According to Chris Cotillo of MassLive, the Boston Red Sox are showing trade interest in Brendan Donovan and Willson Contreras of the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Red Sox are one of many teams interested in Cardinals second baseman Brendan Donovan, but St. Louis still might hold onto him. A new name has also surfaced for the Red Sox, who according to a source are pursuing Donovan’s teammate, Willson Contreras, in trade talks.

As has been well-documented, the Cardinals figure to be aggressive in moving players this offseason. They've already traded Sonny Gray to the Red Sox, but also have substantial interest in Donovan, Alec Burleson, Lars Nootbaar, JoJo Romero and Contreras. There's less interest in Nolan Arenado, but the team is also trying to move him.

About Contreras

Now 33 years old, Contreras has been a solid offensive player for years. A 10-year veteran of the Chicago Cubs and Cardinals, Contreras is a .258 career hitter with 172 home runs. A three-time All-Star, he helped the Cubs win the World Series in 2016, and he's had a positive OPS+ in each season of his career except one (2018).

He has two years and $41 million remaining on his contract and there is a club option for 2028.

How would he fit in Boston?

That's not really the concern of the Cardinals, but assumptions are that he'd play first base. A former catcher, Contreras played 120 games at first in 2025. The Red Sox seem to be ready to move on from Triston Casas, so he could be a full-time option at first while also playing designated hitter at times.

What could the Cardinals get?

The Cardinals have been pretty staunch in their desire to acquire young pitching. They have Quinn Matthews and Liam Doyle already in the system, and they picked up Richard Fitts and Brandon Clarke in the Gray deal. But Chaim Bloom is looking to hoard pitching, especially pitching that is close to major league ready.

Left-hander Payton Tolle (No. 2) and lefty Connelly Early (No. 4) are both top-five Red Sox prospects and both made their debuts in 2025, with Early starting Game 3 of the Red Sox' wild card series against the Yankees.

Both players might seem like too much for an aging Contreras, but if the Cardinals were to pick more of the tab on Contreras's deal, they could potentially get one of them, helping to build the kind of starting rotation that Bloom eventually wants for the franchise.

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