Yankees right-hander and trade candidate Sonny Gray has been connected to the Padres, among many other teams, since the offseason began in earnest last month. The New Year is now around the corner and Gray remains a member of the Yankees, though the Padres are still “very much” involved in discussions centering on the 29-year-old, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reports.
General manager Brian Cashman telegraphed that the Yankees would trade Gray this winter after the Red Sox bounced them from the playoffs in October, when he admitted it would make sense to send him elsewhere. Nevertheless, various reports have suggested the Yankees’ asking price has been too lofty for a hurler who struggled in 2018 and only has one year of control left (at a projected $9.1MM).
As MLBTR has written seemingly ad infinitum over the past couple months, Gray’s coming off a season in which he registered a horrid 4.90 ERA and a personal-worst 3.94 BB/9 across 130 1/3 innings, leading the Yankees to pull him from their rotation. However, Gray maintained his velocity and offered appealing results away from Yankee Stadium, as he posted a 3.17 ERA/2.65 FIP on the road. There is no question other teams are well aware of Gray’s success outside of the Bronx, given that double-digit clubs have shown some level of interest in him since Cashman announced he was for sale.
Based on both the road numbers he put up in last season and his productive stint in Oakland, where he pitched from 2013-17, Gray would be a much-needed upgrade for the Padres. In 2018, San Diego’s eighth straight sub-.500 season, its starters ranked 27th in the majors in ERA and 28th in fWAR. Of the 12 starters the Padres trotted out, only Joey Lucchesi enjoyed a decent amount of success over a large sample size.
As a result of the adversity their rotation experienced in 2018, the Padres have been scouring the market for help, having shown reported interest in Gray, the Indians’ Corey Kluber, the Mets’ Noah Syndergaard, the Blue Jays’ Marcus Stroman, the Mariners’ Mike Leake, and free agents Dallas Keuchel and Yusei Kikuchi. Among that group, Gray may be the most realistic target for the Padres. Acquiring Kluber, Syndergaard or Stroman would presumably force the Padres to take a sizable bite out of their top-ranked farm system; Leake, meanwhile, has a no-trade clause and still has a significant amount of guaranteed money left on his contract; and both Keuchel and Kikuchi are in line for high-paying deals.
In the event the Padres do land Gray, he could either help them return to relevance (if he rebounds) or end up as a midseason trade chip. Should San Diego fall out of the race by the summer, which has been an all-too-common occurrence in franchise history, it could further bolster its system by shipping Gray to a contender.
Cashman needs to accept the fact that he’s not going to get back the value he originally gave up for Gray. A rental pitcher making $9.1m for his one remaining year of control coming off a 4.90 ERA season isn’t worth a top 100 prospect.
The Padres are in the mix for everything! How do I block Padres from my feed?
You can’t. They are a virus and will soon be taking over the world.
You are correct but they cant pull the trigger or the player doesn’t want to go there.
Preller CAN pull the trigger, but he won’t this off-season. He knows it’s a year or two too early to be trading prospects to fill holes, so he’s insinuating himself into every discussion to gauge how muc other GMs value his prospects, and a couple major league players with limited experience. He can use that information later when he’s ready to deal.
I’m not 100% convinced that’s what he’s doing based on his history of trades, but I do think you’re onto something
And yet your dumba$$ is commenting on a Padres story. Don’t click moron.
Preller has many chips to work with that #1 MLB farm. Means he’s doing something right, shopping around.
Still think he prospect hoards, and most he gets is Gray.
AJ Preller is a genius who plays basketball barefoot at 3 am. Sorry, you’re just not on his level.
Preller is a genius?? Hahaha thanks I needed that good laugh!
They can have him
Don’t trade him!!!
Gray for Tatis Jr…will be Cashman’s asking price. Ridiculous!
Cashman won’t get that much for one year of gray (and he knows that) but worse case scenario he trades gray for a lower grade minor leaguer or two and sheds 9 million off the payroll or he is depth for the pitching staff in 2019. Cashman loses nothing with gray either way
Except a roster spot and $9M, which is what this is about. He’s dead weight because he can only pitch on the road.
Dead weight???? I’m in the minority’s here that thinks the Yanks need to hold onto him in his walk year and let his stuff play out and everyone will be pleasantly surprised as he becomes a mainstay in the rotation.
He can be a bullpen arm on the road, maybe a spot starter on the road, but that’s hardly enough to showcase his ability for a deadline deal.
If they keep him on the roster and he continues to struggle, his stock will only fall. Now is the time to make a deal.
Id keep him if the alternative is giving him away. Even if only as insurance for injuries his track record says he’s too good to give away. The Yankees can afford 9M. I’d love to have Gray on the mets. Let’s not pretend that the Yankees can’t afford the money. The can and should hold him until they get what he’s worth.. The dumbest thing to do is act rashly.
He will not be given away. Yankees will wind up getting something useful, or prospects for the future. The problem is that, for the Yankees, he has almost no value, because he can only pitch on the road.
Sounds like he should go to the NL, so he won’t have to pitch in Yankee Stadium at all. The Padres have a 3-game interleague series there in May. Does that mean they’re out?
Nah, you skip him for that series. Or don’t– it’s not like the Padres will be competing for a post season spot. The only reason to acquire him is to increase his stock by putting him in a pitcher friendly NL park and flipping him at the deadline.
So, yea….I’m sorta tired of hearing about what they MIGHT do…email me, when they quit with the, blah..blah..blah.
Some how padres will give up a top 5 prospect. Lol
I would not complain one bit ^_^
Somehow the Dodgers still choke.
Would rather lose in world series every year than be last place in division for 20 years and be out of contention in july yearly.
So you’d rather not win a world series vs not winning a world series. Funny. Padres nor Dodgers have won a world series last 20 something years. End of the day Dodgers have accomplished exactly what the padres have. They just paid more money to accomplish what the Padres have, not winning a world series.
Just because they havent come through they still have a chance. Trying to say padres and dodgers are similar is typical of a fan of a terrible franchise. Nothing is guarnteed but giving your self a chance to win it all is better than being out in the regular season. Best news is reading about your top rated farm which will sadly yield little to nothing. Last good prospect pads have had was gwynn. Ill just leave it at that.
Enjoy another year without a world series. Pay all the money you want. Dodgers arent winning one. That pitching staff and bullpen will guarantee the Dodgers not seeing a world series the next couple years at the rate theyre going.
But congrats on being happy as a brides maid never the bride. 2nd place.
The ammount of salt coming from your tears is amazing. I enjoy going to games in san diego and it being like a home game with how many of our fans show up to fill the empty seats.
Nothing compared to the salt levels your tears have produced watching the dodgers waste millions to never win a world series. Lol 150+ million and they can’t even win a world series? Embarassing when your franchise wastes over double the padres payroll just to accomplish the same thing. All that money and only thing theyve gotten is mostly busts from their IFA spending and lower draft picks lol.
Lol I’d enjoy getting out of LA too. Such a disaster of a city.
Come back when the Dodgers actually manage to see fruit from how much money theyve wasted over the years instead of getting destroyed in 5 games in the world series.
Wanna talk about dumb half of your natives come to la to start there lives. Again you sound partially challenged with the irony in your statements. We are a big market so of course our salary would be in the top half of the league if not we would have another frank mccourt situation. Again if you make it to the big dance eventually you will win. Unlike your team whos had 2 playoff worthy seasons in 20+ years. Outside of a couple of years the padres have been inept and even traded talent like dave winfield, ozzie smith to name a few who went on to be hall of famers on other teams because padres are so bad. The more you keep commenting pure ignorance it shows the levels of salt. Us, giants, dbacks and rockies all slamming you yearly id be upset too. I havent even mentioned having hosmer on your roster producing 38 year old pujols type numbers eating up 1/4 of your entire payroll.
Typical Padre fan thinking they are on par with the Dodgers.
Sorry pal the Dodgers have accomplished much more than the Padres the past 20 years. Deal with it.
Some padres fans kill me? Why are you arguing with a dodgers fans about how they’ve haven’t won anything? You haven’t been in the playoffs in over a decade now. The Dodgers have been in 2 straight WS and are the easy favorites in the division again. The pads are extremely stacked in the minors and if Preller doesn’t F this up by unloading your guys for ST assets like Realmuto you may get your chance to win that WS sometime in the next 5-6 years. Even that is no guarantee. The dodgers farm is also strong and their spending capacity is vastly superior.
Preller has not spent Wisely at all at the major league level to date and that will have to change. Luckily you have so many prospects that the team almost has to be good in a few years but he’ll need to not make these boneheaded signings. This team can and probably will be almost completely built from within but he will need to learn how to properly complete the roster.
Why would the Padres be so insistent…oh, right…28th…
Sonny Gray rumors are the new Julio Teheran rumors
Except that Sonny Gray WILL be traded.
Yankees always wants a team’s entire farm system for their player, but they want to give almost nothing to get one. Smh
Said You!
And that’s your uninformed opinion. These GMs all know how the game is played. The idea of getting what you want and giving up as little as possible should be a consistent trait with every GM.
Every time the Cards deal with the Yankees I actually think it’s a good deal…the Voit trade for example
Hater
You know they did just trade their #1 prospect last month, right? Who also happened to be #40 on Baseball Prospectus’ top 50 in all of baseball at mid-season.
I think the Reds should get him. I think they have a chance to be competitive next year if they pick him up, probably won’t cost that much
If the Reds get him, it will probably be to hope he has a good enough first half to flip him at next year’s deadline.
Please, let it be the Pads. Top-100 MLB prospect and I’m a happy camper.
Prove haters wrong on Sonny Gray’s trade value
Top 100 prospect from the padres farm sure thing man. How’s Owen Miller or Reggie Lawson sound? Theyre 2 of their top 100 prospects on the padres farm.
He would probably do well on the Padres for a year, but they would be really stupid to trade prospects for a pitcher to stick around for one year when they’re certainly not ready to contend.
“Haters”
?gray is a top notch AL starter with a proven track record. Top 2 prospects or nothing
Proven track record of health issues. He had success in Oakland when healthy but not in New York. He has good stuff and the potential to be good if healthy.
Gray is NOT a top notch AL started. Come on now open your eyes Kraz!
Orioles would be happy to see it happened.
Trade him to the Reds with Chad Green for Scooter Gennett and forget Machado
Not getting Chad Green in that deal!
Cutting $9-mil for a low level minor league player just to sign Machado or a bullpen arm motivating enough if you are the Yankees? Slated to have around $180-mil in payroll if everything stands, shedding a $9 million dollar contract makes it easier. Maybe I’m wrong and we should sit back and watch Cashman grab some top prospects.
It’s coming down to Pirela for Gray…nice!
Yup. Cashman rues the day he traded Pirela away, and will make the trade to get him back. We must be smoking the same stuff.
Despite Pads love affair, Pirela on the DFA roster bubble
Gray isn’t.
Gray is tho. Cashman made it clear early in the offseason that he wanted Gray gone.
Just seeing this made me laugh. Kudos to you.
I don’t think the cardinals will do this but what about Jose Martinez for Gray?
I give you credit. At least that’s a legit offer. Unlike most of the dreck I’ve seen. But the Yankees Already have Stanton at DH. But fair proposal. Well done.
I know…Yankees don’t match up but I think Gray would thrive at the pitching park Busch stadium…plus the NL…Martinez, Mikolas, Flaherty, Wacha, Gray…I wish the Yankees needed a DH…Jose Martinez loves to hit opo and would thrive at the Yankees park
Yanks already have a 1b, His name is Voit.
If Machado does indeed sign with the Yankees in the next few days then maybe the Padres could do a package trade for Sonny Gray and Miguel Andujar.
What would be a fair return to the Yankees?
My guess would be morejon, Quantrill Potts and Miller would be somewhere around that package maybe a little bit more bc even with andujar having a horrible defensive year his hitting ability is on an elite level and sonny gray they won’t get that much
5 years of andujar is absolutely worth at least gore or tatis headlining the package in a hypothetical trade
Well based off your name I’m gonna throw a fake trade proposal out and I’ll leave out any snowflake prospects coming back to the Yanks.
So Andujar alone gets them a few top 5 prospects (Gore and another top 5?) and an additional fringe top 20 prospect in AA as Andujar has already proven he belongs in the majors at23yo. Throw in Gray and that 3rd piece becomes more then a top 20 fringe prospect and rather a high reward high risk prospect maybe in single A. I hope that helps.
A’s wizard of O’s Billy Beane to get Gray back for Mateo one-for-one period…
Padres receive SP- Sonny Gray and INF-Tyler Wade for LHP- Robbie Erlin, OF- Travis Jankowski and C- Austin Allen.
The trade helps both teams immensely, by attaching Wade, that gives the Padres another guy that can hold down one of the right side of the diamond spots “for now” until Tatis etc.
Gray obviously steps in for a year to prove it. Padres then can QO him and retain value that way. Or like the article suggested just trade him if he is good but the team is miserable, either way he is worth the gamble and value can be retained with him however you decide to look at it.
For the Yankees, they get a speedy young outfielder to throw in the mix. With Hicks injury concerns. Stanton and Judge and their concerns in the OF, Jankowski helps, plus he went to college in NY and is from there. They also acquire Erlin who was fantastic out of the bullpen for the Padres last year from the left side. Gives the Yankees a cheap solution for a lefty in the pen. Lastly, Austin Allen either gives coverage behind the plate or at first. He is the big prospect headliner in this deal. His Left handed power stroke would work wonders a Yankee stadium. Him reminds me of a young Brian McCann, his form and demeanor etc.
I mean if you’re gonna dump Gray, that’s a pretty good package to dump him for. A lot of team control coming back to NYY with a nice prospect to boot.
Let’s start with how bad that trade proposal is and end with how bad this trade idea is……
Your only prospect is ranked lower then Tyler Wade is! Why would the Yanks want another outfielder in that crowded mix and with Frazier in AAA? And the other piece stinks too. Try again with done real prospects.
Tyler Wade couldn’t hit himself out of a wet paper bag. I hope the Padres don’t deal with the Yankees now looking into it due to many trolls like yourself on this site.
That is an interesting hope
Those are throwaway prospects that the Padres have moved on from. Not everyone is ignorant of who your trash is. Not one of them is worth anything. Bleachers thinks that readers here are stupid.
Shut up Randia, take your Yankee fan boy trash somewhere else.
I like Jankowski as the 4th OF’er in SD. Erlin was coming around towards the end last year, I wouldn’t mind seeing what he can do next year
All these Yanks fans bash without bothering to look into the farm. They know the name Tatis and that’s it. All while trying to call out everyone for being ignorant or dumb! These comments involving Yankee fans are comical
Gray is this year’s Mitchell
That’s not a good deal for NY. Their 40 man is just as crammed as SD. They certainly don’t need Jank or Erlin. Gray and Wade are the 2/3 best players in that deal. If not 1 and 2. Austin Allen is a pretty good prospect but with Sanchez on hand I don’t think the Yankees would desire a poor defensive backup at C.
A hodads burger is a but if an overpay, but I’ll do it
His numbers outside Yankee stadium are very good… cashman should get a couple solid prospects
Sonny Gray for Ryan Weathers and Cal Quintrell is my counter!
Haha
Gray and Andujar go to Cleveland for Kuber if Yanks sign Machado.
Not enough, but that’s at least a reasonable start…unlike most of the other proposed trades.
That won’t get Kluber.
That’ll start the conversation. If they add Florial and a guy like Abreu that’d certainly do the trick if they’re serious about dealing Kluber. Though Bauer is the guy I’d move if I were in Cleveland’s position. Well, I’d deal neither but if I had to choose he’d go first given the lack of control and the fact that he’ll be costly next season.
Cashman is waiting to see if he gets Machado, once that happens he will move Gray and add a couple of relief pitchers.
For the people who keep bringing up gray’s Numbers on the road outside NY i bring you Tyler chatwood last off season.
“His numbers outside of coors are great !” they said, “he will be great now he’s out of coors !” They said
In 2018 he had a 5.30 era and I’m sure cub fans love that signing right now
Except Chatswood has never been a top of the rotation starter EVER. As Gray has. You’re comparing Apple’s to a truckload of manure
Right but as with gray here his road numbers were used as a reason to acquire him and well it didn’t translate. Point being cherry picking one stat doesn’t always help your cause
Chatwood just isn’t a strike thrower. I’m mind blown to see that he was this bad in Chicago but he always had
control problems. Could not believe teams fell in love with him to push a guy who had literally accomplished nothing’s price up so high
Big difference since Chatwood was pitching at Coors so you can easier discount the home record more than someone pitching in New York.
As a Met fan. If move Seth Lugo for Gray and Kahnle. I think both have upside and Lugo is a very solid add for the yankees. And yes I Do think the mets win this deal though it is risky.
Jose Castillo has 5 years of team control and would be a nice addition to the Yankees bullpen.
What about Andujar and Gray for Castillo, Hudson Potts, Xavier Edwards (Yankees linked to him leading up to draft) and a non-Gore pitching prospect (one from Paddock, Patino, Baez, Morejon, Allen, Weathers…)?
Nahhhhhh. Andujar belongs in the AL.
Shhhh
I have him locked into my fantasy lineup at $1.25 for the next 4 years…… When the Padres trade Yates this move goes from dumb to genius
If padres had an opening at 1st sure. They dont. So they have no need for andujar who most likely isnt sticking at 3rd.
But padres can put tatis jr at 3rd and Edwards at ss for the long term.
The Padres should not be a factor in trades this winter. The reason they are is A.J. Preller making himself into a mark.
I preller the fool
Sonny Gray for Jose Pirela and Bryan Mitchell.
Some Padres fans don’t think Gray is worth giving up even Nix. Some Yankees fans have talked about Urias or Paddack.
I am neither a Yankees fan nor a Padres fan. Urias or Paddack is the kind of package you build around for a front line starter..not Gray. On the other side, Nix could probably get you a bench piece.
That’s a fair assessment
No one is excited about Gray. No one. I don’t like calling big leaguers garbage…. But I’d rather give a kid like Nix a shot. The money and the upside are too much to dismiss here. The kid has all kinds of upside and is making the league minimum. If he does break out that’s a way better trade chip than Gray. 1 year of Gray at his market rate isn’t needed in SD right now
Gray won’t make much of a difference for the Padres. It’s not like they will catch the Dodgers anytime soon.
Padres aren’t trading Nix for a rental starter being paid about market value.
I love all the Yankee haters saying Sunny is garbage. You guys realize away from Yankee Stadium Sunny had a 3.17 RA last season. He has value other teams see he has value but like most teams they want something for nothing.
That’s why the Yankees want to trade him so badly, right? Gimme a break. This is what the Yankees are known for. They fleece young prospects from everybody for crap in return; overrated marginal players or rentals.
you sound very jealous of Yankee success and being in the run for the pennant each and every year unlike the ChiSox!
Nobody’s jealous,; you’re not relative outside of ny. A salary cap would make you get over yourselves real quick.
If there was a salary cap do you think the White Sox would spend near it? Say it was $206 million??
Gray is maybe a 5th starter now. He has been mediocre or worse the last 3 years. He is worth only a 20-30 rated player in a team’s system, not a top prospect.
Screw Gray, the Padres should be working a trade for Kluber themselves. What a nothing move for a franchise looking to contend in the near future.
Agrees. Gray makes zero sense for the senseless Padres
Gray is not a salary dump. Hes a very good pitcher who simply cant pitch in Yankee stadium. 9m is nothing for the yanks and his road numbers show he isnt broken.
I think the Angels, Reds, Padres, Brewers, and A’s need a quality starter. The Dodgers could use a quality righty too. My pwrsonal choice would be to trade Gray back to the A’s for Kaprelian, whos coming off TJ surgery. Id even kick in some coin to make it happen.
We aren’t debating if he’s a good pitcher he is but since he can’t pitch in Yankees stadium the Yankees have no leverage in his trade value so his value drops immensely
Leverage or not, they won’t accept scraps; they’ll get something of value because when it comes time to make a deal, they’ll have multiple bidders.
Once Kikuchi, Keuchel, and Gonzalez sign, teams will turn to Gray.
Have fun paying him $9.1m to suck and then leave after 1 season then!
Why the heck would the Padres trade prospects for a pitcher who is going to be a free agent before they are going to contend?
Because its Preller. He always changes his plans
I wonder if Yates would come back to ny In a trade with the pads for gray
No. Yates is better, cheaper and has an extra year of control compared to Gray. I’ll be shocked in the Yanks get anything from the Padres’ top 30.
He is a reliever though and while he has improved the last two years he has had only one real good year (2018). Not saying gray is Cy Young but he is a starter with a mostly good track record
Yates has more trade value than Sonny Gray. It isn’t even close. Gray wouldn’t be the headliner if the Yankees trade for Yates.
Yates is stinky. Comparing him to Gray is laughable. Look at the career #s, not just 2018
You’re either an idiot or a troll if you think Gray has more trade value than Yates at this point
Why look at career numbers Shorty? That is insane. You trade for Gray for who he is now not who he used to be!
Career numbers … too funny!
I would trade the #21 prospect in Padres system Reggie lawson for Sonny. Every prospect listed in our 1-20 is valuable to a rebuilding team like San Diego. I expect Stroman to nab a top 100 prospect because he has at least 2 years left. 1 year pitchers are hard to pay a premium for. Jacob Nix is a #5 pitcher in a rotation already could get better and he has more value than Gray.
Tatis for Gray or Bust. #cashninja
Then I guess its “Bust” then shortytallz. If the Padres are going to trade Tatis it will be for a better player/pitcher than one year of Gray.
I’m pretty sure Cashman has Javy Vazquez in mind when he thinks of Gray. Javy probably did worse than Gray.
Let NY keep gray, Cash is playing two potential trade partners against each other, fine for cash, let the Reds take him. I’d give cash one AA player and ask for $4M back against his 2019 salary. He’s a one yr. rental at best. Cash you can keep him, don’t want him his best years are behind him.
Sonny Gray would be a great addition to Padres. They would finally have a good arm ,but they will probably have to pay a lot.