BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Red Sox added 36-year-old right-hander Sonny Gray to their rotation on Tuesday, filling one of their biggest needs by acquiring the three-time All-Star from the St. Louis Cardinals with more than two months left in the offseason.
The Cardinals will eat $20 million of Gray’s salary and receive righty Richard Fitts and a prospect in the deal. Gray gives Boston a dependable option who could take some of the pressure off the rest of the rotation behind ace Garrett Crochet.
“We’ve been pretty transparent about our desire to add to the rotation, and our desire to add a bat,” Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow told reporters on a conference call. “I don’t think anybody wants to feel like they’re in a position of having to check off multiple items on the shopping list and feel like you’re either running out of time or running out of options. … But certainly we feel good about where we sit today.”
Gray went 14-8 with a 4.28 ERA for the Cardinals last season, striking out 201 batters and walking 38 in 32 starts — the best ratio in the NL. He is one of five pitchers to record at least 200 strikeouts in each of the last two seasons.
“When you think about what Sonny has been in this league, it’s a guy who’s pitched at the front of rotations,” Breslow said. “Those things that we think pitchers carry from year to year are things like strikeout rates and walk rates and ability to just stay off barrels. He excels there.”
In a 13-year career with five teams, Gray is 125-102 with a 3.58 ERA. Asked if Gray was the No. 2 starter the Red Sox were seeking, Breslow said, “I don’t know how much sense it makes in November to put a number on a guy.”
“Sonny is a very talented major league pitcher. The seasons that he’s put up pretty consistently indicate that to be the case,” he said. “That said, we still intend to improve our team. Exactly what that looks like, we don’t know right now.”
Fitts, who turns 26 next month, was 2-4 with a 5.00 ERA as a rookie in Boston last season. The Cardinals also get 22-year-old lefty Brandon Clarke, a fifth-round draft pick who has pitched only in Class A and is rated the No. 5 prospect in the Red Sox system by MLB.com, and a player to be named or cash.
“Richard Fitts has already begun his big league career, and with his power stuff and willingness to attack the strike zone, he has the ability to start games at the highest level for many years. Brandon Clarke is an exciting left-handed prospect whose ceiling rivals that of any pitcher in the minor leagues,” said Cardinals President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom, who previously held that job with the Red Sox. “Both have the potential to be part of our growing core for a long time.”
Gray, who waived his no-trade clause, had been guaranteed $40 million for the next two seasons: $35 million for 2026 and a $5 million buyout of a $30 million team option for 2027. His contract was changed to guarantee him a $31 million salary for next year and a $30 million mutual option for 2027 with a $10 million buyout.
St. Louis will pay Boston $2.5 million on the 15th of each month from April through September and then $5 million next Dec. 1.
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AP Sports Writer David Skretta in Kansas City, Missouri, contributed to this report.
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