The Red Sox may have found their answer at first base, and it didn’t come cheap in prospect capital - but it’s looking like a bargain now.
Boston’s offseason trade for Willson Contreras from the St. Louis Cardinals has become one of the organization’s strongest moves in years, especially with first base turning into a problem spot for so long.
Triston Casas has been hampered by injuries, hasn’t appeared in a game this season, and had left wrist surgery earlier in August. That left a major opening, and the Red Sox filled it by bringing in Contreras and cash from St.
Louis in exchange for Hunter Dobbins, Yhoiker Fajardo, and Blake Aita.
The price on paper was real, but the return has been even bigger. Dobbins is on the Injured List and has appeared in only 11 major league games.
Fajardo and Aita are solid prospects, though not the kind of names that would have changed Boston’s system. Contreras, meanwhile, has delivered exactly the kind of middle-of-the-order force the Red Sox were missing.
At 34, he’s putting together the best season of his career. Contreras has earned his fourth All-Star selection and is hitting .285/.395/.538 with a .933 OPS, 26 home runs, 78 RBIs, and 21 doubles across 118 games. If the season ended today, he’d set career highs in WAR (4.4), home runs (26), walks (55), batting average (.285), on-base percentage (.395), slugging percentage (.538), and OPS (.933).
That production doesn’t just stand out in Boston. Contreras’ .933 OPS is the third-best in baseball, trailing only Yordan Álvarez of the Houston Astros and Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
That’s a stunning leap for a player who came into the year with a career .824 OPS. Before 2026, his best mark was an .888 OPS in 2019 with the Chicago Cubs.
Beyond the numbers, Contreras has given the Red Sox something they’ve lacked at first base for years: stability. He’s also not a short-term fix. He’s under contract in 2027 and has a $20 million club option for 2028.
For all the criticism Craig Breslow took early in the season, this is the kind of deal Boston fans should be celebrating. The boos Contreras has heard over the last few weeks make little sense given what he’s done. He’s been the right-handed bat the lineup needed and a steady presence in the clubhouse.
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