10:37am: Boston is sending right-hander Richard Fitts and lefty Brandon Clarke to St. Louis in return, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
Gray’s contract is being restructured to pay him a $31MM salary and a $10MM buyout on a mutual option for the 2026 season, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. That further hammers home the fact that he’s a one-year rental for Boston; it’s been more than a decade since both ends of a mutual option were picked up anywhere in MLB. Presumably, the Cardinals are including some cash, as Gray wouldn’t command anywhere near the $41MM he’s effectively being paid for next season.
The Red Sox would’ve been on the hook for a $40MM luxury tax hit for Gray anyhow, but that’s now up to $41MM — minus any cash considerations the Cardinals are including to get this deal across the finish line.
10:25am: The Red Sox and Cardinals are in agreement on a trade sending right-hander Sonny Gray from St. Louis to Boston, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post.
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 now, 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 is 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’s a heavily backloaded contract, however. Gray will be paid $35MM in 2026 and is also owed a $5MM buyout on a $30MM club option for the 2027 season. Even with that option, however, Gray should be considered a rental. His contract stipulates that if the club picks up that option, he can opt out and head back into free agency. That’d spare the Red Sox the $5MM buyout on the option. But if Gray pitches well enough for the Sox to exercise a $30MM option, he’ll very likely opt back into free agency and look for a multi-year deal.
By today’s standards, Gray is a workhorse. He tossed 180 2/3 innings of 4.28 ERA ball in 2025 and had more encouraging rate stats. 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.
More to come.
