photo: Hunter Dobbins (Patrick Gorski/Imagn Images)
The St. Louis Cardinals traded first baseman Willson Contreras to the Boston Red Sox for three right-handed pitchers, including MLB starter Hunter Dobbins. Our history feature covers key events this past week in team annals.
Cardinals trade Contreras to the Red Sox
On Sunday evening, ESPN’s Jeff Passan and others disclosed that the Cardinals have traded first baseman Willson Contreras to the Boston Red Sox. Contreras, 33, has two years remaining on his five-year contract, plus a team option for 2028 and had to waive his no-trade protection. Boston is said to be paying $32.5 million of the $40.5 million remaining on the contract, with St. Louis covering the rest. The trade has yet to be formally announced by either team.
Update: On Monday afternoon, December 22, the team issued a release detailing the trade.
In return for Contreras, the Cardinals will receive three right-handed pitchers -Hunter Dobbins, Yhoiker Fajardo and Blake Aita.
Dobbins, 26, made his major league debut with the Red Sox in 2025. He made 11 starts before he tore his ACL in his right knee on July 11. The injury occurred when Dobbins stepped on first base after fielding a ground ball. Ironically, another new Cardinal, Richard Fitts, was recalled from Triple-A to take Dobbins’ rotation spot for the remainder of the 2025 season.
The recovery time for ACL surgery is typically six to nine months so it is unclear when Dobbins will be ready for game action. According to the player on social media, he is close to being cleared to throw off a mound again.
Fajardo, age 19, ended his 2025 season with the Red Sox Single-A affiliate in Salem. He made four starts, posting a record of 0-1 with a 0.44 ERA. He was the Red Sox’ no. 9 prospect for 2026 according to Baseball America.
Aita, age 22, was the Red Sox’ sixth round draft pick in 2024. He ended his 2025 season with the Greenville Drive, Boston’s High-A affiliate. He made 10 starts at Greenville with an ERA of 3.98, 54 strikeouts and 21 walks in 64 1/3 innings. According to BA, Aita was going to be their no. 28 Red Sox prospect for 2026.
The trade of Contreras likely means that Alec Burleson will move to first base on a regular basis as the roster currently stands.
News and Notes for the Offseason
This section contains information and snippets of news that don’t require extensive coverage but are of interest to Cardinal fans.
- The Cardinals announced their 29th annual Winter Warm-Up fan festival and Cardinals Caravans. The former, reduced to two days in 2026, will be held at Ballpark Village and Busch Stadium on Saturday, January 17 and Sunday, January 18. Autograph tickets are now on sale. Details here.
- Seven different Cardinals ticket packs are also available. Information on purchasing them can be found
- “Banana Ball” will return to Busch Stadium in 2026. The Savannah Bananas, a popular entertainment baseball team, will come to Busch Stadium on Friday, August 21 and Saturday, August 22 as part of their world tour. More information about the event and how to get tickets can be found here.
The Big Picture
While it appeared to be a mostly uneventful week for the Cardinals, it turned out otherwise, as we learned Sunday evening that the team traded first baseman Willson Contreras to the Boston Red Sox. This is the second trade with the Red Sox since the offseason began, and the only trade partner for the Cardinals so far.
The return for Contreras was RHP Hunter Dobbins, RHP Yhoiker Fajardo, and RHP Blake Aita. Dobbins, 26, is the only 40-man roster player received by the Cardinals in this trade. Dobbins is expected to pitch in 2026 and will join the ranks of pitchers vying to make the starting rotation.
Fajardo, 19, and Aita, 22 will be assigned to one of the Cardinals minor league affiliates for 2026. Both pitchers finished their 2025 season at Class A.
The Cardinals officially announced the signing of Dustin May this week, and we learned the monetary details of the deal. The contract is reportedly $12 million for one year, with a $20 million mutual option for 2027. The buyout for the option is $500,000, making the total guaranteed money $12.5 million.
Because the 40-man roster was full when May was signed, a corresponding move had to be made. Outfielder Matt Koperniak was designated for assignment. He cleared waivers and was outrighted to the Memphis Redbirds.
The 40-man roster remains full. Any further additions will require an equal number of subtractions. There remains the possibility of further reductions through trades or waivers.
Many trade rumors continue concerning Cardinals players being shopped to facilitate the team’s rebuilding efforts. Brendan Donovan and JoJo Romero appear to be especially hot on the trade market. We learned last week that the Mariners and the Giants are the frontrunners for Donovan. A new team, the Baltimore Orioles, has been added to the list of teams reportedly interested in acquiring Romero.
Now that both Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras have been traded, one more veteran with a no-trade clause remains to be dealt, Nolan Arenado. Arenado was the Cardinal who needs to be traded the most and though he has expanded his list of teams for trade purposes, his contract, age and performance over the last several seasons continues to make trading him more difficult.
Arenado’s market has been slow to develop, but just this week some buzz emerged via Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic that the Los Angeles Angels could be a landing spot. According to Rosenthal, the Angels are currently negotiating a buyout agreement with third baseman Anthony Rendon. Once that is settled, the Angels will likely be looking for a third baseman and may consider Arenado. There are competing third basemen in the mix, however, such as free agents Alex Bregman and Eugenio Suarez, who may be more attractive candidates for the Angels (and other teams as well).
Stay tuned for more happenings as the offseason continues.
Trade and Acquisition Rumors
- Derrick Goold of the Post Dispatch reported that the Baltimore Orioles are interested in LHP JoJo Romero. The Orioles join a lengthy list of teams that have shown interest in the reliever. Romero, along with utility man Brendan Donovan, are hot commodities on the offseason trade market. Romero has only one year of control remaining and thus set to become a free agent at the end of the 2026 season.
- Goold also wrote in the article linked above that the Cardinals have interest in adding an innings-eater veteran starter to a growing rotation after RHP Dustin May was added to the roster last week. Given that the Cardinals are in rebuild mode and turning to a younger roster, such a veteran starter would likely only be added on a one-year contract. There are a number of such veteran hurlers on the free agent market. A trade is a possibility as well but the type of pitcher the team is looking for is not plentiful on the trade market.
Transactions
- 12/17 The Cardinals designated OF Matt Koperniak for assignment.
- 12/19 The Cardinals sent OF Matt Koperniak outright to the Memphis Redbirds.
Injury Report
- There are no further updates on the recovery from offseason surgeries of Masyn Winn, Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar, and Iván Herrera. Stay tuned to this space for any future updates.
Looking Ahead
The latter half of the month of December is often the quietest part of the offseason. With the holidays approaching, other endeavors take precedence, though it is not unheard of for teams to make trades and/or sign players during this period.
The only date of consequence coming up before the new year is December 31, which is the deadline for the Baseball Hall of Fame voters to turn in their ballots.
The next key date on the offseason calendar is January 8, 2026, which is the deadline for teams and their arbitration eligible players to exchange salary figures. As of this writing, the Cardinals have seven arbitration eligible players. They are Alec Burleson, Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar, JoJo Romero, Andre Pallante, Nolan Gorman and Matthew Liberatore.
The annual Cardinals Care Winter Warm-Up will take place on Saturday, January 17 and Sunday January 18, 2026. The Cardinals Caravan, which runs adjacent to the Winter Warmup, begins on January 16, 2026. Details can be found here and here.
Blast from the Past
This week’s Blast from the Past will continue with the series highlighting notable events that occurred in the history of the franchise during the current period. The offseason brings occasions such as awards, retirements, baseball transactions, and other interesting events.
In this installment, we look at events that occurred during the period December 15 through December 21. For each event, its date, individual(s) involved, a description of the event, and any other relevant details are provided.
December 17, 1932 – The Cardinals traded first baseman and future Hall of Famer Jim Bottomley to the Cincinnati Reds for RHP Ownie Carroll and OF Estel Crabtree.
December 17, 2019 – The Cardinals signed Korean LHP Kwang-Hyun Kim to a two-year/$11 million contract. The Cardinals paid a $1.6 million posting fee. Kim made 21 starts for the Cardinals over that period with a record of 7-7 and an ERA of 3.46. Kim became a free agent in 2021 and returned to Korea.
December 18, 2004 – The Cardinals traded RHP Dan Haren, RHP Kiko Calero, and 1B Daric Barton to the Oakland Athletics for LHP Mark Mulder.
December 19, 1954 – Outfielder Wally Moon was named the National League Rookie of the Year by the BBWAA. Moon was the first Cardinal to be selected as the NL Rookie of the Year, an award first given in 1947.
December 20, 1926 – The Cardinals traded 2B and future Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby to the New York Giants for another future Hall of Famer, 2B Frankie Frisch plus RHP Jimmy Ring. Frisch was an integral part of the 1930s Gas House Gang, who won a World Series Championship in 1934 and became St. Louis’ player/manager.
December 21, 1944 – Cardinals SS Marty Marion was named the National League Most Valuable Player and the Player of the Year by the Sporting News. Marion was the first Cardinal player to receive the NL honor.
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