The Boston Red Sox have acquired veteran slugger Willson Contreras in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals, reports ESPN. The Cardinals will receive righty Hunter Dobbins and minor-league pitchers Yhoiker Fajardo and Blake Aita in return, according to The Athletic. This is the second significant Cardinals/Red Sox trade this offseason; Boston sent two young pitchers to St. Louis for Sonny Gray last month.
Similar to Gray, Contreras will receive an additional $1 million in guaranteed money in exchange for waiving his no-trade clause, according to the Boston Globe. He is signed through 2027 with a club option for 2028, and now has $42.5 million coming his way. The Cardinals will pay $8 million of the $42.5 million, reports MassLive. While Contreras initially showed no interest in leaving St. Louis, even in the face of the ongoing rebuild, he eventually reconsidered and waived it to approve the deal to a Red Sox club that, unlike the Cardinals, figures to contend in 2026.
The trade pushes Boston’s payroll into the same range as last year, meaning the the Red Sox will either have to raise payroll or shed a contract(s) to bring back third baseman Alex Bregman.
Contreras, who’s going into his age-34 season, is a former catcher who will likely man first base and DH for the Red Sox, as he did for the Cardinals in 2025. He gives Boston a needed middle-of-the-order righty bat and fits Fenway Park well given his above-average pulled fly ball rate. Contreras is coming off another productive season:Â
Those 2025 outputs were good for a 123 OPS+ and a 2.5 WAR in 135 games. Contreras continues to back up his strong offensive production with similarly imposing batted-ball indicators. All of that suggests he’s likely to continue producing at a high level for the time being. For his career, the three-time All-Star has an OPS+ of 118 and a WAR of 29.2 across parts of 10 MLB seasons. Over that same span, he’s averaged 26 home runs and 31 doubles per 162 games played. Defensively, Contreras put up strong numbers last season, his first as a primary first baseman.
Dobbins, 26, had a 4.13 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 61 innings in 2025, his first season in the majors. A knee injury ended his season in July, though he is expected to be ready in time for spring training. MLB Pipeline ranked Fajardo as the No. 23 prospect in Boston’s system, calling him a “potential mid-rotation starter.” Aita was unranked. He and Fajardo both pitched in Single-A in 2025.
Boston went 87-73 in 2025 and reached the postseason for the first time since 2021. They were eliminated by the rival New York Yankees in the Wild Card Series.