The American League East has gotten a bit tougher on Sunday evening.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Boston Red Sox have acquired Willson Contreras from the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Hunter Dobbins, Yhoiker Farjado, and Blake Aita. The Cardinals also sent $8 million to cover a portion of Contreras’ contract.
Full trade, per ESPN sources:
Red Sox get: 1B Willson Contreras and $8 million to cover part of his remaining $41.5 million in salary
Cardinals get: RHP Hunter Dobbins, RHP Yhoiker Fajardo and RHP Blake Aita
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 22, 2025
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Originally a catcher, Contreras has spent the last three seasons with the Cardinals, mainly as a first baseman. In 2025, Contreras slashed .257/.344/.447 with 20 home runs in 563 plate appearances, along with a 25.2 K% and 7.8 BB%. Those 563 plate appearances were the most in a single season of his career.
Contreras has hit the 20-home run mark six times in his 10 year career, and was just five home runs short in 2024 as he hit 15 homers in 358 plate appearances for a 141 wRC+. By acquiring Contreras, the Red Sox have added some middle-of-the-lineup thump.
It’s also unclear what will happen to Triston Casas, who played in just 29 games last season before injury. It was the second consecutive season where more than half of it was spent on the shelf, as the first baseman played just 63 games in 2024. In his one and only healthy season back in 2023, Casas slashed .263/.367/.490 with 24 home runs in 502 plate appearances.
The Red Sox have been active on the trade front this season. In late November, they acquired Sonny Gray to bolster their rotation, who also spent the 2024 season on the Cardinals. A few days later, they acquired Johan Oviedo and some other pieces from the Pittsburgh Pirates. However, they are yet to sign a player to a major league contract.
As for what the Red Sox gave up, Dobbins appeared in 13 games, making 11 starts, in Major League Baseball last season. Overall, he had a 4.13 ERA and 3.87 FIP in 61 innings pitched. Neither Farjado or Aita rank on MLB Pipeline’s top 30 list for the Red Sox. In 2025, Farjado had a 2.25 ERA and 2.47 FIP in 72 innings pitched. Aita, also a pitcher, had a 3.98 ERA and 4.10 FIP in 115.1 innings pitched last season.
Time will tell what else the Red Sox do this off-season, but the arms race in the American League East continues. Hopefully, the Toronto Blue Jays can get that big bat that they’re after.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.