At the end of the season, Sonny Gray made clear he’d be willing to waive his no-trade clause if the St. Louis Cardinals traded him to a team vying for a postseason spot. At the backend of his career, competing for a World Series title remains his main goal.
In Boston, he sees that as a realistic opportunity.
So when St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom called him the Sunday before Thanksgiving about the possibility of a trade to Boston, in Gray’s mind, he said it was an “immediate yes.”
“The young talent, with Garrett (Crochet) there, just the young position players that are there, to the point where they’re hungry and ready to go take off,” Gray said on a video conference call Tuesday. “It’s just all in all a great situation, and we have a chance to win a World Series, and we have a chance to make a deep playoff run. I just want to be a part of it.”
Gray kept in touch with reliever Steven Matz, who was traded from St. Louis to Boston at the deadline last year, noting that Matz raved about his short time in Boston. Gray kept an eye on the Red Sox down the stretch and into the postseason.
“I’ve always said I wanted to go to a market that is super competitive, a big market that wants to win,” Gray said. “I know I can thrive in that situation. I always wanted another opportunity to prove to myself and just go and be myself. Boston just checked all the boxes for me.”
Sonny Gray’s tenure with the Yankees was not a happy one. (Adam Hunger / USA Today)
Seven years ago, Gray struggled for the big-market New York Yankees with a 4.51 ERA over 41 games (34 starts). But he feels that era is behind him with another chance to show he’s capable of handling the pressure of a bigger stage. On Tuesday, he ingratiated himself with Red Sox fans by noting he “never wanted to go” to New York following a 2017 trade and said “it’s easy to hate the Yankees,” as he wore a Red Sox 2007 World Series championship hat he’d purchased right after the trade to Boston last week.
Outside of New York, Gray has pitched in Oakland, Cincinnati, Minnesota and St. Louis over his 13-year career. But he described a connection with the Red Sox that goes back as far as his days at Vanderbilt, when he played for longtime head coach Tim Corbin, a New Hampshire native.
“You gotta look at the Vanderbilt baseball field, there’s a Green Monster in left field, we played ‘Sweet Caroline’ after the seventh inning my whole career at Vanderbilt,” said Gray, who mentioned another Boston connection with his close friend and college roommate, Mike Yastrzemski.
“So when I say I am more Boston than any other place, there’s a lot that goes into that,” he said.
Beyond his desire to pitch in Boston, the Red Sox see Gray as an experienced veteran whose competitiveness can complement their young ace Crochet. The 36-year-old Gray already knows Crochet from their shared time working out at Vanderbilt in the offseason, something they plan to do this winter, too.
“Having a guy like Garrett at the top of the rotation is something that I couldn’t be happier about,” Gray said. “Someone that I can that I can lean on, someone that I can follow, someone that I can lead, someone that I can learn from, someone that I can teach, someone that can push me, someone that I can push. Those are all important things.”
Last season, Gray posted a 4.28 ERA along with a 3.39 FIP, 27 percent strikeout rate and 5 percent walk rate over 32 starts and 180 2/3 innings. His 5.29 strikeout-to-walk ratio led the National League, and he posted 200 strikeouts for the second consecutive season. The strikeouts and innings pitched would have ranked second in the Red Sox rotation to Crochet.
Gray’s frustrations in New York stemmed from the way he was used and how he was asked to pitch. In Boston, he said he’s willing to learn and lean into the team’s analytical approach.
“I am who I am, but I definitely think there’s room for improvement,” he said, noting that while his walks are down and strikeouts up, he’s given up more damage the last two years. In 2025, he surrendered a career-high 25 homers while allowing 21 the year before after averaging just 13 homers per season the previous 11 years. It’s something he’d like to reel in.
“If you look at the last couple of years, my ERA inflated a little bit, and that’s directly correlated to damage,” he said. “Maybe a few more walks could be better. A few more walks, a few less hits, a few less homers, a little bit less damage, so that’s something that I would love to get into.”
As Gray begins the next chapter of his career, the Red Sox hope he can help bolster the rotation and fortify a young team for a deeper playoff run.
“I’m looking forward to the year,” he said. “I really am.”