By Katie Woo, Jen McCaffrey and Ken Rosenthal

The St. Louis Cardinals sent veteran starting pitcher Sonny Gray to the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday, signaling the first significant trade under new St. Louis president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom and filling a need in Boston.

The Red Sox, for whom Bloom was the leader of baseball operations from 2020-23, stated a desire to improve the rotation behind ace Garrett Crochet entering the offseason, and the addition of Gray does that while adding veteran postseason experience to the mix.

The Cardinals received pitchers Brandon Clarke, who was a top Boston prospect, and Richard Fitts in the exchange. They also covered $20 million of Gray’s salary, a source confirmed to The Athletic.

Gray, 36, just completed the second season of a backloaded three-year, $75 million deal he signed with St. Louis ahead of 2024. His contract is being reworked so that he will make $31 million next year with a mutual option buyout of $10 million, sources told The Athletic. He will essentially receive $41 million in 2026.

Source confirms: Sonny Gray traded from Cardinals to Red Sox. Contract being reworked to one-year plus mutual option. 2026 salary will be $31M, mutual option buyout of $10M. Gray essentially getting $41M for one year.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 25, 2025

Gray was originally set to make $35 million in 2026, with a team option worth $30 million for 2027.

Gray indicated he could waive his full no-trade clause at the end of the season, when it became clear the Cardinals were headed towards a traditional rebuild. The Cardinals did not need to trade Gray, but were willing to part with their ace if it meant landing a significant return, while also reducing payroll.

There was no question Gray would garner heavy interest, but there was some worry over where he’d approve a trade. Multiple sources familiar with Gray’s situation said the veteran preferred to stay close to his home in Nashville, Tenn., and wanted to pitch for a contending team.

Gray isn’t the top-of-the-rotation starter he once was, but his addition undoubtedly strengthens Boston’s starting group. At the moment, he’ll slot in behind Crochet as the club’s No. 2 starter, a spot the Red Sox set out to bolster this offseason.

Gray has been durable, making 24 or more starts in each full season since 2019. Last season, he posted a 4.28 ERA over 32 starts and logged 200-plus strikeouts for the second straight season. He also recorded the highest strikeout-to-walk ratio in the National League (5.29).

Adding that 200-strikeout potential behind Crochet was key, according to a team source. Last season behind Crochet, Brayan Bello struck out 124 in 166 2/3 innings and Lucas Giolito struck out 121 in 145 innings.

Gray also offers a wealth of postseason experience, with a 3.26 ERA in six playoff starts with the then-Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins. The Red Sox rotation lacked extensive background in that area before this season.

“If we’re going to make a starting pitching addition,” Craig Breslow said at general managers’ meetings this month, “I think it should be somebody who can pitch at the front of a rotation and start a playoff game for us.”

The Red Sox have roughly $40 million to spend before hitting the $244 million luxury tax threshold and may use that money to bolster their lineup with a power hitter like Pete Alonso or Kyle Schwarber, or for a reunion with Alex Bregman. More pitching is not off the table either.

The Cardinals need to acquire MLB-ready rotation depth this offseason, and addressed that to an extent with Fitts. They will still need to add at least one more external starting pitcher to fill the void created by Gray’s departure.

While St. Louis will rely on Michael McGreevy and Matthew Liberatore as returning starters in the rotation, they need to see improved performance from Andre Pallante before penciling him in next year. Reliever Kyle Leahy will have the chance to break in as a starter come spring training, and top pitching prospects Quinn Mathews, Brycen Mautz and Liam Doyle (the Cardinals’ first-round draft pick last year) are names worth watching in the upper minor leagues.

Fitts gives St. Louis another option in the back-end of their rotation. Acquired from the New York Yankees in the Alex Verdugo trade in 2023, the right-hander filled in the Red Sox rotation at a few points this past season, posting a 5.00 ERA over 11 appearances (10 starts) for the Red Sox last year. But he also dealt with a series of injuries, including a pectoral strain that sidelined him for a few months before he developed season-ending right elbow neuritis in August.

Clarke, a 22-year-old lefty, ranks among the team’s top 20 prospects. The 2024 fifth-rounder posted a 4.03 ERA in 14 starts between Low-A Salem and High-A Greenville with a 34.5 percent strikeout rate. Though he has been brought along as a starter, some evaluators believe he’ll be better suited to high-leverage relief, unless he can further develop a third pitch to complement his high-90s fastball and hard slider.

The Athletic’s Will Sammon contributed to this report.