Sonny Gray traded to the Red Sox

[DJL44]

Red Sox are taking on most of the salary and returning a mediocre reliever and minor league pitcher.

[DJL44]

I don't know if this makes them more or less likely to trade for Joe Ryan. They filled a spot in the rotation but may want to add even more.

[old nurse]

19 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

I don't know if this makes them more or less likely to trade for Joe Ryan. They filled a spot in the rotation but may want to add even more.

Considering they asked for Duran or the other starting outfielder and wanted quality prospects, I don’t think Ryan is going anywhere. 

[DJL44]

Brandon Clarke is a pretty good prospect add for the Cardinals. They will be looking to sell more players. I expect Brendan Donovan, JoJo Romero and Nolan Arenado to end up somewhere else, not sure about Willson Contreras or Lars Nootbaar.

[nicksaviking]

56 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Red Sox are taking on most of the salary and returning a mediocre reliever and minor league pitcher.

Actually the Cardinals are paying 20M, which is half of the 40M left guaranteed. So they're paying half his salary and getting two nobodies back in return.

The MLBPA has got to be freaking out right about now; this is not a good sign for player contracts going forward.

[Parfigliano]

4 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

Actually the Cardinals are paying 20M, which is half of the 40M left guaranteed. So they're paying half his salary and getting two nobodies back in return.

The MLBPA has got to be freaking out right about now; this is not a good sign for player contracts going forward.

Might be good for MLB overall.

[bean5302]

On 11/25/2025 at 1:40 PM, nicksaviking said:

Actually the Cardinals are paying 20M, which is half of the 40M left guaranteed. So they're paying half his salary and getting two nobodies back in return.

The MLBPA has got to be freaking out right about now; this is not a good sign for player contracts going forward.

Sonny Gray's contract was heavily backloaded. He only got paid $10MM in his first year from the Cardinals so that's a big part of this. Essentially, Boston bought Gray for 1yr and $21MM or 2yrs and $41MM. With Gray's FIP in 2024 being 3.12 and 2025 being 3.39, it doesn't bode very well for older veterans.

That said, Dylan Cease just got $200MM.

[tony&rodney]

My guess is that the other AL East teams see Boston adding Gray as the lesser challenge than if they had signed Cease or traded for Ryan. Boston has their work cut out for them and they either need to spend big money, trade away players they want to keep, or hope they can at least repeat last year. Boston's current roster cannot contend.