The St. Louis Cardinals have completed a significant trade with the Boston Red Sox, sending veteran right-hander Sonny Gray and $20M to Boston in exchange for right-handed pitcher Richard Fitts, left-handed pitcher Brandon Clarke, a PTBNL or cash.
“We are pleased to add these two talented young pitchers to our organization,” Bloom said in the team’s official release. “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. Both have the potential to be part of our growing core for a long time, and we are happy to welcome them to the Cardinals.”
Gray was due $35M in 2026 plus a $5MM buyout on a $30M club option for the 2027 season. The contract stipulated that even if the option was picked up, Gray could opt out and head back into free agency.
His contract has now been slightly restructured. The new deal pays him $31M in 2026 and includes a $10M buyout on a mutual option for 2027. The amended deal reinforces the fact that Gray is a one-year rental — it’s been more than a decade since a mutual option was exercised by both parties in MLB — but it also comes with some perks for him.
Gray is now guaranteed an extra six million dollars in 2026 (with St. Louis covering $20M and Boston $21M). Under the previous contract, if the Red Sox had picked up Gray’s $30MM option, he’d have forfeited the $5MM buyout by opting back into free agency. Now, he’ll receive a fully guaranteed $41M for one year.
Richard Fitts, RHP (Age 25)
Fitts, a 6-foot-3, 245-pound righty, has already logged big-league time with Boston, posting a 2-5 record and 3.97 ERA across 15 appearances (14 starts) spanning the 2024 and 2025 seasons. In 65⅔ innings, he allowed three earned runs or fewer in 11 of his 14 starts and worked at least five innings in eight of them.
Originally a 2021 sixth-round pick by the Yankees out of Auburn, Fitts was part of the package Boston received in the December 2023 trade that sent Alex Verdugo to New York. Across his minor-league career, the 25-year-old has made 80 appearances (most as a starter) and dominated at Triple-A Worcester to the tune of an 11-6 record and 4.13 ERA.
Entering 2025, Baseball America ranked him as Boston’s No. 12 prospect and credited him with the “best control” among pitchers in the Red Sox system – a trait that immediately stands out to Cardinals evaluators looking to stabilize a rotation that has leaned heavily on veterans in recent years.
Brandon Clarke, LHP (Age 22)
The second piece of the return is 22-year-old left-hander Brandon Clarke, a 2024 fifth-round pick who rocketed up prospect lists in his first full professional season. The 6-foot-4, 220-pounder out of State College of Florida made 14 starts split between High-A Greenville and Low-A Salem in 2025, striking out 60 batters in just 38 innings.
Clarke currently sits as the No. 5 prospect in Boston’s system according to MLB Pipeline, and No. 86 overall in MLB Prospects by FanGraphs, with scouts praising his projectable frame, rapidly improving stuff, and a ceiling that Bloom described as rivaling “any pitcher in the minor leagues.”
Baseball America on X (formerly Twitter): “The Cardinals are acquiring LHP Brandon Clarke in the Sonny Gray trade. We had our eye on Clarke early this season 👀 pic.twitter.com/0riSxEW6WZ / X”
The Cardinals are acquiring LHP Brandon Clarke in the Sonny Gray trade. We had our eye on Clarke early this season 👀 pic.twitter.com/0riSxEW6WZ
Why Brandon Clarke could be a breakout prospect in 2026
A little over a year after the 2024 Draft, the Red Sox have to be pleased with their early returns. First-rounder Braden Montgomery became a key trade piece in the deal that landed ace Garrett Crochet, and second-rounder Payton Tolle has already made his big league debut and ranks as
