Yankees right-hander Sonny Gray has been on the trade block all offseason, but the club hasn’t found an offer to its liking for the 29-year-old. There’s at least one serious suitor for Gray, though, as Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets that the Brewers are still prominently in the mix for him. Meanwhile, the NL Central rival Reds are fading in the race, Morosi adds.
A slew of teams have kicked the tires on Gray this winter, but despite his difficulties in 2018, the Yankees reportedly want “high-end” big leaguers in exchange for him. They apparently haven’t been able to find that type of offer for Gray, who’s coming off a season to forget and only under control through 2019 (at a projected $9.1MM). Gray struggled to a 4.90 ERA with a career-worst 3.94 BB/9 in 130 1/3 innings last season, and even lost his place in the Yankees’ rotation. However, the former Athletic’s 2018 issues were essentially limited to the hitter-friendly Yankee Stadium, as evidenced by his 3.17 ERA/2.65 FIP in 71 innings away from the Bronx. Gray has historically been an effective starter, having logged a 3.66 ERA/3.74 FIP in 900 2/3 frames since debuting in the majors in 2013.
While Gray’s a candidate to bounce back in 2019, it doesn’t appear it’ll happen in New York. Since general manager Brian Cashman admitted in mid-October that Gray would likely be better off elsewhere, the executive has acquired left-hander James Paxton from the Mariners and re-signed fellow southpaws J.A. Happ and CC Sabathia in free agency. With those three set to join righties Luis Severino and Masahiro Tanaka, the Yankees already have a capable five-man rotation heading into 2019.
The Brewers, meanwhile, don’t look to be as fortunate as the Yankees when it comes to current starting options. Although Milwaukee came within a game of a World Series berth in 2018, its success came without a great-looking rotation, and the unit has since seen Wade Miley and Gio Gonzalez become free agents. It’s now down to Jhoulys Chacin, Chase Anderson, Zach Davies, Brandon Woodruff and the rehabbing Jimmy Nelson, among others, set to vie for starting roles. There’s an argument that Gray has a better overall track record than any of the Brewers’ starters, and it’s worth pointing out that GM David Stearns has been chasing him for a while. Before the A’s traded Gray to the Yankees in July 2017, the Brewers were among the teams with interest in him.
Like the Yankees, the Reds have already addressed their rotation in multiple ways this offseason. In separate trades this month, the club has acquired righty Tanner Roark from the Nationals and lefty Alex Wood from the Dodgers. As things stand, they’ll join righties Luis Castillo, Anthony DeSclafani and Tyler Mahle in the Reds’ 2019 rotation. But it does seem the Reds will pick up yet another starter before the offseason’s out, so perhaps it would be unwise to rule out a Gray acquisition. Notably, Gray and Reds pitching coach Derek Johnson have familiarity from their time together at Vanderbilt, where the former was a star hurler and the latter one of the Commodores’ coaches.
Relief arms for Gloomy Gray
I was hoping xabial would be the first to comment on this
Why?
Yes, why? Would any comment not count unless it was first?
Gray and Bird for Gallo and Bush
Makes sense for value, but rangers wouldn’t be interested in a one year rental.
Doesn’t even make sense for value. Gallo is easily the best player in this deal
I do hope the Evil Empire get stuck with not getting what they want for Sonny since they’re trying to fleece the trading teams. Another name for them Highway Robbery!!!!
Just like every other team they can ask for whatever they want in a trade. If they don’t get it and either don’t trade him or get a lesser package that is part of the business. Literally, every team does the same thing (okay, maybe not Seattle, so I guess not really literally). It is not like Brian Cashman is crying about how unfair it is that he cannot get Vlad Jr. for Sonny Gray. He is doing his job.
Unless you’re Neal Huntington. Then you feel pressured to take the worst offer ever for Gerrit Cole who had 2 years remaining.
#WontLetGo #WontForget
Archer trade was just as bad.
Hmmmm, did you see his record outside of YS? He is a number 3 starter at worst and better than most starters Brew team currently has on their roster. No one is getting “fleeced” on this deal – take a chill pill
So you’re saying a contender should stay far away?
Any NL contender will have a hell of a starter for pennies on the dollar. Grey cannot pitch at Yankee Stadium period – just check out his records against good teams away from YS.
So Gray must have pitched his 2016 season in Yankee stadium, right?
The guy looks like a wild card to me. You don’t know what you’re going to get. I can’t imagine a team trading away a top talent for a mystery box pitcher.
I think Gray is more valuable to the Yankees than he is to the rest of the baseball world. He’s at least an insurance card for CC. Might as well keep him.
That’s what the Cubs thought about Tyler Chatwood last year. Rarely a good line of thinking because “just road games in one season” is way too small a sample to make a judgement.
right, but Gray has a longer track record of success than Chatwood does, so it seems more likely that Gray really is a bounce-back candidate in need of a change of scenery
Cubs also thought that about Cole Hamels. That worked pretty well.
No, Gray has on again off again success. Good in 2015 and 2017, bad in 2016 and 2018.
He gets it.
“28” gets it.
My app is convulsing right now.
If it’s Yankee Stadium then it’ll be Chicago, Boston, LA(maybe)Phil(for sure).,
Yeah we know about his home and away splits… he’s a rental though, and if he were a number 3 SP the Yankees would be keeping him. Getting a top 200 prospect would be a fleecing.
Cashman’s job is to get more than he gives just like every qualified GM anywhere in any sport…get a grip!
If your always winning big on trades nobody is going to trade with you!
Cashman won’t get high end big league talent for Gray.
Cashman’s comments early in the off-season combined with Gray’s 2018 performance and contract status
make that near impossible.
I’m sure the GM with multiple championships and a record of success never considered the ramifications of his comments before he said them. Brilliant.
Case in point…..
@ WideWorldofSports;
Where in that article did it attribute a quote to a GM or anyone else?
Samuel….. really….. you’re called out….. re read the article… SMH
It was unCashman like to say what he said. The last time he did that was with Jeter when the last contract he signed with the team was being negotiated.
After Machado officially signs, I look for the Yankees to make a flurry of moves. Gray will be in that batch.
I don’t believe 90% of the rumors leaking out (often planted)……and Jon Morosi is one of the worst.
Most of the arguments in the comment section have little to do with what FO’s are planning and discussing with other FO’s. It’s silly season.
What are you implying that Brian Cashman himself isnt Xabial or MetsYankeesRedSox??!?!?!!
I couldve sworn…
Yankees are dumb if they sign machado, they already have a young core put together no need to add no hustle machado. Cashman should focus on pitching
But not defense?
Andujar either drastically improves his throwing mechanics, or they lack a serviceable 3B.
If they play Machado at short, that won’t help their defense
I’d rather them play Didi there, but he’s hurt.
Torres should do it temporarily, but I think they’ll let Machado do it.
If they trade Andujar, who besides Machado would end up at 3B?
It’s his footwork Dan.
Machado is only 26 and has been a 6 WAR players twice, you don’t get a player that every year in free agency.
Agreed; you take the proven all-star.
I see it in his poor throwing fundamentals: sometimes, he rushes and doesn’t set, usually he double-clutches, and other times he pointlessly throws sidearm.
As you likely know, they’re often interrelated, but they all produce late/lazy throws and are completely avoidable. I haven’t looked at UZR yet, but we lost several games to those free base runners.
And 10…it’s not cashmans comments as much as it’s grays performance at Yankee stadium. It’s no secret as it was painful to watch.
They will trade him, probably in Spring training, but they will have to settle for something around 75 cents on the dollar. Hard to leverage other teams when they know the hand you’re holding.
Or they can just use Sonny as pitching depth/make him the mop up guy…. Cashman set the bar but I’m sure he also has a minimal expectation. He has the leverage of keeping him, but my gut feeling is he’s waiting on Machado and ince he knows his budget it will be a domino effect from there on out for the Yankees roster.
If the Dodgers aren’t sold on Japanese P Kickuchi or he decides on a different west coast team, Sonny Gray could be a younger/cheaper option than Rich Hill. Yanks want him gone & Dodgers want to maneuver further under the lux tax line to have more flexibility.
Dodgers have a great trade chip in Hill that trumps the Brewers or Reds (they need to hold their prospects) and Gray could benefit from a change of scenery & Honey’s instruction.
Friedman wants to replenish the farm from the Machado/Darvish moves the past few years and have had an uncanny ability in gauging prospects. I won’t question the Dodgers scouting on prospects & would completely trust them in plucking a couple of their lower level prospects.
Yanks rotation needs another stout starter besides Tanaka, Severino, Paxton, CC & Happ. Hill could provide depth & solidify their rotation. Perhaps move to a full 6 man rotation to preserve the oft injured Paxton/Hill/Happ & older CC?
Dodgers should trade Rich Hill $18.6-$16AAV + $7 million to Yankees for Sonny Gray approx~9.1 in arb-7.5AAV + prospects. Extra $8.5 million could be used on a Realmuto/Kluber/Castellanos move?
Thoughts?
Stanton and Gray to Dodgers for Urias and another top 10 prospect?
Billy, quit throwing up your Stanton to Dodgers trades on every posting….GEEZ
Just figured it out,
3 team trade-Dodgers, Yanks & Reds. Hill goes to Yanks, Gray goes to Reds, prospects to Dodgers
I can’t comment to that trade of Hill for Gray cuz I’m laughing so hard.
Only edit that I would have on the Hill/Gray trade is minus the $7 mill to the Yanks…..they can pay all of Hills contract due to Grays bloated ERA the last three years
i’d love the yankees to pick up rich hill.
For real
You would like that trade because you want the Yankees to upgrade with Harper but the Dodgers seem to be in on Harper also so I don’t think they do that. Also, I think the Dodgers have become very smart with their farm, not so quick to trade away their top prospect talent. I think they would rather hold onto Urias.
Cashman is moving Sonny for 9 million in cap space, add that to 15 million in insurance money last year for Ellsbury and he has 24 million to put towards Machado. Forbes has the Yanks revenue as 619 million last year, so they won’t hesitate to sign Machado. In fact, all teams made over the 206 cap last year, so other teams can spend more than they do. Forget about attendance, it’s all about TV contracts. Some owner just don’t want to win.
“Cashman is moving Sonny for 9 million in cap space, add that to 15 million in insurance money last year for Ellsbury and he has 24 million to put toward Machado” I’ve seen you post this before about insurance money.
Insurance money paid to an organization does not count in anyway in the payroll, and so can’t be counted for luxury tax space.
And the Steinbrenner family is in the process of reacquiring the YES network….
The Wilpon’s aka Mutt and Jeff are in the process of reacquiring Sandy Koufax’s rookie uniform, glove, cap and jock strap. They are planning a special on SNY about the significance of it.
Lol
Yanks were under the cap last year, and teams like the Yanks don’t really care that much about the cap. They have been over it before. They made 619 million last year alone. The Red Sox were over the cap last year and won it all. I would expect the Yanks to spend 50-60 million more this winter. Machado, Britton, and whoever they get for Gray.
The Yanks absolutely care about the cap. they don’t want to give a dime to other teams. Franchise is worth 2 billion and they are worried about that.
I’ll take Hader straight up for Gray.
hahahahahahahahahaha!
And awaaaaay we go….
You forgot to add the word “jersey” after “hader.”
Hader is pretty much untouchable!!
He’s also pretty much a racist homophobe too. Wouldn’t touch that guy with a ten foot pole if he was on the block.
Oh boy. Here comes the thought police.
For a talent like Hader you get past some dumb tweets he sent as a teen.
Yes who cares what a silly kid said? Machado says dumb things all the time, plays dirty, n those are having to do with his paycheck. So whose listening to him?
Another dreaming NYY frustrated fan!
Open up your sphincters you fantasy league heroes, it was a joke. Lol
Don’t you get it? This place is full of very serious baseball men. Baseball is very serious. No place for joking here.
So after you get reamed suddenly it was a joke and we all need to open our sphincters because you posted an absurd proposal?
Yeah, because I worry about what a bunch of sabr parrots on this site think of me and any thing I post. Get a grip.
Hader for Gray! You need to lay off the weed for a while.
Alright my friend. You think the Brewers want to trade their 24 year old top shelf reliever who is cheap and controllable through 2024 for a pitcher who MIGHT give you a no.3 pitcher if they win the coin flip for one year?
Only the Yankees value Gray this much. No other team does.
Like asking $15000 for an old pinto.
NOT WORTH IT.
Get Padres’ top-30 prospect. Top-100 MLB prospect. Or both
My prayers have been answered!
Sterns was quoted as saying Corbin Burnes is being moved into the rotation. Makes SP that much more crowded.
*Stearns
It has also been stated that Guerra will move to the pen. Rn the rotation would be Chacin, Woodruff, Burnes, Davies and Anderson. Nelson is a big question mark and Peralta needs to work on his control issues in AAA. If Gray is required, its likely one of Davies/Burnes/Woodruff would be dealt in a later deal.
acquired*
Just let him pitch on the road for CC lol fr tho
Make him a DRSP
Designated Road Starting Pitcher
Sonny Gray would be the best DRSP in the league
2018 HOME
6.26 ERA, .318 BAA, .406 OBP 1.90 WHIP, 15 games
2018 ROAD
3.17 ERA, .226 BAA, .295 OBP, 1.15 WHIP, 15 games
He’d be the worst one too, technically
Yanks have young stud starting pitching in the lower levels of their system but they need a good starting pitcher badly to bridge the gap till the pups are ready.
Excerpt Xabial, if you drill down into his great road record you will see that he dominated a few teams like the Orioles that were plain lousy last year.
Sonny has way too many pitches and spends so much time tinkering on the mound that he doesn’t have swing and miss stuff because batters know that he won’t get called strikeout with two strikes. So he goes 0-2, 1-2, 2-2, 3-2, and then he gets hit hard or walks.
There is nothing more amusing than Yankee fans talking about the value of Sonny Gray.
I hate to admit..
Nailed it, mikeyank
I remember a game against the Red Sox Sonny had two quick outs in the 1st then.. served a grand slam, believe 20+ two-strike pitches, failed to escape 1st.
Seems like Cashman played his hand too early and has lost all leverage in trade talks.
I can’t understand these comments that Cashman’s words effected his leverage for Gray. I mean, I would think, that bringing back CC and Happ and trading for Paxton was the clear signal that the Yanks have every intent on moving Gray. I think him commenting the way he did was to acknowledge the “elephant in the room” and to establish the narrative that while Gray struggled in NY his road success indicated that he was a change of scenery bounce-back candidate for 2019. When have they ever had a 6 man rotation?
And all those claiming the Yanks will never get high-end mlb talent should consider that doesn’t necessarily mean CURRENT mlb talent in terms of a current mlb player established player or top prospect. Look at what they gave away to acquire Hicks (JR Murphy), Didi (Shane Green), Voit (Chasen Shreve and Gio Gallegos) and Green (Justin Wilson). Most of those pieces traded by the Yanks had little on-field value at the time.
He made the comments in October, months before he brought Happ and CC back so that’s an invalid argument.
This is sbb. Who cares? He had every intent on going into 2019 without Gray and everyone knew it. Might as well get out in front of it. In comparison, it’s been speculated that Cash was willing to trade Andujar for pitching. Never once did he make a negative comment about him or name him as a trade chip. Big difference.
Your ideas are as old as a warm beer. Just trying to complain about Cashman to have something to say; you are better off finding someone who has been solely responsible for turning around the Yankees through great trades.
So your comments now warmbeer are invalid.
Cashman is a jerk, had NO praise to the Redsox other than to say the NYY almost won. I’m at a lost wondering what series he watched between the NYY n the Redsox.
Hey pasha…it’s going to be a frustrating season in Flushing.
Gray has had a 4.59 ERA the past 3 seasons and 2 of them are close to or above 5.00 ERA (5.69/3.55/4.90). There is really not much value in a guy like that. Cashman is drunk if he thinks he will even get a top 200 prospect for Gray, let alone a “high end big leaguer”.
Not even good enough for a top-200 prospect?
Your anti-Yankee bias is showing outinleftfield
I pray the NYY sign Machado so they can see what he’s really about. Or maybe they WANT a player to injure other players, like he did to Peddy. They have a history of playing dirty, remember A Rod n the ball slapping play in 2004? I do!
Yanks have a history of player dirty and the example you give is from 2004? That is it?
Hey pasha—you’ve had too much egg nog this season and your panties are now one size too small. It’s robbing you of any brainpower that you may have had.
Sonny Gray was highly sought after at the 2017 trade deadline. That’s a fact. That should indicate that most people attributed his 2016 struggles to the injury he had. He had an above average 2017 which is what made him desirable. His 2018 shows that he was still an above average pitcher on the road but struggled on the road. If Texas can sign Lynn for 3/$30 mil then let’s stop this nonsense that Gray, with his splits, on a 1 year deal “doesn’t have much value”. He won’t get a top 100 prospect but there are dozens of current stars that didn’t appear on a top 100 list. It also be another player in need of a change too. Or a blocked player. I think Cashman has done a good job of understanding the market.
I’m sure most GMs speak as blatantly to each other about players. Cash just happened to have said it publicly. But honestly, did he say ANYTHING that the general public didn’t know already?
i think the giants would move Longoria and cash for him, it would be a 1 year solution for the rotation in a pitcher’s park to offload a long contract.
Your crazy to say NYY will not even get a top 200 prospect.
I think they will get a decent haul for gray maybe a future number 2 starter who is in single or double A
Get real! I want what you’re smoking.
Oh so a #2 type future started would only be a “decent haul”? That is a silly as your thinking any team is trading that type of prospect to the Yankees for Gray.
Man Yankee fans …..
Kole Calhoun and a 8-12th angel prospect for Sonny. Count it.
I don’t see any way the Yankees trade Gray for Calhoun. They already have 4-5 OF options (obviously not even talking about Ellsbury here haha) that are better than Calhoun, he has been pretty bad offensively for 2 years now, and he’s set to make $10.5 mil this year… that kind of deal just doesn’t make sense in my opinion.
Stop stepping on my dreams!
Dan ClarkVerified account @DanClarkSports
FollowFollow @DanClarkSports
Have heard that the #Yankees, #Phillies, and #WhiteSox have all made their final offers to Manny Machado, and it is indeed New York where he’ll be heading. Announcement expected early-January.
12:56 PM – 28 Dec 2018
—————————————
@DanClarkSports 5h5 hours ago
Dan Clark Retweeted Sam Flomenberg
A former teammate/friend of Machado.
Dan Clark added,
Sam Flomenberg @sflomenb
Replying to @DanClarkSports
Wow where did you hear this?
—————————————-
Dan ClarkVerified account @DanClarkSports
FollowFollow @DanClarkSports
I’m sure all these keyboard warriors throwing hate my way now, will be just as keen to throw apologies my way when Machado signs with the #Yankees next month..That’s how Twitter works, right?
6:28 PM – 28 Dec 2018
———————————-
Dan ClarkVerified account@DanClarkSports
Multi-award winning sports writer. @IBWAA member. Prior works with ABC, FOX, CSN, etc.
A guy predicting Manny Machado going to the Yankees?
Did he also predict it’ll be cold in North Dakota next week?
Maybe Cashman is holding out for (h)I(gh)nciarte, E(nd)der to be a main part of the deal for Gray.
I’ll show myself out
yeah…, no
I’d be much happier for the Reds to get Gio Gonzalez than pay overprice Sonny Gray.
I’d be happier if Reds got Gio Gonzalez.
Gray is 9 million, Gio will cost you at least 30 million for 2 years.
9 million plus whatever propects want for him.
The Yankee may be better off with Sonny Gray than counting on CC Sabathia and his newly repaired heart.
He’ll just put Gray on the endless DL !
It is Highly Questionable whether Gray is worth 9.1 million in ARB projection alone. You can make a strong case he should have been non-tendered. If I’m a team I’m only taking a chance at a Non 100 Prospect that falls within 10 to 15 in my system … If that.
If Sonny pitched for the Texas Rangers, nobody would know who he was….people barely knew who he was when he was in Oakland…..so now he’s a cause celebre…..
#3/#4 starter, some upside, bit of a head case, relatively cheap, pitching for a contract…..they’ll get a decent return…..
And no, Cashman’s comments don’t mean squat…..decision makers know that that’s just the NY press bloviating……and Cashman playing along…..in that market, it goes with the territory….
Ah yes, Oakland the best supported team in California. I’m sure Gray has notoriety because he pitched for that dominant payroll powerhouse….
The Yankees don’t want Sonny Gray, but they want a lot for him. They’ve told everybody that he isn’t in their plans. When that happens, teams aren’t going to be lining up to give you a big return. Teams know that the Yankees don’t want him. I understand that the Yankees want something return, but they have to be realistic. Gray isn’t going to bring you back high end big leaguers.
It seems he has been on the trading block forever!
I’d offer the Yanks Fowler and Dull or Wendelken for him.. a relief arm and they get their prospect back. I don’t know that Sonny has much value at all if he hits that 9m in arb, unless the Yanks are paying a chunk of it.
Sonny is so inconsistent but Yanks paid a solid price so they are holding out for someone to get desperate. But I can’t see it happening w Gray’s peripherals
His peripherals are good when you consider YS being the problem
I’d say his high WHIP (esp walk rate) are worrisome re:peripherals and I wouldn’t put that on Yankee Stadium
No and nooooo. Yanks will get one decent prospect back for Gray and not two fringe relievers. They have a system full of fringe relievers. I don’t see Oakland getting Gray back for peanuts. I think Yanks would be smart to hold onto him and let’s see what he does in ST and go from there.
I think Fowler is a decent prospect. I said Fowler and one of the relievers. Tyler Ramirez could work too instead of Fowler?
But yeah I agree. I can’t imagine a good market for him now so may as well let him hit ST and see what happens.
Fowler is a huge overpay for one year of Sonny Gray.
Might be. But if Laureano is the long term answer at CF, Piscotty locked up for immediate future, and we have several young OFs like Ramirez, Lazarito, and Beck waiting in the wings (as well as Mateo and Barreto potentially) I’d be willing to take the risk and bet on the inconsistent Gray
It wouldn’t be terrible for,the Yankees if they brought him back. He struggled at home last year but his track record is good and his peripherals suggest he was more average than bad last year so at $9 million for a year he isn’t a bad bet to provide value. I suspect rival GMs believe last year was more of a fluke than his true talent, and enough teams need a SP that the Yankees can get something fair in return. If that happens then by all means trade him but I hope the Yankees have enough faith in him to give him a shot next year to prove himself if his trade market isn’t strong.
Just set up the rotation to the schedule and have him pitch the least at Yankee stadium. All road starts, even if you have to give him an extra day or two out of his 5 day cycle.
Eazy peezy…..Japaneezy
Cashman is sticking to the high demand as the longer he waits the further the alternatives will dry out. Will reduce demand but I think demand still exceeds supply.
Brewers have an uncanny ability to get most out of their pitchers. Both Wade Miley and Gio Gonzalez our performer their history, both recent and career. Perhaps Brewers are confident about replacing them.
It is not like Brewers’ system is barren of options, and I think they including those performed well last year at minimal payroll effects. If anything, they need an established front line capable starter that will fit their payroll. Not a veteran starter with spotty 2018 results.
Do not see the Brewers buying high on Gray. Stearn seems too competent for Cashman to fleece him.
Gray is the kind of player he can wait out the market for. Eventually, as the offseason winds down, someone will either get desperate, or an injury will occur. Worst case scenario Cashman can take a lesser offer, or even keep him, pitch him on the road, and trade him at the deadline.
Wait a minute, Gray now is a 1.6 WAR player who is only getting paid 9 million. Matt Harvey just got 11 million with the chance to make 14. Both have upside of a 3 WAR player. The going rate right now is about 9 million per WAR. All teams today know the value of a player, what they don’t know it how he will perform for them. You win you are smart, you lose you are not smart. Brewers just got smart.
Hey Shea—it’s still hard to hear above the roar of the non stop planes from LGA. I’m guessing you didn’t think through the reality that Cashman’s chips improve as spring training brings injuries and DL stints.
Then contending teams are willing to overpay to fill innings from a number 4 or 5.
Severino, Paxton, Tanaka, CC , Happ. Sounds like a group one sneeze away from a M.A.S.H. Unit. Why would you need Gray?
They could certainly use a 6th starter due to injury histories of Tanaka, CC, and Paxton, but not Gray, who has shown he cannot pitch effectively in Yankee Stadium.
The only option might be to pitch him exclusively on the road in a quasi 6-man rotation.
Strange that we haven’t seen one realistic trade scenario bringing Gray to Milwaukee..
MIL receives RHP Sonny Gray
NYY receives 1B/DH Eric Thames, RHP Zach Brown (Brewers’ #8 Prospect), OF Trent Grisham (#19) prospect)
Thames can be the lefty side of a platoon at 1st, DH, and play a little corner outfield when he’s needed. New York gets a solid pitching prospect on the rise and an outfielder thats been in the Brewer’s system for a quite a while, but buried by the seemingly never-ending outfield depth in Milwaukee.
Milwaukee gets their “ace” to try to make an ever so slightly deeper playoff run in 2019. Notice I put ace in quotes, meaning he’s not a true ace (obviously), but probably the most-established starter on the roster.
1. Gray
2. Chacin
3. Woodruff
4. Burnes
5. Peralta
LR: Guerra
LR: Anderson
LR: Davies
LR: Nelson
MID: Claudio
SU: Hader
SU: Jeffress
CL: Knebel
There are 9 “starters” on this pitching staff. This goes with my hope that Albers is traded and Barnes is in AAA. Every single one of them minus Jeffress and Chacin have at least one option, so Stearns can bring in guys like Taylor Williams and Aaron Wilkerson (and Barnes) if need be. Stearns and Counsell are masters at manipulating their roster to do what’s best for the MLB club. The “out getters” philosophy that they’ve subscribed to was only just beginning late in 2018. I expect to see it in full effect in 2019. There are so many ways to piece together 27 outs with that pitching staff, all while taking into account righty/lefty matchups, funky delivery/arm angle substitutions, etc. This all works just fine without Gray, too, but having one more solid “starter” will make it all go down as smooth as a Spotted Cow on Opening Day.
This actually makes sense. However I doubt that the Brewers would be willing to include Zack Brown. Send Aaron Wilkerson instead and you’ve got their offer nailed.
No. I’m sorry but they already have a Sonny Grey in Chase Anderson. Terrific road era under 3 but gets rocked at Miller Park. Sonny needs to be in a pitcher friendly park for most of his games. Milwaukee needs to sign Wade back or get serious with Dallas. Maybe both. I heard all the crap about Milwaukee not having the money but in reality they just had six sellouts in the post season at around a quarter of a million people. I sat in the cheap seats at over a hundred dollars a pop. I would love to see the books but a rough estimate tells me the Brewers banked at least another 50 million dollars because of the post season. I don’t want to hear the crying anymore about how they don’t have the money when common sense tells me they do. Let’s spend some of that money Mark and bring us another trip to the postseason where I will gladly pay again to cheer on my beloved brew crew!!!
I think Zack Brown is a bit much for the Brewers to swallow. But could see them sending out Thames, Davies and Grisham for Gray. This gives the Yankees -a 6th starter/long reliever to replace Gray.
I agree, this is the type of trade I see happening
I could see that too, but I dont really see how Davies fits on the Yanks 25 man roster.
Thames doesn’t work for the Yankees roster construction. They are already going to have to decide between Voit and Bird which one is going to be on the 25 man roster. Both are 1B/DH guys so adding another to the mix won’t help.
Chase Anderson is one year removed from a 12-4, 2.74 ERA season. He was bit by the long ball last year but his WHIP was still a very low 1.191. He’s hardly the junk he’s being portrayed to be.. Same goes for Zach Davies. He had got off to his typical slow start in 2018, then suffered through some nagging injuries, but he was throwing the ball well in September and is just one year removed from a 17-9, 3.90 year in 2017 when he dominated the Cubs. He’s still just 25 and will be 26 next year.
Then there’s Jimmy Nelson. The Brewers could have rushed him back in 2018 but chose the cautious route. All reports are that he’s doing normal off season work, reporting no pain, and will be full go at the start of spring training. Yeah until he does it there’s questions, but if he’s close to what he was in 2017, it will be like the Brewers signed a top FA ;pitcher.
All 3 of the younger guys (none are rookies anymore despite the continued reference to them as rookies) have had success at the major league level including the playoffs. The notion that they are prospects is ridiculous.
The Brewers will probably add an arm. Their preference might be a lefty to balance out the rotation a bit, but they’re hardly lacking in quality arms competing for rotation spots.
Gray is not an ace. He is a 4 or 5 at best.
Braves…Teheran for Gray…deal
No no no no no..Julio can out perform this bum any day…and we have 10 other guys that can take the hill anyway
Frazier and Florial for Sonny Gray– get it done, Cashman!
Please explain..smh
Ummm, the deal speaks for itself, are you brain dead?
“the deal speaks for itself” Which Frazier are you speaking of? If it’s Todd Frazier, you’re beyond ridiculous. If it’s Adam Frazier from the Pirates, than who is Florial? People usually mention the team the trade is with when the players aren’t exactly household names.wtf
Clint Frazier and Estevez Florial!!!! Are you thick? GET WITH IT!
AND GET IT DONE CASHMAN!
It’s ESTEVAN FLORIAL by the way, and those players are currently in the Yankees system, and such you can’t trade Gray for them. I’ve never seen such a unintelligent post, so congrats you’ve set the bar at the lowest. I blame myself for falling for the worst troll ever.
Slevin I too was confused by having one team make a trade with itself. Lol
Adam what does “Are you thick” mean?
Maybe it would help if you went to grade school.
As per Miriam Webster, “Thick” is defined as:
5: OBTUSE, STUPID
// he was too thick to understand.
Adam are you suggesting the Yankees trade FOR Gray?
That would be an interesting trick since they already have Gray.
Or are you suggesting they trade Gray … to themselves?
Since they already have Clint Frazier and Florial that would be an interesting trick too!
I guess Cashman did get it done then moron!
And to think you doubled down with Slevin to act insulted when he asked you for a clarification.
I have seen many ignorant posts but never saw any dummy suggest a trade to themselves
I’m pretty sure he’s parodying how whenever there’s an article about someone being available for trade, it’s all but I evitable someone will suggest the Yankees trade Frazier and Florial for him.
If anyone can pull of a trade with themselves it’s the BEST GM IN BASEBALL, Ninja Cashman!
A moron would have 50 IQ points on this stiff.
Hey, i’ve got 100 on you, and that is a stone cold fact based on your responses lol
Gray is NOT coming to the reds. The end of that idea died when Cinci brought Alex Wooed immediately after signing Tanner Roark. The Reds have need of a an ace and Gray is not it.. I do look for the Reds to sign a major pitcher in the coming days. Looks like front runner is Klueber.
There should be no rush to trade sonny he could spot start. Or pitch long relief build some value and if need be trade him at the deadline
I think it’s more about shedding his $9M and acquiring some prospects. The Yankees have pitchers in the upper minors who can spot start and deliver similar results to Gray.
Yankees fans please stop trying to justify Gray’s value with these Yankee stadium/road splits.
I think they are intriguing enough to have teams interested. But like you said, those splits don’t justify meeting a high asking price.
I should’ve worded it different more like..Yankees fans stop trying to overvalue Gray’s worth by bringing those splits up, because other teams aren’t falling for it. The return will probably be just a middling pitching prospect.
I don’t think anyone thinks a year of Sonny Gray is worth a top prospect. Heck, Sonny Gray before he was a Yankee wasn’t worth that much.
I think Cashman’s early demand is higher than he knows Gray is worth as a way of saying “i’m not just giving him away.” He likely knows full well he’ll have to drop his asking price, but better to start by asking for a Lamborghini and settling for a BMW, than asking for a Volkswagen and settling for Hyundai.
Because, just as every non-Yankee fan here is saying, other teams are trying to use his YS numbers as justification for getting a decent pitcher for scraps.
But as someone else pointed out, even Matt Harvey got 11M. Lance Lynn just got a 3 year deal. Gray isn’t worthless. Far from it.
Gray was a good pitcher….4 years ago. 2016 he was terrible. 2017 he was Meh… 2018 he was bad.
I doubt they’ll get much for him.
No, they’ll trade him and Bird for Kluber. LOL I love some of the scenarios people are posting. For one year of a question mark pitcher they expect the farm.
No worse than Brewers fans thinking Thames is a good trade piece to go to the Yankees.
In 2017 he started his ERA was 3.55 in 27 starts. I’ll agree his best years are behind him most likely, but even with his disastrous YS numbers he still pitched to a 4.90 ERA, good enough to be in a big league rotation.
Besides, he’s more likely to pitch closer like his 2017 self than his 2016 self in 2019.
I think the Brewers will trade Davies and Stokes Jr for Gray. Davies is a ground ball pitcher which could work well at YS.
No way they give up more years of control plus a prospect for a marginal upgrade.
I think marginal upgrade is a stretch. Gray has a lot more upside than Davies. Also Stokes Jr. is near mlb ready and is taking a 40 man slot with no clear spot at the ML level
It would make sense if the twins got him. They don’t need to improve by very much to catch Cleveland who have lost many clear players.
‘high end’ major league talent for 1 year of a player desperately in need of a change of scenery that’s already lost his job on his current team…
I’m sure there’s some universe where that makes sense, unfortunately it is not this one…
With all the articles on Gray I haven’t seen any that list what they would get for him.
That’s a really good question. Personally I think Gray is much better then he has been with the Yankees. His home/road splits say he is a much better pitcher then he showed at Yankee stadium. Maybe he just had an issue with the Yankee stadium pressure. With all that being said I’m really unsure what Cashman will get for him. Everyone knows he intends to trade him that has to reduce his value somewhat. Should be interesting.
That isn’t necessarily true. Value is determined by how much the object is wanted. If more than one team is wanting Gray it will raise his value. Each team will decide for themselves the limit they will spend for him but it will not matter but so much that they know he is available. Using Kluber as an example, everyone knows he was available but it didn’t drop his value. If anything it increased his value that more than one team wanted him. In the end, the Indians dumped payroll elsewhere so they’ll likely keep him.
Does Sonny Gray actually have any value?
He’s ARB3 this year, and projected to make 9.1 million dollars. And he’s a free agent after that.
According to BR, he was a 0.6 WAR pitcher in 2018 and a 2.6 WAR pitcher in 2017 split between two teams. If you split the difference you’re looking at a 1.6 WAR pitcher. At that level of performance he’s barely earning his salary.
No team is going to offer the Yankees “high end big leaguers” to get him.
He has some value as a reclamation project, yes. But given his years of control and it’s the team trading for him that assumes a lot of risk, that value is minimal
As in if the casual Yankees fan thinks they’re going to get anyone they’ve actually heard of, they need to prepare for disappointment
As a Yankee fan I don’t expect them to get any valuable ML-level players, and I don’t expect top prospects. But I do expect something more than names from the scrap heap. He is more than a reclamation project. For a team like the Brewers– smaller market, National League, he could easily slot in as a #3 or #4 starter and provide good value given his relatively affordable contract.
Well said Adam. For some teams like the Brewers or Reds he slots in even higher. His numbers away from Yankee stadium suggest a bounce back year but teams aren’t going to offer top prospects for a one year rental banking on a bounce back year. I think they’ll get either a guy with a lower ceiling who is proven and mlb ready and provides value and maybe a fringe guy or more likely a high upside guy or two with less guarantee. If I were them I’d do nothing. I like what they’ve done the past few years I’d keep the depth. I hate the Yankees but their young talent and veteran mix is really good. Couple bad contracts in there but comes with a big budget. Keep Gray someone wont perform or will get hurt its baseball
If the Yankees go that route then they should let gray go to arbitration instead of negotiating a contract.
If he performs poorly in spring training and they can’t find a taker for him, they can cut him loose for 1/6 of the contract value (1/4 if they get into the later part of spring training).
And if he performs well I guess they have a very expensive swing man under contract. Who knows, maybe he’ll turn into a shutdown reliever?
I don’t like keeping Gray because he has proven he’s useless at Yankee Stadium, whether it’s because of the park’s dimensions or his own mental flaws on a big stage. You can’t spot start him at home, you might as well concede the first few innings.
The Yankees have several arms in the minors who give you equally good/bad chances as Gray, you might as well give the mop-up/depth starter roster spot to one of them, and save $9M.
I’m hopeful the Yanks can get SOMETHING for him– either a mid-level prospect, or a high ceiling minor leaguer that’s years away.
Maybe even a useful if unspectacular bullpen arm.