The Boston Red Sox fortify their starting rotation by adding durable former All-Star Sonny Gray. The St. Louis Cardinals receive pitching prospects and get some salary relief in moving on from Gray.
The Boston Red Sox have traded for righty Sonny Gray from the St. Louis Cardinals after Gray waived his no-trade clause. The Cardinals, in return, received lefty prospect Brandon Clark and right-hander Richard Fitts. Boston also will get some help covering Gray’s salary in the form of $20 million per Jeff Passan of ESPN.
The former three-time All Star went 14-8 with a 4.28 ERA in 180.2 innings pitched last season. He did not miss one start for St. Louis and has made 28 or more starts in each of the last three seasons, showing durability. He holds a 3.58 career ERA over his 13-year career in the league with the Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds, Minnesota Twins, and Cardinals.
Here is the full story from Red Sox Roundtable writer Brady Farkas breaking down the trade in full and how Gray fits with his new franchise.
Boston made it clear all offseason that they wanted to add another starter to pair with ace ace Garrett Crochet in the rotation. While they may not get that in full from the 36-year-old, he has still struck out over 200 batters in each of the last two seasons while proving durable in his starts. The deal at minimum gives solid depth in the rotation alongside Crochet and Brayan Bello.
Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic provided some details about re-working the contract to include a mutual option for 2027. Between his contract terms owing a $31 million salary next season and a mutual buyout of $10 million, Gray has essentially $41 million guaranteed, and the Cardinals are paying half the deal.