Boston/ New York — The Boston Red Sox just pulled off a Thanksgiving week stunner that sends a clear message to their American League East rivals, including the New York Yankees.
But the arm they acquired carries some serious baggage in the Bronx.
Boston traded for veteran right-hander Sonny Gray, a former Yankees bust, on Tuesday, prying him loose from the St. Louis Cardinals with a deal that reworks his contract to essentially pay him $41 million for one season. The three-time All-Star waived his no-trade clause to join the Red Sox, who eliminated rookie Connelly Early as their October safety net by adding a pitcher with 330 career starts.
The Cardinals are shipping $20 million to Boston to help offset the price tag. In return, St. Louis receives left-handed pitching prospect Brandon Clarke and right-hander Richard Fitts.
Meanwhile, the New York Mets quietly scooped up another former Yankees arm. Nick Burdi, a hard-throwing reliever who spent the 2024 season in the Bronx, signed a minor league contract with New York on the same day.
Gray’s rocky history in pinstripes
Gray arrives in Boston with a reputation that Yankees fans know all too well.
The Oakland Athletics dealt him to New York at the 2017 trade deadline for a package that included three top prospects. The move was supposed to deliver the missing rotation piece for a Yankees team eyeing a championship.
It did not work out that way the Yankees expected.
Gray posted a 4.90 ERA during the 2018 season and struggled mightily at Yankee Stadium, where he allowed runs at a 6.98 clip. The team pulled him from the rotation midway through the year and left him off their postseason roster entirely.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman publicly stated that winter the organization would seek to trade him. Gray eventually landed with the Cincinnati Reds in January 2019 and immediately found his footing again.
He later attributed his struggles to a philosophical clash with the Yankees pitching staff. However, he went on to win three All-Star honors and becoming one of MLB’s top arms in 2023.
“They had me throw more breaking balls than I ever had before,” Gray told The Athletic after leaving the organization. “They wanted me to be Tanaka and I’m way different from him.”
Boston’s rotation gets a workhorse
The Red Sox entered the offseason with a glaring need.
Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow made the team’s priorities clear at the GM Meetings earlier this month.
“Starting pitching,” Breslow said. “And particularly someone we feel can start alongside or slot in behind Garrett and start a playoff game for us. I don’t think we’re going to spend a ton of time trying to add a No. 4 or a No. 5 starter. If we’re going to make a starting pitching addition, I think it should be somebody who can pitch at the front of a rotation and start a playoff game for us.”
Gray checks several boxes. The ex-Yankees pitcher went 14-8 with a 4.28 ERA last season while making all 32 of his scheduled starts. His 201 strikeouts ranked 11th in the majors. Advanced metrics suggest his ERA was inflated by poor defense and bad luck, with his FIP sitting at 3.39 and his walk rate landing in the 93rd percentile.
Whether he qualifies as the true No. 2 starter Breslow described remains debatable. Gray turns 36 years old in November and his home run rate has trended upward over the past two seasons.
Still, he and Garrett Crochet now form one of only a handful of pitcher duos in baseball to each record 200 or more strikeouts in consecutive seasons.
“Sonny is a very talented major league pitcher,” Breslow said Tuesday night. “The seasons that he’s put up pretty consistently indicate that to be the case. That said, we still intend to improve our team. Exactly what that looks like, we don’t know right now.”
Cardinals continue their rebuild
St. Louis is moving in a different direction under new president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom.
The former Red Sox executive took over this fall and wasted little time reshaping the roster. Gray becomes the first significant departure of what could be a busy winter in St. Louis.
“I signed here two years ago with the expectation of winning and trying to win, and that hasn’t played out that way,” Gray said in September when asked about potentially waiving his no-trade clause.
The Cardinals missed the playoffs for the third straight season in 2025 and finished 78-84. They are expected to explore trades involving third baseman Nolan Arenado and possibly catcher Willson Contreras as well.
Bloom praised Gray’s work ethic and pitching intelligence.
“He really understands what he’s doing. He’s incredibly thoughtful about the art of pitching,” Bloom said. “These guys that pitch at a high level into their mid-30s so far, it doesn’t happen by accident.”
Mets add former Bronx reliever
While the Gray deal grabbed headlines, the Mets made a quieter move that brings another former Yankee into the New York baseball ecosystem.
Nick Burdi signed a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. The 32-year-old right-hander has bounced around the majors since debuting with Pittsburgh in 2018.
The Yankees gave him a chance in 2024. He posted a 1.86 ERA through 12 appearances before landing on the injured list with hip inflammation in late May. New York designated him for assignment in September.
Burdi threw 5.1 scoreless innings for the Red Sox this past season across four appearances. He dominated at Triple-A Worcester with a 2.83 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 35 innings.
Injuries have defined his career. Burdi has undergone two Tommy John surgeries and battled through thoracic outlet syndrome, an emergency appendectomy and multiple hip issues.
His stuff remains intriguing. The ex-Yankees hurler features a sinker that sits in the mid-90s and a swing-and-miss slider.
The Mets bullpen still lacks definition heading into 2026. All-Star closer Edwin Diaz remains unsigned. Burdi represents a low-risk addition with potential upside if he can stay healthy.
What it means for the Yankees rivalry
Gray facing his former team in pinstripes should make for compelling viewing when the Red Sox visit the Bronx next season.
He joins a list of former Yankees who have crossed over to Boston. Aroldis Chapman made the same journey recently.
The Red Sox knocked the Yankees out of the 2025 Wild Card Series, winning two games to one. Adding Gray signals their intent to compete for division supremacy in 2026.
Boston still plans to pursue a power bat this winter. Breslow has mentioned the need to add pop to a lineup that lacked home run threats after trading Rafael Devers last summer.
Free agents like Pete Alonso and Kyle Schwarber could fit that profile.
For now, the rotation looks significantly deeper. Gray slots in behind Crochet with Brayan Bello and Kutter Crawford providing additional depth. Patrick Sandoval, Kyle Harrison and the rookie tandem of Payton Tolle and Connelly Early give Boston options at the back end.
The question is whether Gray can recapture his 2023 form, when he finished second in American League Cy Young voting with a 2.79 ERA for Minnesota.
At age 36, betting on a career resurgence is risky. But the Red Sox structured the deal to minimize their exposure. With St. Louis eating $20 million of the salary and the contract essentially functioning as a one-year commitment, Boston gets a proven innings eater without mortgaging the future.
The Yankees will watch closely. So will the rest of the AL East.
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