Cardinals Trade Sonny Gray To Red Sox
The Cardinals have sent Sonny Gray and cash to the Boston Red Sox
Receive 2 pitchers and a PTBNL back in return
The Cardinals are starting the rebuild, having agreed to send starter Sonny Gray and $20M cash to the Boston Red Sox for LHP Brandon Clarke, RHP Richard Fitts, and a player to be named later or cash. Gray and the Red Sox have restructured this contract; his base contract drops to $31M for 2026 from $35M, while his 2027 option will shift from a club option to a mutual one and the buyout will jump to $10M from $5M (worth $30M). The Red Sox will only pick up $21M of the $41M owed.
Gray originally signed with the Cardinals because he believed they could win; unfortunately, we’ve seen how that played out. It was a disappointing tenure from the fan perspective; Gray was marketed as a #1 starter, but didn’t perform at that level. I don’t blame Gray for that, as he’s been a solid #2 for his career before his 2023 All Star season got him his 3 year, $75M deal; the Cardinals made the signing feel as if they brought in a Max Scherzer/Gerrit Cole type pitcher.
Over 2 seasons, Gray was 27-17 with a 4.07 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, and a 3.3 WAR; he did pitch better than his ERA by posting a 3.26 FIP, but only carried a 101 ERA+ (1% better than the average pitcher).
The Cardinals received some quality by adding cash to the mix; Clarke was the #5 prospect in the Red Sox’s system, while Fitts looks like a back of the rotation starter.
Clarke could be a #2-3 starting in the making, or a bullpen arm; he’s young, so it’s hard to pinpoint where he’ll end up. He was a 5th round pick in 2024 out of JuCo; he missed time in high school for Tommy John surgery and time in college for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. He made his professional debut in 2025, splitting the season between Lo and Hi A. His numbers were OK on the surface, but he did strike out 43 in 28.1 innings at Hi A. It was enough to get him in the conversation as a Top 100 prospect in the game.
He’s a hard thrower; his fastball sits 96-99, touching 100. While it’s a potential plus pitch, he’s got work to do on the control and command, and he’s not missing many bats with it. He pairs with with a swing and miss slider that sits 87-90; again, it needs some work on consistently finishing in the zone but it could be a plus pitch in the long run. He also throws a 81-85 sweeper and 87-89 change, but both are below average at this point.
He’ll probably start the 2026 season with Peoria, but finish it with Springfield. 2027 seems aggressive as a debut point, but he could be ready to start 2028. I think more of it comes down to what Chaim Bloom does to build up the farm system support staff.
While Clarke is the prize of the trade, Fitts is a solid pitcher in his own right. Drafted by the Yankees in the 6th round of the 2021 draft, he was traded to Boston as part of the Alex Verdugo package prior to the 2024 season. He’s had decent numbers as he’s progressed up the minors, but there have been some speed bumps. He ranked #12 in the Red Sox system in 2024.
He’s got a good fastball that sits 94-96, hits 99, and has lots of vertical movement. It plays well with his mid-80s slider, which also has good movement and looks like a cutter at times. He’s also throwing a change that sits in the upper 80s, but lacks elite movement on the pitch, and a curve that doesn’t consistently show depth; the slider is average with potential to be above average, but the curve doesn’t have that same promise.
He’s got clean, repeatable mechanics and isn’t a max effort guy. Unfortunately, this hasn’t translated to much MLB success yet. Between a pectoral strain causing him to miss time and his lack of swing and miss stuff, he’s struggled to establish himself in the Majors. I expect he’ll be a backend rotation guy to start the season.
As of right now, it looks like a solid return for a team dumping talent.
Here’s the press release from the Cardinals:
CARDS & RED SOX COMPLETE MULTI-PLAYER TRADE; REDBIRDS ACQUIRE TWO PITCHERS IN DEAL FOR SONNY GRAY
ST. LOUIS, MO., November 25, 2025 – The St. Louis Cardinals announced today that they have completed a multi-player trade with the Boston Red Sox, acquiring pitchers Richard Fitts and Brandon Clarke, and a player to be named later or cash considerations, in exchange for pitcher Sonny Gray and cash considerations.
“We are pleased to add these two talented young pitchers to our organization,” stated Cardinals President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom. “Richard 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. Brandon Clarke is an exciting left-handed prospect whose ceiling rivals that of any pitcher in the minor leagues. Both have the potential to be part of our growing core for a long time, and we are happy to welcome them to the Cardinals.”
Fitts, 25, is a 6-3, 245-pound right-hander who has made 15 appearances (14 starts) for the Red Sox over the past two seasons, going 2-5 with a 3.97 ERA over 65.2 innings pitched. He allowed 3 runs or fewer in 11 of his 14 career starts for the Red Sox and worked 5.0+ innings in eight starts. Fitts matched his career-high with 6 strikeouts in a 4.0 inning relief outing on Aug. 25, 2025 at Baltimore.
A former 6th round draft choice of the New York Yankees in 2021 out of Auburn University, Fitts was traded to the Red Sox in December of 2023. He has logged 80 games in the minors including 30 with Triple-A Worcester where he went 11-6 with a 4.13 ERA.
Fitts entered the 2025 season ranked as the Red Sox 12th best prospect by Baseball America and was listed as having the “best control” among pitchers in the Boston farm system.
Clarke, 22, was a Red Sox 5th round draft pick in 2024 and made 14 professional starts in 2025 between Greenville (High-A) and Salem (A), striking out 60 over his 38.0 innings pitched. The 6-4, 220-pound left-hander pitched for State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota and is a native of Ashburn, VA. Clarke is currently ranked as the 5th best prospect in the Red Sox system by MLB Pipeline.
-STL-
