Sep 3, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Willson Contreras (40) hits a two run triple against the Athletics during the eighth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

Cardinals Had Another High-Powered Willson Contreras Suitor

Originally posted on St. Louis Cardinals on SI
By Patrick McAvoy | Last updated Dec 26, 2025 8:40 AM ET

The St. Louis Cardinals traded Willson Contreras to the Boston Red Sox but it sounds like another team was in the mix for him.

MLB.com's John Denton reported back on Dec. 10 that the New York Mets had some interest in former Cardinals slugger Willson Contreras after the organization missed out on retaining slugger Pete Alonso. Fast-forward a couple of weeks and Contreras is no longer a member of the Cardinals, but is with Boston instead.

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Jon Heyman of the New York Post dropped some tidbits of information on Christmas Day around the Mets. One thing that Heyman noted was that the Mets "tried" for Contreras before he ultimately went to Boston.

The Cardinals had interest from the Mets

Brett Davis-Imagn Images

"The Mets tried for Willson Contreras before he went to the Red Sox," Heyman wrote on Christmas Day. "That was new Cardinals honcho Chaim Bloom’s third trade with Boston, which makes sense since he’s familiar with their system. The Mets, along with the Giants and Orioles, are among teams that met with star free-agent pitcher Framber Valdez. The Mets would do long deals for star pitchers in occasional circumstances (they offered $325M for Yoshinobu Yamamoto), but generally prefer to avoid them."

In the MLB offseason, you'll always see reports like this. News breaks about a deal -- or lack of one. And then in the coming days, the behind-the-scenes details start to emerge. In this case, the Mets had an interest in Contreras. But the Cardinals got a solid return for the slugger.

The Cardinals got three hurlers from the Red Sox in exchange for Contreras: Hunter Dobbins, Yhoiker Fajardo, and Blake Aita.

All three are controllable for years to come and if any of them become a hit in the starting rotation, that would be a win. It's intriguing to hear about all the interest that goes on behind closed doors, but in this case, the Cardinals made a good move so it doesn't matter too much. There are still plenty of trade candidates on the Cardinals' roster. Maybe the team should call New York to see if there's interest elsewhere.

This article first appeared on St. Louis Cardinals on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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