The Red Sox have acquired a first baseman Wilson Contreras from right-handed cardinals Hunter Dobbins and many minor league pitchers, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports (more links). Right-handed Yhoiker Fajardo again Blake Aita prospects in question, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reports that Contreras will receive a $1MM bonus as a sweet treat for waiving his no-trade clause.
Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com wrote that the Cardinals will contribute $8MM to help cover a portion of the $41.5MM Contreras is owed over the remainder of his contract. Contreras is owed $18MM in 2026, $18.5MM in 2027, and the Red Sox hold a $20MM club option on his services through 2028, with a $7.5MM buyout. The club option was also adjusted as part of the trade, Katie Woo of The Athletic reports, as Contreras was previously slated for a $17.5MM club option with a $5MM buyout. In total, Contreras is owed $44MM in guaranteed money over the remainder of his deal, and that comes down to a $36MM commitment to the Red Sox when he includes the Cardinals’ $8MM offer.
Less than a month after arrival Sonny GrayThe Sox have now acquired another outstanding talent from St. Contreras and Gray both had full no-trade clauses in their contracts, and neither player was open to waiving those protections last winter when the Cardinals began exploring a rebuild. After a lackluster 78-84 season sent the Cards looking toward the future, Gray, Contreras, and Nolan Arenado (who blocked a deal with the Astros last winter) have all indicated in recent months that they were more open to trades.
As for Contreras, he opened the door to the end of the season by saying “if something comes up…and it makes sense to me and my future, how about we talk about that?” said Contreras. The first baseman insisted he was still willing to contribute as a veteran leader to the Cardinals’ rebuilding effort, though reports surfaced a few weeks ago that Contreras was showing a strong willingness to waive his no-trade clause and move on to a new challenge.
Contreras (who turns 34 in May) ends his tenure at St. Louis with a slash line of .261/.358/.459 and 55 home runs over 1416 plate appearances from 2023-25. Signed to a five-year, $87.5MM free agent contract in December 2022, the assumption was that Contreras would take over. Yadier Molina as the team’s regular catcher, yet oddly enough, 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 had played a few times earlier in his career with the Cubs. The public’s defensive metrics have been split a bit in the process, as while the Outs Above Average metric gives Contreras a positive +6 grade for his first baseman career in 2025, he also received a -1 Defensive Runs Saved. Regardless, it appears that Contreras is at least a passable cornerback, and the Red Sox can only survive defensively as long as the former All-Star continues to hit. Contreras hits right-handed, which helps balance Boston’s left-leaning lineup.
More to come…
