Red Sox reportedly among teams interested in Cardinals’ Willson Contreras

Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox have already made a trade with the Cardinals this offseason. Could they make another?

By Conor Roche

December 12, 2025 | 4:19 PM

2 minutes to read

After losing out to the Orioles in the Pete Alonso sweepstakes, the Red Sox’ quest to find a first baseman moves on. But they might pursue a different market in order to fill their need at first base.

The Red Sox are among the “many teams” that are interested in trading for Cardinals first baseman Willson Contreras, MassLive’s Chris Cotillo reported Friday.

Contreras, 33, is a sensible fit for the Red Sox, given his position and right-handed swing. He’s also been pretty consistent at the plate since his days with the Cubs, who he played for from 2016-22. His batting average has largely hovered around .260, and he’s hit at least 20 home runs in five of the last six seasons (2020 season excluded). However, Contreras has never hit 25 home runs in a season.

Last season, Contreras was one of the few bright spots in the Cardinals’ lineup. The three-time All-Star hit .257 with 20 homers, 80 RBIs, and a .791 OPS in 120 games. Contreras has logged a .811 OPS, while 123 OPS+ was slightly higher than his career mark (118).

After spending the majority of his first nine seasons at catcher, Conteras became the Cardinals’ full-time first baseman in 2025. He had four Outs Above Average last year, per Baseball Savant, making him a plus defender at the position.

The Red Sox have already been a trade partner with the Cardinals this offseason as well. They acquired starting pitcher Sonny Gray from St. Louis in November. The Cardinals’ baseball operations are also being run by former Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, who helped acquire many of the players and prospects in the Red Sox’ organization. However, the Cardinals received two players that Bloom didn’t acquire during his Red Sox tenure in the Gray trade (pitchers Richard Fitts and Brandon Clarke).

The Athletic‘s Ken Rosenthal and Katie Woo reported in November that Contreras might be one of the veteran players the Cardinals could offload in a trade this offseason.

Contreras is under contract for the next two seasons and is owed $36.5 million in total money. He also has a $17.5 million team option for the 2028 season, which includes a $5 million buyout.

The Red Sox’ search for a first baseman comes after Triston Casas was sidelined for most of the 2025 campaign due to a torn patellar tendon. Boston played a handful of players at the position following Casas’s injury, with Nathaniel Lowe, Abraham Toro, and Romy Gonzalez being among the players who split time at first base. The Red Sox designated Lowe for assignment in November.

While Casas is expected to return from his injury in 2026, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow didn’t commit to naming him the team’s full-time first baseman back in October.

“I don’t think it makes a ton of sense on Oct. 6th to say someone is or isn’t our first baseman and we’ll see how things play out,” Breslow said at the time. “Unfortunately, Triston has missed a significant amount of time over the last two years. We’ve also seen what he’s capable of doing when he’s healthy.”