Prime Guardians trade target surprisingly scooped up by American League rival

A lot of things can be said about the Boston Red Sox, but one thing is clear — they’re not going to sit on the sidelines in 2026. 

After trading for Cardinals starting pitcher Sonny Gray earlier in the offseason, Boston linked up with St. Louis again on Sunday by trading for Cardinals first baseman Willson Contreras, who stood out as an optimal trade target for the Guardians. The deal was first reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan. 

While Contreras was a public villain in Cleveland at one point thanks to his exploits for the Chicago Cubs in 2026, he’s a quality veteran right-handed slugger who was (clearly) available in trade talks and would have provided some much-needed power to the Guardians’ lineup. 

The Guardians missed a golden opportunity to trade for Willson Contreras 

Contreras is coming off a season where he hit .257 with a career-high 80 RBI for a Cardinals team that appears to be diving even deeper into a rebuild. Although Contreras had a trade clause in his contract, he indicated after the season that he would consider waiving that clause for “the right spot,” with one of those spots evidently being Boston. 

Contreras going to the Red Sox marks the second trade between the Cardinals and Red Sox this offseason, which makes sense since new Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom previously worked in Boston. 

Even if it isn’t known if the Guardians were on Contreras’ no-trade list, it would have still been worth it for the Guardians’ front office to inquire about Contreras considering how he could help the Guardians.

He moved to a full-time first baseman in 2025 after starting his career as a catcher (and an ill-fated stint in the outfield), and would have been a solid complementary piece to Kyle Manzardo at first base.

The fly in the ointment in this situation was likely Contreras salary, as The Athletic’s Katie Woo reported that Boston reworked Contreras’ deal and he’ll now be making $18 million in 2026 and $17 million in 2027 to go along with a $20 million club option in 2028. That deal would’ve made Contreras the second-highest paid Guardian behind José Ramírez. 

The Cardinals are only paying down $8 million of his contract, which may be why the Cardinals only got three players back in return (pitchers Yhoiker Fajardo, Blake Aita and Hunter Dobbins). Dobbins is the only player of that trio with any MLB experience, and he’s currently on the shelf with an ACL injury that will keep him out for the summer. 

The Guardians have made a variety of additions to their bullpen, but their offensive acquisitions have been limited to bringing in Stuart Fairchild on a minor league contract. 

Even if Contreras wouldn’t have been a perfect fit with the Guardians, he still was a quality option who could have been available via trade, which seems to be Chris Antonetti’s preferred way of adding to the roster.