By MATT PIKE
The St. Louis Cardinals have found their ideal trading partner this offseason, making a second trade with the Boston Red Sox on Sunday and sending first baseman Willson Contreras to Boston in exchange for three pitchers.
Contreras has been one of the steadiest right-handed hitters in baseball since his debut and will bring his well-above-average glove to a position Boston had spent the offseason trying to fill. The Red Sox will receive $8 million to cover the remaining $42.5 million on the three-time All-Star’s contract and sent right-hander Hunter Dobbins and right-handed pitching prospects Yhoiker Fajardo and Blake Aita to the Cardinals, sources said.
While the Cardinals were not intent on trading Contreras this winter, the opportunity to land a major league-ready starter in Dobbins helped facilitate a deal that came after Sonny Gray waived his no-trade clause to go from St. Louis to Boston in late November. Dobbins figures to have a spot in St. Louis’ rotation when he returns from a July ACL tear that ended his season. Prior to the injury sustained when covering first base in his debut season, Dobbins went 4-1 with a 4.13 ERA over 13 outings, allowing just six home runs in 61 innings and striking out 45 against 17 walks.
Contreras likewise waived his no-trade clause after receiving an extra million dollars guaranteed through a renegotiation of his contract, sources said. The amended contract will pay Contreras $18 million in 2026 and $17 million in 2027 with a $20 million option in 2028 that now includes a $7.5 million buyout. (Previously, the deal paid him $18 million in ’26, $18.5 million in ’27 with a $17.5 million option and a $5 million buyout.)
The 19-year-old Fajardo, who had been traded to the Red Sox a year ago to the day, posted a 2.25 ERA over 72 innings between the Florida Complex League and Low-A Salem this year. Aita was a sixth-round pick out of Kennesaw State in 2024 and finished this year at High-A. Aita struck out 99 and walked 30 in 115.1 innings with a 3.98 ERA over two levels.
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