Gray, who turned 36 earlier this month, opted not to waive his full no-trade clause last offseason, when the Cardinals planned to take a step back and focus on player development instead of their usual win-now mantra. However, after the team missed the playoffs in 2025, Gray publicly acknowledged that he would “definitely” consider trade scenarios as the Cardinals lean even further into a multi-year rebuilding effort. “I signed here two years ago with the expectation of winning and trying to win, and it didn’t work out that way,” he said in September. “I want to win.”
Joining a Red Sox rotation headlined by a Cy Young runner-up, he’ll now get a chance to win Garrett Crochet And an offense powered by rising superstars roman anthonyBoston clinched a wild card berth in the American League last season, and although they lost two games to the Yankees in that series, they are a clear win-now club with postseason aspirations, The same can’t be said for the Cardinals,
Gray is entering the final guaranteed season of the three-year, $75MM contract he originally signed in St. Louis when he was coming off his own Cy Young runner-up performance with the 2023 Twins. However, this is a heavily backloaded contract. Gray will be paid $35MM in 2026 and is also due a $5MM buyout on a $30MM club option for the 2027 season. However, even with that option, Gray should be considered a rental. There is a provision in his contract that he can opt out and return to free agency if the club chooses that option. This would give the Red Sox a $5MM buyout on the option. But if Gray performs well enough for the Sox to exercise the $30MM option, he’ll likely return in free agency and look for a multi-year deal.
By today’s standards, the gray is a workhorse. He threw 180 2/3 innings of 4.28 ERA ball in 2025 and had more encouraging strikeout statistics. With the exception of a shortened 2020 season (when he made 11 of 12 possible starts), the former first-round pick has started at least 24 games every year since 2019, averaging 29 starts per 162-game season in that time. Gray has not been able to return to the level of performance he displayed in his second-place Cy Young finish with Minnesota, but he has posted a 4.07 ERA, 28.4% strikeout rate, 5.4% walk rate and 43.2% grounder rate in 347 innings over his two seasons in St. Louis.
more to come.
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