Yankees Rumors: Team is moving closer to trading Sonny Gray

According to multiple sources the Yankees have received a handful of offers from teams trying to acquire Sonny Gray and they could be closing on trading him.

It’s tough to predict who will fill out the remaining spots in the Yankees starting rotation for 2019 but one thing we know for sure is Sonny Gray will not be apart of that group.

All offseason Yankees GM Brian Cashman has made it loud and clear that he is going to trade Gray at some point this hot stove season. It’s not a matter of if but when and it sounds like that time is nearing. Andy Martino of SNY reported that the Yankees are moving toward a trade and tweeted out that as many as 11 teams are in on Gray.

Clearly, there’s plenty of interest in the 29-year-old right-hander so teams must believe that a change of scenery could bring out the best in Gray. Cashman has said all along that despite Gray’s disastrous season and a half in pinstripes he still believes he has the tools to be a front-line starter again like he was in Oakland.

Gray is another example of a pitcher who really struggled to find consistent success pitching under the bright lights of New York City after experiencing a lot of success prior to joining the club (ex. AJ Burnett, Javy Vasquez). The Yankees and Cashman have seen enough from him to realize that it’s not going to work out so there’s no need to continue this relationship. Now we’ll have to wait and see if Gray can join the likes of Burnett and Vasquez and find success again after leaving the Yanks.

According to Jon Morosi of MLB Network, two of the teams who have reached out to the Yanks are the Cincinnati Reds and Gray’s former club the A’s.

Cincinnati has been linked to Gray ever since Cashman announced the Yankees would try to trade him mostly because of his relationship with Red’s new pitching coach Derek Johnson. Johnson was Gray’s college pitching coach at Vanderbilt and the Reds are a team in desperate need of starting pitching. The same goes for the A’s, but Gray might be better off moving to the National League where lineups are easier to navigate through.

Earlier this month I discussed the possibility of trading Gray to the Reds in exchange for someone like Scooter Gennett. Gennett could fill the Yankees hole at second base if Gleyber Torres is the guy tasked with replacing Didi Gregorius at shortstop while he recovers from Tommy John surgery. Obviously, it would take a lot more than just Gray to get a deal like that done but since Gennett will be a free agent in 2020 the Yankees probably wouldn’t have to include one of their top tier prospects.

This all just speculation because Gennett is a huge part of their offense and trading him for Gray certainly wouldn’t make them any better on paper. It’s more likely that the return for the Yanks would be a mid-level prospect with high upside who’s still a year or two away from making an impact at the big league level.

Another Jeter in pinstripes? I’m sure Yankee fans would sign up for that in a second!