Red Sox boost rotation in trade with Cardinals

The Boston Red Sox, who vowed to be aggressive this winter to make their team a World Series contender, landed one of the premier pitchers on the trade market Tuesday by acquiring St. Louis Cardinals ace Sonny Gray.

Gray, who had a full no-trade clause, agreed to waive it, according to agent Bo McKinnis, for the opportunity to pitch for a contender, while the Cardinals go into a rebuild under new GM Chaim Bloom.

The Red Sox will send No. 5 prospect Brandon Clarke and right-handed pitcher Richard Fitts to St. Louis.

Gray was owed $35 million this year with a $30 million club option or $5 million buyout in 2027. The contract was restructured to pay Gray $31 million this year with a $10 million buyout on a mutual option in 2027, engineered by McKinnis for the trade to be consummated. The Cardinals agreed to pay $20 million of Gray’s contract, according to Masslive.com, in order to receive a better package of prospects from the Red Sox.

Gray, 36, was 14-8 with a 3.48 ERA for the Cardinals last season in the second year of his three-year, $75 million contract. The Cardinals were hoping to trade him at last year’s trade deadline but he declined to waive his no-trade clause, saying only that he would revisit the situation this winter. The Cardinals informed him this winter that they were going into a rebuild, which persuaded Gray to waive his no-trade provision.

While the Red Sox certainly have a fabulous 1-2 pitching dynamic on paper with Garrett Crochet and Gray, Gray has not only struggled in his lone experience pitching for a big-market team – going 15-16 with a 4.51 ERA with the New York Yankees – but also has had troubles pitching at Fenway Park. He is 0-4 with a 6.84 ERA at Fenway over 26 ⅓ innings, yielding a .326 batting average and .895 OPS.

Bloom, who was head of baseball operations for the Red Sox before being fired, now is relying on the Red Sox to jump-start his rebuild. He made it clear that instead of just dumping payroll, they needed prospects in return, and were willing to pay about half of the remainder of Gray’s contract.

The Cardinals will next try to unload Gold Glove third baseman Nolan Arenado. He has two years left on his contract for $42 million and has informed the Cardinals he also is willing to waive his no-trade clause after rejecting trades to the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Angels last year.

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