Boston

Red Sox

The two teams — Chaim Bloom’s former club and his current club — have already swung a decade’s worth of deals in the last five months, with the Red Sox acquiring Steven Matz at the deadline and Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras in separate trades in the offseason. The Athletic recently placed the Giants and Mariners as the frontrunners for Donovan. The Red Sox and Rays are among the teams that have also sought Ketel Marte for second base, but while Marte is the better player, Donovan has a more varied market because of his ability to play several spots. The Red Sox would probably put Donovan at second, but having him at third and Marcelo Mayer at second might make more sense for them.

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 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 Cardinals will get righties Hunter Dobbins, Yhoiker Fajardo and Blake Aita and will send Boston $8 million, according to Passan. Contreras, who is owed $41.5 million for the next two years or, if his option is picked up, $54 million for the next three, will apparently be waiving his no-trade clause to take over as Boston’s first baseman. That means Triston Casas could open up in Triple-A if healthy, though if he impresses in the spring, there’s also the chance the Red Sox could go with him and Contreras splitting time between first and DH. The Cardinals figure to install Alec Burleson at first, which would open an outfield spot back up for Jordan Walker alongside Lars Nootbarr and Victor Scott II. Contreras hit .257/.344/.447 with 20 homers in 135 games last season in his first year since giving up catching.

Campbell is 6-for-28 with a 5/6 K/BB in eight games in Puerto Rico. The Red Sox have him focusing on the outfield, which wouldn’t seem to bode well for him making an impact early on next season. However, he probably has some work to do in Triple-A anyway after a rookie campaign in which he got off to a nice start but faded quickly.

It’s an extremely rare prospect challenge trade as the Nationals ship out a talented southpaw on the cusp of the big leagues as a back-end starter in exchange for Perales, who boasts triple-digit velocity and sky-high upside if he stays healthy and improves his control. The flame-throwing 22-year-old righty looked sharp in the Arizona Fall League after being limited to just three appearances this season in the upper minors while recovering from last year’s Tommy John surgery. If it all comes together, Perales has the raw stuff to become a legitimate impact arm for a rebuilding Nationals club.

Bennett qualifies as an interesting pickup for the Red Sox as the type of above-average extension pitching prospect their front office typically covets after posting a strong 2.27 ERA — 2.96 FIP — and 21.5 percent strikeout rate across 75 1/3 innings across three levels in Washington’s system this past season in his return from Tommy John surgery. The 25-year-old southpaw figures to arrive at Fenway Park at some point next season as a back-end rotation arm. He put together an extremely impressive performance in the Arizona Fall League earlier this offseason, piling up 25 punchouts over 20 innings of work.