By MATT PIKE
In a move to start a rebuild, and build the team around its young pieces, the St. Louis Cardinals have reportedly traded the ace of the 2025 starting rotation, moving Sonny Gray.
The Cardinals are reportedly trading the right-hander to the Boston Red Sox, a source told MLB.com's Mark Feinsand today. The clubs have not confirmed the move. The Red Sox will also receive cash in the deal.
Gray is set to make $35 million in the final year of his three-year contract, which includes a $30 million club option for 2027. He also has a no-trade clause, reports say he has waived his no trade clause to allow the move for him to leave.
Gray, a 13-year MLB veteran, is a three-time All-Star and at his best finished as the runner-up to Gerrit Cole for the AL Cy Young Award in 2023, when he was a member of the Minnesota Twins. He became a free agent after that season and signed the deal with the Cardinals. Last year with the Cardinals, Gray finished 14-8 with a 4.28 ERA and 201 strikeouts. In his two seasons with St. Louis he started 60 games and had a 27-17 record with a 4.07 ERA and 404 strikeouts in 347 innings pitched.
For his career, the right-hander has a 3.58 ERA with 1,925 strikeouts over 330 starts. The Red Sox add a seasoned veteran arm to their rotation, which is headlined by southpaw Garrett Crochet.
In return, the Cardinals get a couple pitchers from the Red Sox in left-hander Brandon Clarke, Boston's #5 prospect, and right-hander Richard Fitts.
The headliner of the deal for the Cardinals will be the 22-year-old Clarke, who was a fifth-round Draft pick by the Red Sox in 2024. In his first professional season in 2025, the lefty made 14 starts at Single-A and High-A and posted a 4.03 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 38 innings.
Fitts made his major league debut in 2024 and has pitched 15 games, 14 of those starts, in the big leagues over the past two seasons. The 25-year-old righty has a 3.97 ERA in those outings with 49 strikeouts in 65 2/3 innings.
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