Sonny Gray Reveals What Led To Decision To Leave Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals' rotation has taken a significant hit already this offseason as the organization traded Sonny Gray to the Boston Red Sox.

St. Louis did get two pitchers in return who can help this team in the long run. Richard Fitts is 25 years old and has 15 games of big league experience under his belt. Brandon Clarke was Boston's No. 5 prospect before the deal to come over to St. Louis, but he hasn't made his big league debut yet.

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Gray is someone who was in trade rumors for a while, but with a no-trade clause it wasn't guaranteed that he would be moved. Last offseason and ahead of the trade deadline the topic came up, but Gray wanted to stick around. So, what led to the change of heart this offseason? Gray opened up about why he was willing to leave now, as transcribed by The Athletic's Jen McCaffrey.

Sonny Gray opened up

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

"What did factor into my decision to come to Boston, it feels good to me to go to a place now where, you know what, it’s easy to hate the Yankees, right? It’s easy to go out and have that rivalry and go into it with full force, full steam ahead. I like the challenge," Gray said on Tuesday.

That's not all, though. Gray opened up about wanting to go to a competitive market, as transcribed by MassLive.com's Sean McAdam.

"I just expressed that it would probably be beneficial for me and my family to maybe go to a different situation, a different organization that was maybe going a little bit more all-in for the next year or two in trying to win a World Series,” Gray said. "...I definitely haven’t’ accomplished everything in the game that I want to and a deep run in the postseason and winning a World Series is definitely one of those things...

"I kind of followed along last year and the situation Boston was in. Gray continued. "I really felt like it would be a really good situation. I always said I wanted to go to a market that was super competitive, a big market that wants to win. I know I can thrive in that situation. Boston just checked all the boxes for me."

Gray was a great member of the Cardinals organization, but St. Louis and Boston are in two different situations right now. The Red Sox won 89 games in 2025 and the Cardinals won 78 games. Now, Gray has a better shot at a deep playoff run.

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