[Passan] Full trade, per ESPN sources: The Boston Red Sox receive RHP Sonny Gray and cash, and the St. Louis Cardinals receive LHP Brandon Clarke and RHP Richard Fitts.
November 25, 2025
[Passan] Full trade, per ESPN sources: The Boston Red Sox receive RHP Sonny Gray and cash, and the St. Louis Cardinals receive LHP Brandon Clarke and RHP Richard Fitts.
33 comments
Red Sox fans seem unhappy, so that makes me happy
I think Chaim may have cooked with this one.
Really surprised with the return on this, two young guys with upside is a good move for the long term. Add in the Dick Fitts of it all and it’s outstanding
Big Dick Fitts he’ll yeah
Looks like we somehow grabbed the Red Sox #5 prospect for a year of $30 million Sonny Gray.
… wait… this seems good as hell?
Seems like Clarke should be a stud, happy with this return
Wow! A move! I’ll have to read up about the two guys coming in. A cursory search says their ~#7 and #12ish prospects. I wonder just how much of Gray’s salary we had to eat?
Clarke was the #5 prospect in the Red Sox system, at least on MLB’s rankings.
Clarke is exactly the kind of return that you would want here. Still a project, but with a very high ceiling. If we have the staff to mold him right and he can do it, he could be a cornerstone in the rotation.
Wonder how much we’re paying of his salary still
The Clarke kid has some big time potential and already had Tommy John surgery as well. Control seems to be his issue
Dick Fitts
Wow we must be paying a ton of Sonny’s salary.
a fire(adjective) sale indeed
Oh Chaim cooked
Dick Fitts in the Lou.
Dick Fitts with Stubby Clapp.
Dick Fitts in Busch.
Dick Fitts in the Arch.
This could be fun. Epic baseball name.
Seems like a very solid trade. Clarke seems like a high upside guy and Fitts uhh Fitts in a hole in the rotation.
Love you, Sonny. It’s the right move, but I’ll miss you
I wish him well, he was fun to watch half the time
It’ll be at least a couple years before we know whether this trade is good, bad, or indifferent, but Bloom clearly has familiarity with Boston’s system. Fitts looks like a back-end starter, which we can obviously use, and Clarke’s a high velocity low minors lottery ticket.
Bloom’s approach to pitching prospects sure seems to be notably different from Mozeliak’s, in case anyone needed that message to be reinforced. We should probably expect something along these lines in return for both Nado and Donny.
The more I read the more I love it. Clarke further shows the emphasis on swing and miss stuff in our pitching staff and I’m here for it. Here’s hoping Fitts does well but he seems more like a transition guy as we go through our rebuild.
I loved Sonny’s intensity and his approach. 2024 and first half 2025 Sonny was as advertised. Gonna miss his sweeper/sinker combo dominating hitters. However it was time. His velo was down and he was getting mashed the back half of the year. Glad we got a solid return for him.
Cardinals are also sending $20m **
As reported by Woo.
If the Dick Fitts, trade it to St. Louis.
Sox fan coming in peace, hope yall love Dick as much as we did!
Clarke: 22 last year, A/high A. B-Ref shows him not pitching in 2024. TJ? He did have injuries for sure last year.
33 comments
Red Sox fans seem unhappy, so that makes me happy
I think Chaim may have cooked with this one.
Really surprised with the return on this, two young guys with upside is a good move for the long term. Add in the Dick Fitts of it all and it’s outstanding
Big Dick Fitts he’ll yeah
Looks like we somehow grabbed the Red Sox #5 prospect for a year of $30 million Sonny Gray.
… wait… this seems good as hell?
Seems like Clarke should be a stud, happy with this return
Wow! A move! I’ll have to read up about the two guys coming in. A cursory search says their ~#7 and #12ish prospects. I wonder just how much of Gray’s salary we had to eat?
Clarke was the #5 prospect in the Red Sox system, at least on MLB’s rankings.
Clarke is exactly the kind of return that you would want here. Still a project, but with a very high ceiling. If we have the staff to mold him right and he can do it, he could be a cornerstone in the rotation.
Wonder how much we’re paying of his salary still
The Clarke kid has some big time potential and already had Tommy John surgery as well. Control seems to be his issue
Dick Fitts
Wow we must be paying a ton of Sonny’s salary.
a fire(adjective) sale indeed
Oh Chaim cooked
Dick Fitts in the Lou.
Dick Fitts with Stubby Clapp.
Dick Fitts in Busch.
Dick Fitts in the Arch.
This could be fun. Epic baseball name.
Seems like a very solid trade. Clarke seems like a high upside guy and Fitts uhh Fitts in a hole in the rotation.
Love you, Sonny. It’s the right move, but I’ll miss you
I wish him well, he was fun to watch half the time
It’ll be at least a couple years before we know whether this trade is good, bad, or indifferent, but Bloom clearly has familiarity with Boston’s system. Fitts looks like a back-end starter, which we can obviously use, and Clarke’s a high velocity low minors lottery ticket.
Bloom’s approach to pitching prospects sure seems to be notably different from Mozeliak’s, in case anyone needed that message to be reinforced. We should probably expect something along these lines in return for both Nado and Donny.
The xAURA of “Big” Dick Fitts is off the charts
Not bad…
Doyle, Clarke, Matthews, Libby, Hjerpe, Mautz, Henderson.
A LHP kink
The more I read the more I love it. Clarke further shows the emphasis on swing and miss stuff in our pitching staff and I’m here for it. Here’s hoping Fitts does well but he seems more like a transition guy as we go through our rebuild.
I loved Sonny’s intensity and his approach. 2024 and first half 2025 Sonny was as advertised. Gonna miss his sweeper/sinker combo dominating hitters. However it was time. His velo was down and he was getting mashed the back half of the year. Glad we got a solid return for him.
Cardinals are also sending $20m **
As reported by Woo.
If the Dick Fitts, trade it to St. Louis.
Sox fan coming in peace, hope yall love Dick as much as we did!
Clarke: 22 last year, A/high A. B-Ref shows him not pitching in 2024. TJ? He did have injuries for sure last year.
[Baseball America](https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/red-sox-acquire-sonny-gray-for-brandon-clarke-richard-fitts-in-trade-with-cardinals/) projects him as a reliever, and Fitts as back-end starter. Decent but not fantastic deal, in part depending on how much money Bloom had to shovel out.
[ESPN’s grades are in](https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/46994593/2025-26-mlb-offseason-grades-free-agency-trade-analysis): Sox B+, Cards C.
Sending $20M is the only thing keeping this from being a great trade. Dick Fitts is better than his 2025 ERA
It’s a decent deal. I liked having Gray on the team. Meant we had a chance to win the game. But I’m glad for him to go to a better team.
The players coming back are intriguing. Sounds like one might be a lottery ticket. But these are things you do in rebuilds.
Heh. Dick Fitts
I’m glad the Dick Fitts jokes didn’t disappoint. Soon as I read it, I already knew.