New Boston slugger Willson Contreras was interested in signing with the Red Sox during the 2022-23 offseason.
“When I went through my first free agency, it was one of my landing spots,” Contreras said via Zoom on Wednesday. “It didn’t work, but now we’re here and I’m really excited for this new opportunity. And I can’t wait to get back on the field with the guys.”
The Red Sox acquired the 33-year-old first baseman and cash from the Cardinals on Dec. 21. In the trade, Boston sent righty Hunter Dobbins and pitching prospects Yhoiker Fajardo and Blake Aita to St. Louis .
Contreras adds right-handed power to the Red Sox lineup. He belted 20 homers, 31 doubles and one triple while posting a .257/.344/.447/.791 line for the Cardinals last season. Manager Alex Cora said Saturday that he plans to bat Contreras in the cleanup spot .
Contreras signed a five-year, $87.5 million deal with St. Louis in December 2022, after 13 seasons in the Cubs organization (minors and majors). But he was also interested in the Red Sox at the time because he said “Boston has a history of winning teams.”
“And I consider myself to be a winner, to be a gamer,” he said. “I think Boston has a lot of good things around the team. And first of all, the fan base, Fenway Park, the team that is already built. ... That was one of my choices. But like I said, it didn’t work out at that time. We’re in 2026 right now, and we were focused on getting back on the field and try to win.”
Contreras waived his full no-trade clause to come to Boston. He finished 2025 with $41.5 million left on his contract: an $18 million salary for 2026, an $18.5 million salary for 2027 and a $5 million buyout on a $17.5 million option for 2028. To obtain Contreras , the Red Sox increased his guarantee — to $42.5 million over two years — by changing the 2027 salary from $18.5 million to $17 million, then adding $2.5 million to both the 2028 option (now $20 million) and buyout (now $7.5 million).
“I learned about the trade rumors like the day before,” Contreras said. “And I couldn’t believe it at first. And then I let everything sink in and talked to the president of the St. Louis Cardinals (Chaim Bloom) about it and I really liked it. And I think it was the best thing for the Cardinals and myself.”
He said he loves the history of the Red Sox organization.
“I think it’s really a dream coming true for any player, any Latin player that grew up watching Boston, watching Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz , Tim Wakefield, Curt Schilling. At this point in my career, I was really surprised about this move.”
He thinks the Red Sox are “really close” to winning a World Series.
“I think we have a really good lineup,” he said. “Pitching staff is really good, and the relievers are great. I think we just need to keep playing with the same emotion, with the same feel, with the same energy day in and day out. Take care of all the little details that we have to adjust during the season. And the most important thing for me, just play with heart.”
He has made 241 career starts in the cleanup spot with a .808 OPS hitting there.
“I think it’s a fun spot,” he said. “It has a lot of responsibility. But I know probably the guy behind me is gonna have my back. The same as the guy in front of me, I’m gonna try to have his back. But I think every pitch is really important and it doesn’t matter what I hit. It’s just a matter of taking a good at-bat, getting the pitch to hit and try to do some damage.”
Contreras has played only eight games at Fenway in his career, going 6-for-31 (.194) with a home run and two doubles.
“I think every time that I come to Fenway, it’s really fun,” he said. “I think it’s a really tricky ballpark because that Green Monster is really close. So any line drive that hits the Monster, you have to think double or get out of the box really hard. But I’m looking forward to playing there just because of the team and the fans. ... It’s really good ballpark to hit, but we have to make contact first.”
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