Sonny Gray to the Red Sox! Did the St. Louis Cardinals Win the Trade?

Sonny Gray to the Red Sox! Did the St. Louis Cardinals Win the Trade?

The St. Louis Cardinals have made their first big trade of the Heim Bloom era and Sunny Gray is headed to the Boston Red Sox. What did the Cardinals get back in the deal and was it ultimately a good one for Heim Bloom as he gets the rebuild underway in St. Louis? We’ll talk about it coming up on Bshave Daily. [Music] What’s going on everyone and welcome in to this edition of Bshape Daily. Brennan Schaefer with you Tuesday, November 25th, 2025, and the rebuild is underway for the St. Louis Cardinals. How about this news? We’ve got a trade to talk about. The Cardinals reportedly, it’s been widely reported, I don’t believe it’s been officially announced yet, but it will have been by the time you’re listening to this. Cardinals have traded Sunny Gray to the Boston Red Sox for two pitchers. Richard Fitz, also known as Dick Fitz, maybe if the Dick Fitz. Anyway, Richard Fitz and Brandon Clark, who is the number five rated prospect according to MLB pipeline within the Boston Red Sox system. Left-handed pitcher, Brandon Clark, the prospect, and Richard Fitz, a right-hander who has appeared in the big leagues for the Red Sox over the last couple of seasons. The Cardinals are also sending to Boston $20 million as reported by Chris Catillo covers the Red Sox for Mass Live and that’s about half of what the Cardinals would have owed Sunonny Gray. So breaking down the contract, it was a three-year deal and in the first two years the Cardinals paid Sunny Gray a little bit less. Year three was due to be $35 million here in 2026. And there was also a $5 million buyout on a 2027 option that the Cardinals would have owed to Sunny Gray. So basically, they came into this knowing that they owed him $40 million. If the Cardinals were not able to trade Sunny Gray, they would have had to pay him $40 million. Now, the reason I offer that as the context at the beginning of this conversation is because I saw some reaction already on Twitter and in the comments of our live video. I went live for like 45 minutes right before this with Joe Roderick for STL Sports Central. That was a lot of fun. Go check that out as we reacted live to the trade. But I still wanted to to to double back for Bshave Daily and kind of lay out my thoughts in the solo pod as I often do. But I saw some comments from folks that were saying, “Oh, the Cardinals had Sunny Gray and they gave him up for nothing and they’re paying $20 million for him to not play for them.” I saw that on Twitter. Well, if you’re going to do a rebuild, why wouldn’t you save money? Isn’t that what a rebuild is about? I want to contextualize all of it for you and explain in detail why I believe this was a pretty good move by Hin Bloom when you consider everything as part of the context. Because yeah, in a vacuum, depending on your perspective, you might look at it and say, “Okay, so the Cardinals had Sunny Gray, that was their number one starter for their rotation, and they give him away, and they’re paying $20 million for him not to play here, and all they got back is a guy with a five RA last year and a prospect who had a five RA in high aball. You know, what’s going on here?” That could be a perspective. I don’t think that’s the right perspective, but that could be one’s perspective. I want to lay out the context and if that’s the way you’re feeling about this trade, maybe I’m able to change your mind a little bit. That’s why I bring up the $40 million because at the very beginning of this, what you have to understand is the Cardinals were obligated to pay that. And in a rebuild year where they’re not going to contend, guys, like if they do, it’s going to be an upset. It’s going to be they’re the underdog in 2026 because they won’t have a high payroll. They won’t go out and get a bunch of talent. that’s going to make them better compared to last year when they couldn’t quite get over the hump, right? You remember last year, 2025. So, knowing all of this, it doesn’t really make sense for the Cardinals to pay Sunonny Gray $40 million to pitch for them so that they can win, and I’m just throwing numbers out here, 78 games instead of 74, right? Like Richard Fitz, Dick Fitz, if you will, and he’s going back and forth, I think, over whether he prefers Richard Fitz or Dick Fitz. I don’t know. A lot of guy a lot of guys in in sports with interesting names will sometimes maybe say I want to go by this or I want to go by that. We’ll we will honor once Richard Fitz comes in and says what he wants to be called. We’ll honor that on the podcast. But for today, plenty of of Dick Fitz conversations going on around uh the social media sphere after this deal. And I think the other guy I was thinking of was Richard Love Lady was a a pitcher for the Royals. He’s been around at one point said, “I want to be known as Dick Love Lady.” And so that’s what they called him. Uh, I I don’t know the preference for Richard Fitz, but but Fitz can go right into the Cardinals rotation this next year and take the spot of Sunny Gray. I don’t know that he will. I’ll explain what could potentially happen that would make him not be in the rotation, but Richard Fitz had a 5.00 RA last year in 11 games. He started 10 times for the Red Sox, 45 innings, 40 strikeouts. year before that 1.74 erra in four starts, 20 innings, nine strikeouts. So, this is not necessarily your your your big swing and miss prize of this trade and spent a little bit of time, I would imagine. I haven’t looked into everything with uh Richard Fitz just yet, but on the injured list last year because he only made six starts at at AAA and one at DoubleA. So that was probably a rehab start from an injury, but had a 4.3 erra in his six AAA starts, almost a strikeout per inning there. Like a perfectly suitable arm to cover some innings for a 2026 Cardinals team that again at the beginning of it, they’re not going in and telling you we’re going to win a World Series this year. Like they’re just they’re just going to try to cobble together a season and be as close to respectable as they can be with the performance of this club. But while you had a $40 million obligation to Sunny Gay, you only had one year with which to work in order to extract value for that. And I believe that Heim Bloom took what is a obligation and something that you could view a little bit negatively for a team that like my gosh, why would we need to pay this guy $40 million to pitch so that we can still not make the playoffs, right? Like when we signed him to the contract, we being the Cardinals, we hoped that we would be in playoff contention for the three years that we had him, but we’re not now. And so you’re trying to get out from under it and save some money. If they reallocate the money toward other players on on longer term deals that don’t just benefit you for this one lost season, then great. If they save the money, if they pocket it, you know, great for the owners, not really great for the fans, but understandable in a rebuild year that they might take a take a step back and payroll. Disappointing. But we we’ve already talked about contextualizing where they’re at and where they’re going to be. So, okay, you’re trying to trade Sunny Gray. here are your limitations. You can only go where he wants to be sent. And so that’s going to be a limited list of teams. And when you get together with one of those teams and find that they have interest in your player, you have to answer a couple of questions. How much do they want to pay him to play for their team? And then the Cardinals have to cover the rest of that contract. And this isn’t the Red Sox signing a free agent. Like, okay, the Red Sox want Sunny Gray. Perfect. He bloom obviously has familiarity with the Red Sox. It’s interesting that neither of these guys were in the Red Sox system when Heimbleum was there. Brandon Clark was drafted in the fifth round in 2024. Uh Richard Fitz was acquired via trade from the Yankees uh late in 2023, like December, I want to say. So, I don’t think he bloom was there for either of those. Um it just is kind of like ironic, kind of funny because we would assume, oh, they’re trading with the Red Sox because Heimbleum knows their farm system. Well, yeah, but that’s not didn’t end up being applicable in this trade. But the Red Sox say, yes, we want Sunny Gray. The Cardinals say that’s great. What can we have? Well, how much are you willing to pay? And there’s that little dosey do that negotiation that has to happen. I want to say this out front. Credit to Bill Dwit. Credit to Cardinal’s ownership because in a Sunny Gray trade where you owed him 40 million, there was a way for this trade to go. It was a way where you get a non-top 30 prospect in the Red Sox organization back for Gray and you do that because you want them to pay down as much of the contract as humanly possible. Like if Cardinal ownership would have said, “Oh, we don’t want to eat cash here. Just try to get rid of the contract as best as you can.” Heim, that would have meant you don’t get back a pitcher with big league experience like Richard Fitz, who I’m not saying is Sai Young, but he has 60 some odd big league innings to his credit at a sub five career RA in those 65 innings. Doesn’t blow you away, but it’s something, right? It’s actually a 3.97 erra for him because he had four good starts in 2024. So you get that arm back who is completely controllable through like 2031, right? He’s got basically no service time, not even a year, I don’t believe. So you have him controllable for a long, long time. And you pick up this left-hander, Brandon Clark, who’s 6’4, 220, was listed as the number five prospect in the Red Sox system. He’s raw, but he’s got potential. There was an article on MLB.com from mid November, like nine days ago, that said he could be a breakout prospect in 2026. The the article by Brandon Winer is titled why Brandon Clark could be a breakout prospect in 2026. He lays out the status for him. The fact that he’s got some tantalizing stuff, not much of a track record. Had Tommy John as a junior in high school. Thoracic issues forced him to red shirt in his only season at Alabama. Went to the State College of Florida for a couple of years. So, he’s had injuries. He’s had a checkered injury history for sure. Doesn’t have great command. had 27 walks in 38 innings at high A and only threw a strike 56.8% of the time, putting him in the sixth percentile of minor leaguers. So, just absolute wild thing. I mean, think Ricky Vaughn in major league, right? But he’s got some stuff. He’s got a really good fast ball and maybe an even better slider. Could be a future closer if he can dial in the command. Maybe he develops a third pitch and sticks as a starter. Brandon Winerin ribb writing in his article from a couple of weeks ago. As I mentioned, evaluators are split on whether he’ll stick as a starter in the majors could build up some stamina. Uh he’s 6’4, so he could put on even a little bit more muscle, build up his frame, develop a third pitch. Brandon Wininib writes, “ites, if he’s able to sharpen his command, especially on the fast ball and prove his curveball or change up to become league average, you’re looking at a starter with the flashes of brilliance along the lines of Francisco Liraniano. If he doesn’t, his fastball slider combo could give you maybe a Tanner Scott, good reliever for the the Washington Nationals over the years, and then I believe has been with the Dodgers.” He said worst case scenario, if his velocity backs up, he could still be a swing man like a Shauna Nukem. So, those are some comps that they’re throwing out there. Again, long way to go because this is a guy that pitched at at high A ball this last season. Had three starts in low A, pitched really well and and then got bumped up. 27 walks in 38 total innings between low A and high A, which is a ton of walks. But he also had a ton of strikeouts. 43 strikeouts in 28 innings in high A. Had 17Ks in nine innings of low A. That’s 60 strikeouts in 38 innings. He’s got a 14.2 two strikeout per nine rate last year. So his upside like just pure unadulterated upside and tons of risk, but that’s what we call a lottery ticket that’s worth chasing, right? The Cardinals got him the number five prospect. Again, Red Sox have a pretty solid system and according to MLB pipeline, he was their number five prospect. Karina, they they graduated several of their guys to the big leagues last year and so others were obviously able to move up their list, but a tantalizing arm, I think, for sure. And I don’t think you get him. I don’t think you get a guy like Richard Fitz who you can plug into your rotation directly. I would pencil him into the Cardinal starting five as of this moment just considering he had a five RA last year with 10 starts in in Boston. Yep, that’ll that’ll play for what the Cardinals currently have. The Cardinals though will not be done seeking starting pitching. That has been my prediction. I’ve already seen Jeff Jones uh tweet out that yeah, they’re they’re going to still be looking to add more starting pitching to where you come into spring training with six or seven or eight guys that viably could compete for five spots. McGrevy’s going to be in there. Liberator is going to be in there and and that’s about it. Like Palante would have the inside track, but if he doesn’t perform well in spring after not performing well this past season, who’s to say that Richard Fitz, you know, solid right-hander, doesn’t beat him out? Uh, Richard Fitz will be pitching in his age 26 season, I want to say. Yeah, he turns 26 in December. So, a little less than a month from now, but he’s not ARB eligible until 2028. Not a free agent until after 2031. Like, this is great. You got a controllable arm, 6’3″, 230 lbs, a guy that can plug into your rotation and be competing for a spot at a minimum. More news that’s come out. By the way, if you were to look on the Cardinals depth chart on their official team website, you’ll see Kyle Ley listed among the top five starters. He’s going to be in the rotation next season. If if if not at least in the competition for it when we get to spring, Jeff Jones also tweeting about that said a source said that Kyle, he’s just being considered a starter. He is in this in this bucket, which we have said, shoot, we’ve been saying that since early 2025. Like, stretch this guy out, see what he can do. They’re gonna do that. And I think Kyle Lehey, if he if he can land, can be more than like a number five starter. He could be a solid middle of the rotation arm for the Cardinals in my opinion, if he can hold up over the the workload of a starter. So, because the Cardinals were able to or willing to eat some of this money and they’re going to pay $20 million, but the cost savings is $20 million because they were going to be obligated to pay 40. So, they cut that in half. They add Richard Fitz, who goes right into their rotation competition in spring. They add Brandon Clark who’s a 6’4 left-hander, throws a 100, I’m assuming, great fast ball, great slider, really interesting arm if he can stay healthy, and they don’t have Sunonny Gray, you know, clogging up a spot where they they they know he’s not going to be on the team by the the time they’re ready to compete again. So, I would call this a winning trade for the Cardinals. Again, you have to contextualize it within what was possible. they weren’t going to get, you know, a superstar back on a on a cost control deal for for one year of Sunny Gay at a bloated contract. No, they’re going to pay down half the contract. And their willingness to do so means they’re getting pieces back that they can use and that are controllable. That’s called rebuilding on the fly and doing it effectively. I think $20 million is the perfect amount to be paying, by the way. Like if Sunonny Gray were a free agent right now, I think he would sign a one-year 22 23 $24 million deal. Probably based on what he’s been. And the Red Sox are kicking in an extra million. So he’s actually going to make 41 million in total. Reorganizing his contract a little bit. He’s making 31 instead of 35. He’s going to make $31 million this year, but the buyout on the option goes from 5 million up to 10 million. So deferring that a little bit if you’re Sunonny Gray and basically getting an extra million dollars in total compensation to do so to agree to the trade etc. It’s kind of what happened with Aronado when the Cardinals dealt for him. The player their agents are pretty good. They usually even if they want to be traded to a place they usually get to say well I do have the leverage. Can you add me a kicker little little extra money to to agree to do this? And that’s what they do. But I think the Cardinals end up getting pieces back that they can use. one piece that they can use in Richard Fitz and again get two more guys just like him because then all of them can come into spring training and compete for like two spots or even three if you count palantes to be open which I do right now it’s Palante like you’ve got McGrevy and Liberator one and two Palante Kyle Lehey Richard Fitz that’s 345 but if you add two more then that’s seven total guys five of them competing for three spots the cream rises to the top which is to say the Cardinals will still be trying to win as many baseball games as they can this That’s operating in the margins, though. That’s Him Bloom when he says, “We’re not going to concede anything about our present day, but we’re always going to be operating with the future in mind.” That’s what this looks like because maybe Richard Fitz comes out and he stinks. And they say, “Well, we got what we reasonably could for Sunny Gray. We paid down a little bit of the contract in order to get some interesting arms back. Uh, but this guy stinks. You know, he’s not going to be on our rotation this year.” Or maybe he continues to develop as well because we’ve got in this St. Louis organization, Larry Day and Rob Surfolio and Matt Puront and like these are the guys that are going to be heading up our development group and we’re going to get more out of pitchers. Like that’s how the Cardinals are thinking under Bloom. That’s exactly what you want them to be thinking. Maybe Richard Fitz is a guy that’s in the rotation for the next three, four, five years because he’s controllable. Like this is this is how it looks, guys. I think it’s a really really solid get for the St. Cardinals today uh in picking up these two pitchers and getting Sunny Gray somewhere that he wanted to go play and knowing that the Cardinals aren’t really striving for contention this year. It makes sense that he’s traded first of the three among Gray, Contrarus, and Aronado because I think Gray was the combination of willing to go, which is maybe not as much the case with Wilson Contrarus. He’ll have to be compelled to be dealt and agree to a trade, willing to be traded somewhere and also has value because he’s still a pretty good pitcher. Aronado not as much value because of his decline offensively. So that’ll be a little bit trickier to get done, but the Cardinals were able to, I think, get a really fair deal done that match exactly what they’re looking to do right now. So that’s my breakdown. I think it’s a solid move for the Cardinals. Many more to come, continue to add players like this, like a Richard Fitz that can that can compete in their rotation and give you innings because maybe somebody loses out on the rotation spot, but they’re a long man out of the bullpen because they’re just going to have to cover innings a little bit creatively in 2026. That’s solid enough. No, the Cardinals win total didn’t go up today. It went down. Sunny Gray is a good pitcher, but this was never about winning more games. It was about reorganizing for a future in which they can do so. So, let me know your thoughts, Cardinals fans. Those are mine. We’ll continue breaking down all things the Cardinals do this offseason. Appreciate you guys as always for listening and we will talk to you next time on Be Shave Daily. Peace.

Brenden Schaeffer breaks down Tuesday’s news of the Cardinals trading Sonny Gray and cash to the Boston Red Sox for pitchers Richard Fitts and Brandon Clarke.

How much money did the Cardinals send in the deal to not pitch for their team in 2026? And does this move make sense in the bigger context of what the Cardinals were aiming to accomplish this off-season? In a lot of ways, Chaim Bloom and Bill DeWitt Jr. deserve some real credit for how this one went down.

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