Cardinals trade Willson Contreras to Red Sox

Willson Contreras (David B. King, Wikimedia Commons)

There was a trade made in Major League Baseball on Monday between the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals, two franchises with a rich history who met in the 1946, 1967, 2004, and 2013 World Series. The Cardinals traded catcher Willson Contreras of Puerto Cabello, Venezuela to the Red Sox for pitcher Hunter Dobbins of Bryan, Texas, and minor league pitchers Blake Atia and Yhoiker Fajardo according to Rogers Sportsnet. 

Contreras is joining his third Major League Baseball franchise. He was with the Chicago Cubs from 2016 to 2022, and the Cardinals from 2023 to 2025. While with the Cubs, Contreras was selected to three All-Star Games (2018, 2019, 2022), and was part of the Chicago team that won the 2016 World Series. It was the Cubs’s first World Series since 1908.

In 2025, Contreras batted .257 with 20 home runs and 80 runs batted in. During 135 games, 490 at bats and 563 plate appearances, he scored 70 runs and had 126 hits, 31 doubles, one triple, five stolen bases, 44 walks, 219 total bases, one sacrifice bunt, four sacrifice flies, an on base percentage of .344 and a slugging percentage of .447. The triple came in a 5-1 Cardinals win over the Athletics on September 3.

Dobbins was a rookie for the Red Sox in 2025. In 13 games, he had a record of four wins and one loss. During 61 innings pitched, Dobbins gave up 61 hits, 28 earned runs, six home runs and 17 walks, to go along with 45 strikeouts, three quality starts, and a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 1.28. It will now be interesting to see how the Cardinals will use Dobbins–whether it is as a starter or reliever.