The Boston Red Sox have been one of the most disappointing teams in all of baseball this season, and they are expected to be major sellers at the MLB trade deadline as a result.
One of the Red Sox’s top trade candidates is first baseman Willson Contreras, whom the club acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals in an offseason trade.
During the fifth inning of Boston’s win over the rival New York Yankees on Friday night, Contreras got into a rather bizarre altercation with Yankees pitcher Will Warren.
Contreras was none too pleased that Warren — who walked Contreras on four pitches during that particular at-bat — came inside a couple of times, which followed Contreras having gone 2-for-2 with a home run off of Warren his first two plate appearances.
The 34-year-old shouted at Warren as he was making his way toward first base, which resulted in the benches clearing … and not much else occurring.
Was Warren trying to brush Contreras off of the plate? Perhaps, but it would seem fairly odd for the right-hander to do it on a 2-0 pitch … and then again with the count at 3-0.
Contreras is known for being a demonstrative player, so this just seemed like a case of the three-time All-Star allowing his emotions to get the better of him.
Contreras went 2-for-3 on the night and is slashing .281/.375/.525 with 17 homers and 48 RBI on the 2026 campaign as a whole.
The Venezuelan native is most known for his seven-year run with the Chicago Cubs between 2016 and 2022, helping the Cubs win their first World Series in over a century during his rookie campaign.
Contreras is earning $18 million this season and is on tap to collect another $17 million next year. He also has a $20 million club option for 2028.
It would be surprising if the Red Sox didn’t aggressively field trade offers for Contreras between now and Aug. 3 given his age and the fact that Boston is clearly headed toward rebuilding mode.
Contreras could ultimately be one of the best sluggers moved in the coming weeks.
The former catcher owns a lifetime slash line of .259/.354/.464.
