Red Sox acquire Wilson Contreras From Cardinals

[Tedballgame]

For who?

[Jasonbay44]

 

[Tedballgame]

He is not a catcher. DH/1B only

 

[Hugh2]

Blake Aita, and Yohoiker Fajardo also heading over in the deal along with Dobbins

[Tedballgame]

Never heard of those guys. Hope they don't turn out to be good because I am not thrilled with Contreras as a DH/1B guy. 

[Larry Cook]

4 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

Blake Aita, and Yohoiker Fajardo also heading over in the deal along with Dobbins

Wow!!  Farjardo is a bit of a hit 

[Hugh2]

Contreras was the guy I wanted them to get for 1B after Alonso came off the board.

now sign BO/AB and sign Duran to replenish the system. And you’re good to go for 2026

[Tedballgame]

3 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

Contreras was the guy I wanted them to get for 1B after Alonso came off the board.

now sign BO/AB and sign Duran to replenish the system. And you’re good to go for 2026

Duran is signed already. Do you mean trade?

[Hugh2]

2 minutes ago, Tedballgame said:

Duran is signed already. Do you mean trade?

Yes I did

[Larry Cook]

Contreras is a right handed hitter! 

[UtahSox]

Yeah I like this move, looks like we gave up Dobbins, Fajardo and another guy I hadn’t heard of. 
looks like 8m in cash as well. How does that cash work vs AAV? So he is owed 41.5m over 2 seasons can we cut his AAV down to 17.25m? 

[UtahSox]

15 minutes ago, Larry Cook said:

Contreras is a right handed hitter! 

Much rather have Contreras for 17m than Munetaka for 17m. Right handed, much better defensively, much higher basement….. Other than we lost Dobbins in deal but you can’t have 30 pitchers on the 40 man. Good move by Breslow. 

[alsoason]

Sounds like a lets  tread water move, not make waves which is what they need, count us as not impressed. Wake us when they get serious.

[Old Red]

Sounds like the Red Sox have found a trading partner with St Louis. Who’s next? Two years left on the Contract of the Con Man. Just the kind the Red Sox like.

[Randy Red Sox]

1 hour ago, Tedballgame said:

For who?

for not much but heck they didn't get much

[a700hitter]

Contreras is not a major bat for 1B.

[Old Red]

12 minutes ago, a700hitter said:

Contreras is not a major bat for 1B.

He’s no Alonso, but he’s better than what they had.

[Hugh2]

18 minutes ago, Old Red said:

He’s no Alonso, but he’s better than what they had.

Also better than what was left on the market, and it improves the infield defense.  

[norbit]

Contreras had a miserable April last year, but from May 1st on he had a wRC+ of 136 compared to Alonzo who during the same time span put up a wRC+124.  Contreras is also significantly better defensively. 

[Old Red]

9 minutes ago, norbit said:

Contreras had a miserable April last year, but from May 1st on he had a wRC+ of 136 compared to Alonzo who during the same time span put up a wRC+124.  Contreras is also significantly better defensively. 

I’ll take Alonso’s 38-126 over Contreras 20-80 anytime.

[JoeBrady]

20 minutes ago, norbit said:

Contreras had a miserable April last year, but from May 1st on he had a wRC+ of 136 compared to Alonzo who during the same time span put up a wRC+124.  Contreras is also significantly better defensively. 

I heard someone on MLB-R phrase it similarly.  It's cherry-picking the numbers, but Alonso and Contreras have about the same fWAR over the past two seasons.  You'll be slightly happier with Alonso over the next two seasons, but much happier with Contreras over the following 3 seasons.  IMHO.

[harmony]

St. Louis Cardinal podcasters were live when the news of the Willson Contreras trade came down:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzwozNNaogE

... at 33:00.

[Old Red]

10 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

I heard someone on MLB-R phrase it similarly.  It's cherry-picking the numbers, but Alonso and Contreras have about the same fWAR over the past two seasons.  You'll be slightly happier with Alonso over the next two seasons, but much happier with Contreras over the following 3 seasons.  IMHO.

The last 2 years? I’ll take ALONSO’s 72-214 over Contreras 35-116 anytime.

[JoeBrady]

4 minutes ago, Old Red said:

The last 2 years? I’ll take ALONSO’s 72-214 over Contreras 35-116 anytime.

I understand that.  You only look at BB card numbers, and only at two of the numbers on the back of the card.  Some people think there is more to BB.

[Old Red]

5 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

I understand that.  You only look at BB card numbers, and only at two of the numbers on the back of the card.  Some people think there is more to BB.

Yea I’m different that way. I like the numbers that show up on the scoreboard, which counts the most, and decides W-L.

[harmony]

The Red Sox and the Cardinals have been active on the trade market.

Is Brendan Donovan next?

[notin]

3 hours ago, Hugh2 said:

Contreras was the guy I wanted them to get for 1B after Alonso came off the board.

now sign BO/AB and sign Duran to replenish the system. And you’re good to go for 2026

Contreras is a good get.  He’s top 5 or 6 in just about every offensive metric among first basemen. 
 

See? We don’t need Alonso…

[moonslav59]

Contreras surprised people with his decent defense at1B in just a short time. He’s a good hitter but not much power. 
if we can add KMarte, I’d be okay with the winter moves.

kinda surpyrised that Fajardo was included but the $8M might help us to afford one more addition.

[moonslav59]

I think Fajardo will be more productive than Dobbins.

Wow.  3 pitchers! 
 

I had a feeling we’d lessen the rotation logjams at a few levels

[Hitch]

I'm sad to lose Dobbins, I had a real soft spot for that kid, but I really like getting Contreras. You won't find a Cards fan that has anything but good words about him. Leadership, good player both offensively and defensively. Works nicely for me.  Somewhat surprised Dobbins wasn't enough on his own, but it's not like we didn't have pitching to spare. 

You'd think we need to go out and get Bregman, Bo, or Marte now and we're in good shape with veteran leadership as well as youthful energy.  But the first two would put us over the 2nd line, so is unlikely unless we can free up money somehow. And I would think we're not sending Tolle or Early anywhere now, so Marte feels unlikely too. 

Not sure what this means for Casas...starting in AAA is my bet. I really wonder what happens with Duran/Abreu, too 

Overall, very happy with this move, but a lot of questions remain.