Cardinals Already Getting Praise for Sonny Gray-Red Sox Trade

The Cardinals made the right decision to trade Sonny Gray to the Red Sox this offseason...

Sep 24, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Sonny Gray (54) strikes out San Francisco Giants first baseman Bryce Eldridge (not pictured) for his two hundredth strike out for the season during the fifth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images | Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals have tried to contend for the last decade. After a few years with some success, they began to fall off over the last couple of seasons. Instead of committing to a rebuild and building the roster for the future, the Cardinals kept adding veterans.

After years of failing to contend, the Cardinals finally opted to rebuild this offseason. This included a slew of moves with four major trades being the cornerstone deals of the offseason.

They traded Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras to the Boston Red Sox in two separate deals. Later on, the moved Nolan Arenado to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Finally, the Cardinals swung a three team blockbuster that sent Brendan Donovan to the Seattle Mariners.

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Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter recently shared a lot of high praise for the Gray trade and called it one of the Cardinals best moves of the offseason. In exchange for Gray, the Cardinals landed Brandon Clarke and Richard Fitts.

Trading Sonny Gray was the right decision for the Cardinals

Sep 19, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Sonny Gray (54) pitches against the Milwaukee Brewers during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

"Ideally, this is what the Cardinals offseason would have looked like a year ago, but they have officially kicked off rebuilding efforts by trading away their three high-priced veterans and leaning into a youth movement," Reuter wrote. "They also shipped out 2025 All-Star Brendan Donovan, but the clear focus here was shedding salary, and the three guys listed above saved the team more money when they were flipped to contenders."

Getting Gray and his salary off the books at his age is a win for the Cardinals. While he might find some success in Boston, the Cardinals had no use for a veteran like him anymore.

Adding two talented prospects sets the Cardinals up for a lot more future success. Clarke is the big star of the deal, but he's already dealing with injury issues.

Fitts has a chance to make the opening day roster. The righty has been solid during his time in the big leagues, though there's a lot of room to improve. Last season, he was hit around quite a bit in 45 innings with the Red Sox.

Still, Fitts has the talent and potential to crack the rotation in St. Louis.

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