The Boston Red Sox have acquired veteran baseball player Wilson Contreras in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals, according to reports. espn. The Cardinals will receive Hunter Dobbins and minor league pitchers Uker Fajardo and Blake Aita in return. The athlete. This is the second significant Cardinals/Red Sox trade of the offseason. Boston sent two young pitchers to St. Louis for Sonny Gray last month.
Similar to Gray, Contreras will receive an additional $1 million in guaranteed money in exchange for waiving his no-trade clause, according to Boston Globe. He is signed through 2027 with a club option for 2028, and now has $42.5 million coming his way. The Cardinals will reportedly pay $8 million of the $42.5 million MassLive. While Contreras initially showed no interest in leaving St. Louis, even in the face of an ongoing rebuild, he eventually reconsidered and waived it to agree to the deal to a Red Sox club that, unlike the Cardinals, is expected to pitch in 2026.
Wilson Contreras trade grades: The Red Sox finally get their big bat, and the Cardinals continue to get rid of veterans
R. J. Anderson
This trade pushes Boston’s payroll to the same range it was last year, meaning the Red Sox will have to either raise payroll or get rid of the contract(s) to bring back third baseman Alex Bregman.
Contreras, who will be entering his age 34 season, is a former outfielder and will likely be the starting man and DH for the Red Sox, as he did for the Cardinals in 2025. He gives Boston a sought-after average right-handed bat and fits Fenway Park well given his above-average drawn fly ball rate. Contreras is coming off another productive season:
This 2025 output was good for a 123 OPS+ and 2.5 WAR in 135 games. Contreras continues to support his strong offensive production by similarly imposing strike-ball indicators. All of this suggests that he is likely to continue producing at a high level for the time being. During his career, the three-time All-Star had an OPS+ of 118 and a WAR of 29.2 across 10 parts. MLB Seasons. During the same period, he averaged 26 home runs and 31 doubles in 162 games played. Defensively, Contreras put up solid numbers last season, his first as a starter.
Dobbins, 26, has a 4.13 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 61 innings in 2025, his first season in the majors. A knee injury ended his season in July, although he is expected to be ready in time for spring training. MLB Pipeline He ranked Fajardo as the No. 23 prospect in Boston’s system, calling him a “potential mid-rotation starter.” Aita was unclassified. He and Fajardo pitched in Single-A in 2025.
Boston went 87-73 in 2025 and reached the postseason for the first time since 2021. They were eliminated by the rival New York Yankees in the Wild Card Series.