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His addition to the 40-man roster protects him from the Rule 5 Draft in December. Withrow, 22, posted a solid 4.20 ERA and 130 strikeouts over 128 2/3 innings this season at the Double-A level. The 2007 first-round pick still has problems with his command, but gets plenty of swings and misses. He could be bullpen-bound in the long run.

The Cardinals are sending along $8 million. Since he received a $1 million bonus to waive his no-trade clause, Contreras is due to earn $42.5 million for two years or, if his 2028 club option is exercised, $55 million for three. After missing out on Kyle Schwarber and Pete Alonso, getting Contreras could be seen as a letdown for the Red Sox, but this is a truly excellent hitter who still might yet have a career year in him after being freed from catching duties. His OPS+s the last four years have ranged from 123 to 138, and he was still showing 95th-percentile bat speed at age 33 last season. This is also a nice little ballpark upgrade for him, adding to his fantasy value. He’ll probably be Boston’s first baseman on Opening Day, though he could do more DHing if the Red Sox trade an outfielder and Triston Casas proves more worthy of playing time than Masataka Yoshida.

As a 25-year-old rookie, Dobbins had a solid 4.13 ERA in 11 starts and two relief appearances for the Red Sox before tearing his ACL while going to cover first base in July. If he’s not ready for the start of 2026, he shouldn’t be far behind, and he’ll definitely get a look in the rotation at some point. While his ceiling seems limited, Dobbins has the varied arsenal, above average command and solid groundball rate of a No. 4 starter. Contreras’s exit leaves a big hole in the St. Louis lineup, but the Cardinals are rebuilding anyway and now there’s another 600 plate appearances freed up for Jordan Walker, Nolan Gorman and Thomas Saggese. Or maybe they’ll want to give Iván Herrera a look at first, which would open the door for catcher Jimmy Crooks to play a significant role.

It’s already the second trade of the career of the young Fajardo, who just turned 19 in October. Oddly enough, the Red Sox picked him up from the White Sox for Cam Booser a year ago today. He had a 2.25 ERA and an 83/27 K/BB in 72 innings as a starter between Rookie and Low-A ball last season. MLB Pipeline had him as Boston’s No. 23 prospect, while SoxProspects.com placed him eighth in the system.

Aita, a 22-year-old righty, had a 3.98 ERA and a 99/30 K/BB in 115 1/3 innings between Low-A and High-A in 2025. MLB Pipeline did not include him in their most recent update of Boston’s top 30 prospects.

The former Braves prospect moved to the bullpen midway through the 2024 season and has pitched there for the last two years with the White Sox and Athletics. The results have not been great with Shuster combining for a 6.94 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, and 28/14 K/BB ratio in 35 innings at Triple-A last year.

Sato, who was considered a likely choice as the No. 1 overall pick in Japan’s draft next year, is planning to sit out next season before pitching for Penn State in 2027 and entering that year’s MLB draft. With his high-90s fastball and hard splitter, he could easily be a first-round pick that year.

Fletcher first appeared on fantasy radars in 2023 with an intriguing debut with the Diamondbacks. He spent the last two years with the White Sox and failed to produce at the MLB level, but did hit .260/.317/.453 with 17 home runs and seven steals in 105 games at Triple-A. Perhaps the 28-year-old can emerge as a fourth outfielder in Pittsburgh.

Every team needs depth, but the rest of the AL East is making big moves to fill out their MLB rosters, and the Yankees are just signing players around the fringes. Sánchez has just 133 MLB plate appearances in his four MLB seasons, so the 28-year-old will likely just be organizational depth.

The Red Sox have been linked to Bregman all offseason and seem to have every intention of re-signing their third baseman from last year. However, Bregman’s market is heating up, so if he were to sign with another team, McCaffrey notes that the Red Sox intend to “push harder for free-agent infielder Bo Bichette with the intent of playing him at second base” and starting Marcelo Mayer at third base. “The Red Sox are also in the mix for free agent third baseman Eugenio Suárez and have shown interest in Houston’s Isaac Paredes and Arizona’s Ketel Marte” per McCaffrey. However, trades feel less likely now that the Red Sox have depleted much of their minor league starting pitching depth.

The 25-year-old Canario has a .229/.283/.368 slash line in 108 MLB games. He was a prospect of note back in 2023 after a huge 2022 season, but he was never able to match that level again. Last season, he slashed .243/.336/.514 with 18 home runs, 47 RBI, and five steals in 64 games in Triple-A. It wouldn’t be surprising if he lead Nippon Professional Baseball in home runs next season.