Red Sox acquire veteran Sonny Gray in trade with Cardinals

The Boston Red Sox acquired veteran right-hander Sonny Gray in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday.

In return, St. Louis receives left-handed prospect Brandon Clarke and right-hander Richard Fitts. Boston also will receive $20 million to help cover Gray’s salary, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

Gray, 36, waived his no-trade clause to leave the Cardinals. The three-time All-Star went 14-8 with a 4.28 ERA last season while not missing a start for St. Louis.

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He had been guaranteed $40 million for the next two seasons: $35 million for 2026 and a $5 million buyout of a $30 million team option for 2027. His contract was changed to guarantee him $41 million: a $31 million salary for next year and a $30 million mutual option for 2027 with a $10 million buyout.

By pairing Gray with ace Garrett Crochet in the rotation, the Red Sox now have two of the five pitchers to record at least 200 strikeouts in each of the last two seasons, per ESPN Research. Gray struck out 201 batters last season after striking out 203 in 2024.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow had said adding a starting pitcher behind Crochet was one of the team’s goals for the offseason, and the deal for Gray gives Boston significant starting-pitching depth heading into 2026.

Behind Crochet and Gray are right-handers Brayan Bello and Kutter Crawford, with a number of left-handed options for the backend of the rotation: veteran Patrick Sandoval, 24-year-old Kyle Harrison and a pair of rookies that threw important innings down the stretch this year, Payton Tolle and Connelly Early.

Right-hander Hunter Dobbins tore his right ACL in July but is expected back by spring training. Right-handed veteran Tanner Houck underwent Tommy John surgery in August and is slated to miss most of, if not all, the 2026 season.

While the Red Sox have expressed interest in Minnesota right-hander Joe Ryan, among other starting-pitching trade targets, they went for the shorter-term play with Gray, who has pitched in the big leagues for 13 years, making the All-Star team as recently as 2023. He has a career 125-102 record with a 3.58 ERA in 330 starts.

PitcherK/BBTarik Skubal7.3Garrett Crochet5.5Bryan Woo5.5Sonny Gray5.3– ESPN Research

“We’ve been pretty transparent about our desire to add to the rotation, and our desire to add a bat,” Breslow told reporters in a conference call later Tuesday. “I don’t think anybody wants to feel like they’re in a position of having to check off multiple items on the shopping list and feel like you’re either running out of time or running out of options. … But certainly we feel good about where we sit today.”

Asked if Gray was the No. 2 starter the Red Sox were seeking, Breslow said, “I don’t know how much sense it makes in November to put a number on a guy.”

“Sonny is a very talented major league pitcher. The seasons that he’s put up pretty consistently indicate that to be the case. That said, we still intend to improve our team. Exactly what that looks like, we don’t know right now.”

The 6-foot-4 Clarke, 22, features a fastball that can touch 100 mph and is coupled with a nasty slider. He threw 38 innings in Class A this season, striking out 60 but walking 27 for a 4.03 ERA.

Fitts, who turns 26 next month, was 2-4 with a 5.00 ERA in 10 starts for the Red Sox in his rookie season. He struck out 40 while giving up 11 home runs in 45 innings.

“[Fitts] has already begun his big league career, and with his power stuff and willingness to attack the strike zone, he has the ability to start games at the highest level for many years,” said Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, who previously held that job with the Red Sox.

“Both have the potential to be part of our growing core for a long time.”

ESPN’s Jeff Passan and The Associated Press contributed to this report.