In his introductory press conference as the St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations, Chaim Bloom delivered a prescient line.

“When we have to choose between short-term gratification and our bigger goal of contending consistently, we will choose the long term,” the executive said at the end of the regular season. “We will make moves with that ultimate goal in mind because, simply put, that’s where this organization needs to be.”

On Tuesday morning, Bloom made the first significant move of his early tenure, and backed up that statement.

The Cardinals traded veteran starting pitcher Sonny Gray to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for right-handed pitcher Richard Fitts and left-handed pitching prospect Brandon Clarke, the clubs announced. As part of the deal, the Cardinals sent the Red Sox $20 million, and will receive either cash considerations or a player to be named later. The trade comes with plenty of familiarity for Bloom, who served as Boston’s chief baseball officer from 2020-2023.

Gray, who was entering the final year of the three-year, $75 million deal he signed with St. Louis ahead of the 2024 season, will have his contract — a backloaded deal at the time of his original signing — restructured. He was set to make $35 million in 2026, with a $30 million club option for 2027. He’ll now make $31 million in 2026 with a mutual option buyout worth $10 million.

The deal essentially guarantees him $41 million next season, with what is one of the highest one-year buyouts for a starting pitcher in recent memory.

“To me, (this trade) is exactly consistent with everything I’ve been talking about for the past couple months,” Bloom said Tuesday afternoon in a videoconference. “We have somewhere we need to go. We’re not there now, and the way to get there is through building on our core of talent, and having promising young talent that can be with us for many years.

“Sonny is a really talented pitcher, there’s no doubt about that. But I said it then, I’ll say it again. When two things run in opposite directions, we’re going to choose the long term, because that’s where this organization needs to be. We’re trying to get back to a certain place and stay there, and history has shown the way the Cardinals always do that is with our young, talented core. So, we’re trying to build on that core. We’re excited about these two guys and what they’re going to mean for us as part of that.”

We have acquired RHP Richard Fitts, LHP Brandon Clarke, and a player to be named later or cash considerations from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for RHP Sonny Gray and cash considerations. pic.twitter.com/R8yPCOFx28

— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) November 25, 2025

Trading Gray, who indicated at the end of the season he’d like to play for a contender and would consider waiving his full no-trade clause, is a clear sign of a more traditional rebuild coming to St. Louis. Bloom has not outright declared as such, but the team’s performance last season, and the steps the organization is taking behind the scenes speaks for itself.

Concentrated efforts to continue expanding the player development department, and add resources and staffing to both the professional and international scouting departments is well underway. These are necessary steps should the middle-market Cardinals want to replicate their success by prioritizing drafting and developing as the primary way to build their roster.

The return also addresses two areas of need for St. Louis. Starting pitching depth, both at the major-league and minor-league level, has been a weakness for several seasons. Clarke was Boston’s fifth-round draft pick in 2024 and a top 20 prospect. He split time between Low A and High A, though blister issues cost him a month of his season. He has a tantalizing fastball that sits 97-98 mph, but it’s unclear if his future is as a starter or reliever.

Fitts, who will turn 26 next month, made 11 appearances for the Red Sox (10 starts) last year, carding a 5.00 ERA. He profiles as a back-end starter, and will join Andre Pallante and Kyle Leahy — who will enter spring training as a starter after a stellar year in relief — as candidates to join Matthew Liberatore and Michael McGreevy in the rotation. The Cardinals will look to bring in a durable, experienced starter to fill in the rotation either through free agency or trade, but will not add at the expense of taking away opportunities from their young starters.

“We want to create competition with our players,” Bloom said. “I don’t think that necessarily needs to be at the exclusion of veterans. There is a lot of value in guys that have been there, done that, and can show the way. And we’ve seen that here the last couple of years.”

Another interesting aspect of the trade is the amount of money included with Gray. Cardinals ownership has historically been adverse to including salary in trades, and it was a notable hang-up in the organization’s botched attempt to trade third baseman Nolan Arenado last winter. That St. Louis sent $20 million to Boston signals a change in philosophy from ownership, something chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. acknowledged was coming in an end-of-year press conference in September.

It also bodes well for the organization’s next priority: actually trading Arenado. Both Arenado and the Cardinals are in agreement that his time in St. Louis has likely come to an end, with Bloom stating to reporters at MLB’s GM meetings: “With Nolan, it is clear to everybody that it would be best to find a different fit.”

Arenado has made concessions to his list of teams he’d waive his no-trade clause for, team sources told The Athletic, but the Cardinals are aware they will likely still have to include a portion of Arenado’s remaining salary (roughly $40 million over the next two years) in order to complete a deal.

Ownership has now proved its willingness to do that.

“We’re fortunate that we have the backing of ownership to be able to (include money), if that’s the best deal for us,” Bloom said. “You’d obviously always rather not have to put cash in a deal, but if that’s what’s possible on the other side and what nets you the best return, then it’s been great to have ownership’s backing to be able to do that. … You have to factor it, because it does eat into the resources you have available to build the club in there here and now, but we thought this was the best deal available to us and that’s why we did it.”

Thank you for anchoring our rotation, Sonny! Best of luck in Boston! pic.twitter.com/WVNRKOSrhH

— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) November 25, 2025

Several other players have garnered trade interest from rival organizations. Brendan Donovan has been one of the most coveted players in the industry, but clubs — including the Pittsburgh Pirates — have engaged with all four of the Cardinals’ primary left-handed hitters in Alec Burleson, Lars Nootbaar and Nolan Gorman. Left-handed reliever JoJo Romero, who served as the Cardinals’ closer in the second-half of last season, has also captured interest.

St. Louis does not need to move Donovan, who has two years remaining before free agency, but it will if it can land the right package and will continue fielding calls on the super utility player.

The Cardinals do need to alleviate several log-jams on their 40-man roster, including their surplus of lefty hitters, corner outfielders and middle infielders. If St. Louis is not impressed by the offers it receives for Donovan, it will pivot to moving at least one of Nootbaar or Gorman, a team source disclosed. The club could be enticed to field offers on Gorman, as it would make way for top prospect JJ Wetherholt to debut next year.

Trading away accomplished veterans like Arenado, or homegrown talents such as Donovan, Nootbaar or Gorman, has not been standard practice for the Cardinals. But this is a new regime in St. Louis, and as Gray’s trade clearly shows, things will be done differently. The Cardinals want to return to being perennial contenders. As he advertised, Bloom is willing to make difficult decisions now to better ensure that happening later.

“We’re going to do things every day, whether they’re things behind the curtain … or things like today, we do something very visible but we are doing it because we think it’s going to get us where we need to go as quickly and effectively as possible, and put us in a position to stay there,” Bloom said.

“(Trading Gray) really fits into everything that I talked about,” he added. “We are not going to concede anything. Obviously, we feel that we’ve gotten some really talented players back, and are looking forward to adding more talent to the club — and we will do that as the winter goes on. But we also need to follow our plan, and the more we’re committed to that, the more we follow it, the better this will go.”