international signing for the White Sox in 2024, and he has now been traded twice before his 20th birthday. Fajardo changed his Sox when Chicago sent him Boston a year ago in the Cam Booser trade, and the righty had a 2.25 ERA, 28.8% strikeout rate, and a 9.4% walk rate over 72 innings in rookie ball and with A-level Salem in 2025. MLB Pipeline ranked Fajardo 23rd on their ranking of the top 30 Red Sox prospects, describing the teenager as “a potential mid-rotation starter” whose four-seam fastball can hit 97mph.
Aita was a sixth-round pick for the Red Sox in the 2024 draft. His first pro season saw the 22-year-old right-hander post a 3.98 ERA in 115 1/3 combined innings in Salem and at high-A Greenville, with a 21.4% strikeout rate and 6.5% walk rate. As per Geoff Pontes of Baseball America, Aita technically has a five-pitch arsenal but he rarely throws his slider. Aita’s fastball is in the 92-93mph range but with plenty of movement, and there’s also a lot of movement and spin on his sweeper and cutter.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan (multiple links) was the first to report that Contreras was going to Boston for Dobbins and multiple minor league pitchers, with The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal later identifying Fajardo and Aita. ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reported the detail of Contreras’ $1MM bonus for waiving his no-trade clause. MassLive’s Chris Cotillo reported the $8MM heading from St. Louis to Boston, and Cotillo and The Athletic’s Katie Woo had the details on the reworked money in Contreras’ contract.
Inset picture courtesy of Isaiah J. Downing — Imagn Images
Breslow: Red Sox Willing To Trade Controllable Starting Pitching
The Red Sox began the offseason looking to add to the rotation. They’ve added a couple of arms and might now have enough rotation depth to trade some away. “We’ve got pitching depth, based on some of the inbound calls that we’ve received over the last couple of weeks,” chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said this week, per Sean McAdam of MassLive. “I think teams have recognized there’s appeal to controllable starting pitching. If there are opportunities to use some of that depth in order to address other areas of the roster, we’d be willing to do it.”
The Sox have already made a couple of notable trades to bolster the rotation. They acquired Sonny Gray from the Cardinals and Johan Oviedo from the Pirates. Those two now slot into the rotation with Garrett Crochet and Brayan Bello. That only leaves one spot for a group that includes Payton Tolle, Connelly Early, Hunter Dobbins, Patrick Sandoval, Kutter Crawford, Kyle Harrison and others.
No team gets through a full season using just five pitchers these days, so the Sox should want to hold onto some depth. But it’s possible the right trade emerges where the Sox feel they can move someone out of this group in order to upgrade another part of the roster while leaving the rotation picture still in decent shape.
It’s been reported that the Astros have interest in Early and Tolle. McAdams notes that the Sox have also fielded some interest in Crawford, Sandoval and Dobbins, though he doesn’t specify which teams made those calls. Crawford and Sandoval are in somewhat analogous situations, as both missed the 2025 season due to injuries. Though both pitchers have some major league success, it’s possible the Sox didn’t want to rely on them in 2026. Now that they have each been bumped down the depth chart in Boston, they could make more sense on another roster.
Crawford has thrown 392 1/3 innings for the Sox, allowing 4.57 earned runs per nine. His 23.8% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate are both a bit better than league average. He began 2025 on the injured list due to patellar tendinopathy in his right knee. Then right wrist pain led to surgery in June.
Missing the entire season obviously tamps down his trade value but his cost and control should help. He qualified for arbitration a year ago as a Super Two player and made $2.75MM in 2025. Arb-eligible players who miss an entire season often make the same salary the following year, so that could happen with Crawford in 2026. He could then be retained via arbitration through 2028.
Sandoval isn’t as cheap or controllable but his major league track record is longer. He required UCL surgery while with the Angels in 2024. He was non-tendered and then signed a two-year, $18.25MM deal with the Red Sox. He tried to get back on a big league mound late in 2025 but wasn’t able to do so. His deal was backloaded, so he is owed $12.75MM in 2026 and will be a free agent after that.
That’s a less appealing contractual situation than Crawford but Sandoval’s pre-injury track record is strong. He gave the Angels 536 innings with a 4.01 ERA. His 22.7% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate are a bit worse than Crawford’s but Sandoval also got ground balls at a strong 47.9% clip.
Dobbins is a different situation, as he has a much smaller track record but is therefore cheaper and more controllable. He has just 61 big league innings under his belt, with a 4.13 ERA. His 2025 season was ended by an ACL tear in July. He has less than a year of service time, meaning he’s still years away from even qualifying for arbitration and even farther from free agency. He also has options and can be kept in the minors as depth.
Given his limited big league action, an interested club would have to bet on his minor league track record. Across 2023 and 2024, he tossed 238 1/3 innings on the farm with a 3.36 ERA, 24.4% strikeout rate and 8% walk rate.
Given the chatter around Crawford, Sandoval, Dobbins, Tolle and Early, there are many ways the Red Sox could go. Many expect the Sox to also trade one of Jarren Duran , Wilyer Abreu or Masataka Yoshida. They could also trade Triston Casas if they add a first baseman. Their outfield seems set but they have lots of ways they could upgrade the infield, with shortstop the only spot that seems locked down right now. Given all the possible permutations, there are infinite paths ahead.
One possibility that keeps coming up is Ketel Marte of the Diamondbacks. He has already been in plenty of rumors, including a connection to the Sox. McAdam and Chris Cotillo of MassLive write that the two clubs have had some talks about Marte, with the Snakes focused on controllable starting pitching as the return.
It’s a sensible enough framework. Arizona traded Merrill Kelly at last year’s deadline and lost Zac Gallen to free agency. They recently signed Michael Soroka but that’s not enough to satisfy their needs. John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Phoenix reported after the Soroka deal that the Diamondbacks are still looking for more arms. Owner Ken Kendrick has suggested the payroll should be dropping a bit relative to 2025, so turning to the trade market is logical.
That doesn’t mean a Marte-for-pitching deal is likely. Arizona’s general manager Mike Hazen has repeatedly tried to downplay the Marte rumors and did so again this week on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM. He said that the Diamondbacks have been receiving trade interest in Marte annually for years. He attributed the interest and rumors to Marte’s superstar abilities and relatively team-friendly contract.
Over the past three years, Marte has slashed .283/.368/.519 for a 140 wRC+. His 11.2% walk rate an 16.7% strikeout rate are both strong figures. His glovework at second base is generally considered solid. FanGraphs credited him with 15.3 wins above replacement over that three-year span, making him one of the top 15 position players in the league.
Relative to other superstars, he is underpaid. He is guaranteed $102.5MM over the next six years, an average annual value of just over $17MM, in an age where most star players are earning more than double that on an annual basis. There are also notable deferrals in Marte’s deal, making it even more attractive.
Time will tell if anyone blows away the Snakes with a strong enough offer to pluck Marte away. The Sox are a possibility, given the arms they have on hand, though Marte has also been connected to the Mariners, Pirates, Rays, Tigers, Phillies and Blue Jays. If Boston can’t land Marte, they should have plenty of other options since starting pitching is in high demand around the league. McAdam reports that the Sox have had talks with at least three teams aside from the Diamondbacks.
Photo courtesy of Dale Zanine, Imagn Images
Red Sox Acquire Steven Matz
July 31st: The trade has been officially announced by the Red Sox. Righty Hunter Dobbins has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot. Dobbins suffered a season-ending ACL tear earlier this month.
July 30: The Red Sox and Cardinals have agreed to a trade that will send left-hander Steven Matz to Boston, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports. Corner infield prospect Blaze Jordan is headed to the Cards in return, according to the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier. The deal will become official once both sides sign off on the medicals of the players involved.
Matz is a pure rental for the Sox, as the veteran southpaw’s four-year, $44MM contract is up at season’s end. St. Louis inked Matz to that free agent deal on the heels of his successful 2021 season as a starter with the Blue Jays, but Matz has only started 36 of his 84 career games with the Cards. Injuries and ineffectiveness have hampered his time in St. Louis, leading the Cardinals to move Matz into more of a swingman role, and he came essentially a full-time reliever this year (save for two spot starts in April).
While Matz didn’t live up to the expectations of his contract, he pitched pretty well in both 2023 and during this season, as the southpaw has a 3.44 ERA over 55 frames in 2025. Typically a good control pitcher, Matz has taken it a step further with an elite 4.0% walk rate this season, and his 5.3% barrel rate is also excellent. This ability to limit mistakes and keep the ball on the ground (44.3% grounder rate) has helped balance out more ordinary strikeout and hard-contact rates.
Left-handed batters have only a .442 OPS against Matz this season, while righty hitters have a much more productive .814 OPS. The gap in splits will be somewhat hard for manager Alex Cora to work around since Matz has so much value as a multi-inning reliever, yet that same durability will help out a Boston pen that has logged a lot of innings bailing out its shaky rotation. It’s possible the Sox could even turn to Matz again as a part-time starter, though the Red Sox are expected to land more significant starting help prior to tomorrow’s deadline.
Matz is now the fifth left-hander in Boston’s pen, along with Aroldis Chapman, Justin Wilson, Brennan Bernardino, and Chris Murphy. This depth could give the Sox some flexibility in swinging a trade to a team in need of relief help, with Boston then addressing another need in return.
Chaim Bloom was Boston’s chief baseball officer back when Jordan was selected in the third round of the 2020 draft, and now that Bloom will be taking over at the Cards’ president of baseball operations starting next season, this familiarity undoubtedly helped pave the way for tonight’s trade. Jordan ranks 17th on MLB Pipeline’s list of Boston’s best prospect, and MLB Pipeline had the corner infielder 24th in their ranking.
Jordan struggled at the Double-A level in both 2023 and 2024 before hitting well this season, and earning his first promotion to Triple-A. This transition went more smoothly, as Jordan has hit .289/.333/.476 over 177 plate appearances with Worcester while seeing a lot of time at both corner infield slots (primarily third base). Scouts feel first base is his better position, so Jordan’s future potential will hinge on how well he can keep developing at the plate. His production in 2025 is a step in the right direction, as the 22-year-old has been much better at turning his raw power into results.
This is the second big bullpen trade of the day for the Cardinals, after Ryan Helsley was shipped to the Mets. Both deals have brought more young talent into the St. Louis pipeline, which seemed to be the organization’s stated goal heading into last offseason, yet Bloom and current PBO John Mozeliak chose to retain almost all of the Cards’ veteran talent. In Matz’s case, he wasn’t generating much trade interest given his $12MM salary and his rough 2024 production, so at least Matz’s bounce-back year rebuilt some of his value.
As for future trades, Phil Maton and JoJo Romero have both been rumored to be generating interesting, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see St. Louis move at least one or both relievers before the deadline. While the Cards are in sell mode, the Red Sox are pushing for at least a wild card slot and hope to make a run at the AL East title, with pitching known to be Boston’s primary target.
Red Sox Place Hunter Dobbins On 15-Day IL Due To ACL Tear
Hunter Dobbins‘ 2025 season is over, as the Red Sox placed the right-hander on the 15-day injured list due to a right ACL tear. Right-hander Richard Fitts was called up from Triple-A to take Dobbins’ spot on the active roster.
Dobbins was only just activated from the 15-day IL yesterday, as the rookie right-hander had been out of action since June 20 due to what ended up being a minor elbow strain. His return start was cut short in the second inning, when he hurt his right leg while covering first base on a Chandler Simpson grounder. MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo reported earlier today that Dobbins was believed to have “a significant knee injury…potentially with ACL damage,” and unfortunately the worst-case scenario has proven to be true.
This is the second time Dobbins has torn his right ACL, as he told the Boston Globe’s Tim Healey and other reporters that he sustained the same injury while playing high school football. Between that previous ACL tear and a Tommy John surgery during his college days at Texas Tech, Dobbins has a lot unwelcome experience in managing long-term injuries, and he’ll now face another extended absence. His recovery process will keep him sidelined for at least the start of the 2026 season, though a more definite timeline may be difficult to establish for now given Dobbins’ past knee issues.
An eighth-round pick for the Red Sox in the 2021 draft, Dobbins steadily climbed the ranks of Boston’s farm system and made his MLB debut this past April, as injuries thinned out the Red Sox rotation and opened the door for the 25-year-old. The Sox moved him up and down between Boston and Triple-A Worcester a few times in April before recalling him in early May for an extended stint in the bigs, as Dobbins had done plenty to impress the organization.
Dobbins has a 4.13 ERA and 17.6% strikeout rate over his first 61 innings and 13 games — 11 of them starts — in the majors. While he isn’t missing many bats, Dobbins is doing a good job of keeping the ball on the ground (48.4% grounder rate) and keeping opponents from free passes (6.6% walk rate). Dobbins has relied mostly on his 95.5mph fastball as his primary pitch, but his heater has helped set up batters for slider and curveball, which have significantly higher whiff rates.
Essentially the only minor silver lining for Dobbins is that he’ll continue to accumulate big league service time while on Boston’s injured list. The Sox will shift him to the 60-day IL as soon as 40-man roster space is required.
Injuries have impacted Boston’s starting depth this year, as Kutter Crawford was also recently lost for the season due to wrist surgery. Tanner Houck has missed two months due to a flexor pronator strain but is on a Triple-A rehab assignment right now and is expected back soon. Fitts has pitched pretty well over parts of two big league seasons and is the best bet to fill in for Dobbins right now. Kyle Harrison is likely the top rotation depth option at Triple-A, as the former Giants top prospect has yet to make his Red Sox debut since being acquired in the Rafael Devers trade.
The All-Star break will give the Sox some extra time to figure out their rotation picture, yet the more obvious answer might be to add a new pitcher prior to the trade deadline. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said even prior to yesterday’s game that the Sox were going to explore the market for both starting and relief pitching options in advance of the deadline, and that need has only grown greater in the wake of Dobbins’ injury. Boston’s ongoing eight-game winning streak has revived the club’s playoff chances, and put the Sox more firmly into buying territory as the deadline approaches.
Red Sox Place Hunter Dobbins On 15-Day Injured List
7:45PM: Dobbins didn’t receive an MRI, as he downplayed the seriousness of the elbow strain when speaking with reporters (including the Boston Globe’s Tim Healey). “Just some tightness that we’ve been grinding through for a little bit. It hasn’t been bouncing back how we would like, so [we’re] just trying to give it a couple for weeks,” Dobbins said, noting that his elbow soreness increased in his last start and didn’t get better in the subsequent days. Regardless, Dobbins said he expects to resume throwing bullpen sessions in “a couple of days.”
3:34PM: The Red Sox announced that right-hander Hunter Dobbins has been placed on the club’s 15-day injured list due to right elbow strain. Righty Richard Fitts was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.
The placement is retroactive to June 21, a day after Dobbins allowed four earned runs on five walks and four hits over a four-inning start against the Giants. It is fair to guess that Dobbins’ elbow issue impacted his performance, as he was throwing with less velocity than usual and his control was uncharacteristically off — the rookie had issued just 11 walks over his previous 55 1/3 innings and 11 games prior to Friday’s struggles.
Multiple injuries in Boston’s rotation opened the door for Dobbins to make his MLB debut this season, and (Friday’s start notwithstanding) he has made a solid showing for himself in his first taste of the majors. Dobbins has a 4.10 ERA over 59 1/3 frames, with an above-average 47.1% grounder rate and 6.5% walk rate, though he doesn’t miss many bats with a modest 17.3% strikeout rate.
An eighth-round pick for the Red Sox in the 2021 draft, Dobbins would likely have been selected earlier had his junior year at Texas Tech not been wiped out by a Tommy John surgery. That past procedure adds a bit of extra weight to another elbow-related injury for Dobbins, though the severity of the strain isn’t yet known.
Fitts has made five starts for the Sox this year and will at least the short-term replacement for Dobbins in the rotation. Tanner Houck is on a Triple-A rehab assignment but is expected to make at least two more minor league appearances before returning from the injured list, so Fitts will have to hold down the fort until Houck is ready. That might also roughly line up with a potential return date for Dobbins, though one would imagine that even a minor elbow sprain would keep him out beyond the minimum 15 days just for precautionary reasons.