After a second consecutive season where they’ll miss the playoffs, the Cardinals organization appears to be in flux. With a presser scheduled for early in this coming week, rumors have swirled that the club is set to make some notable organizational changes to kick off their offseason. Those changes figure to be headlined by former Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom stepping into a larger role with the club’s baseball operations department, but USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports this morning that this offseason’s changes could carry over to the big league roster as well. Per Nightengale, the Cardinals are willing to listen to offers on veteran right-hander Sonny Gray just one year after signing him to a hefty three-year, $75MM deal as the team hopes to cut payroll entering next year.
The notion of St. Louis looking to trim down its payroll isn’t exactly a shocking one. Cardinals attendance dropped below 3 million this year for the first time since 2003 (ignoring the pandemic-impacted seasons of 2020 and 2021), leaving the club with less gate revenue than expected. Meanwhile, the TV revenue side of things isn’t much rosier as the Cardinals are one of the teams impacted by the ongoing Diamond Sports Group bankruptcy. While MLB and the Players’ Association agreed back in July to redirect funds towards clubs that have lost TV revenue amid Diamond’s troubles, it would hardly be a surprise if the club’s budgets going forward were impacted by this revenue uncertainty.
Even if the overall baseball operations budget isn’t reduced, it’s still possible to imagine the club’s player payroll dropping heading into 2025. After all, The Athletic’s Katie Woo reported on the state of the Cardinals organization earlier this week and described a situation where the club has begun to prioritize major league payroll over investing in the organization’s development infrastructure, resulting in cuts to key areas of player development in order to sustain an ever-growing payroll at the big league level. With changes to the front office seemingly on the horizon, it’s certainly plausible that the club could pare back its payroll in order to invest in a more robust player development apparatus.
That possibility of a lower big league payroll next year leads back to Gray, who will see his back-loaded salary rise from $10MM this year to $25MM in 2025. While RosterResource at Fangraphs suggests St. Louis has just $108MM in guaranteed commitments for next year, that doesn’t include an increasingly expensive arbitration class including key players like Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar, and Ryan Helsley. Nor does it include the possibility of the club deciding to exercise its club option on one or both of Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn, each of which are $12MM options with $1MM buyouts. With Gray’s $15MM raise this year and those possible additions to the payroll, it’s easy to see why the Cardinals may need to trade salary away in order to address the roster’s needs this winter even after shedding Paul Goldschmidt’s $26MM salary when he reaches free agency in November.
With that being said, losing Gray would be a major blow to St. Louis’s hopes of contending next year. The veteran right-hander had something of a down season in his first year with the Cardinals, posting a 3.84 ERA that’s just 9% better than league average by ERA+. Even so, Gray’s 3.12 FIP was nothing short of excellent and he remains just one year removed from a dominant season with the Twins that saw him finish second in AL Cy Young award voting behind Gerrit Cole. The 34-year-old hurler would likely be an improvement to just about any club’s rotation next year, but it’s hard to imagine the Cardinals themselves finding an adequate replacement for the right-hander internally coming off a season where the club’s starters collective posted a 4.36 ERA that ranks 21st in the majors and a 4.08 FIP that ranks 15th even with Gray in the fold.
What’s more, the hefty salary that could lead the Cardinals to consider dealing Gray could prove to be an anchor that makes him surprisingly difficult to trade. Between his salary for the next two years and a $5MM buyout on his option for 2027, Gray is owed $65MM over the next two seasons. That’s a hefty sum for any club to take on, and it could be especially problematic for clubs at or near the luxury tax. Upon being traded, contracts are recalculated for luxury tax purposes based on the remaining dollars and years on the deal, meaning that an acquiring team would be accepting a hit of nearly $32.5MM to their luxury tax ledger over the next two years by trading for Gray. Even if the Cardinals can find a trade partner willing to stomach that cost, Gray’s full no-trade clause could further complicate things by allowing him to block any deal if so chooses.
That’s not to say a deal would be completely impossible, of course. Plenty of players with no-trade clauses and even larger contracts than Gray have been dealt over the years, and if the Cardinals are sufficiently motivated to get a deal done there will surely be suitors for a pitcher of Gray’s caliber. Nightengale suggests that the Reds, for whom Gray pitched from 2019-21 and made his second career trip to the All-Star game, could have interest in a reunion if the veteran is made available this winter.
The Reds have had a disappointing season in 2024 but nonetheless sport an exciting young core of talent led by right-hander Hunter Greene and shortstop Elly De La Cruz. Adding Gray as an experienced, front-of-the-rotation veteran would be a huge boost for a Cincinnati rotation that appears likely to lose Nick Martinez to free agency this year but still has a number of interesting young arms behind Greene such as Nick Lodolo, Andrew Abbott, Rhett Lowder, and Graham Ashcraft. Any of those young arms would surely be attractive to St. Louis as a potential return for Gray’s services given their own rotation needs, though it seems likely that the Cardinals would need to retain some money in order to facilitate such a deal given the Reds’ typically low payrolls and Gray’s large contract.
This…doesn’t seem likely. Especially the idea that Gray is traded back to Cincinnati.
Agree. They keep Gray and simply choose not to retain Gibson and Lynn. That solves the money.
And stop the nonsense about the trade with the Reds. The Reds are not going to spend that much and the Reds already have Burns, Greene and Lowder to front their rotation.
MLB: If they trade Gray, who are they going to go with? Keep Lynn, whose knee problems are likely to do with the fact he can’t see his knees unless he’s standing in front of a mirror? Pay Gibson $12M? Hard to believe this franchise has fallen even this far.
I would love the reds getting gray back but huge intra division trades don’t happen for a reason
But… I still think they trade gray to the Mets or rangers and either pay none of the contract or pay some of it for better prospects
Easy to put Mets on list but they won’t be going after Gray.
No one’s in on Bauer. They could’ve had him at any time. It’s not like teams were waiting to see how he pitched in Mexico.
I’ll be shocked if Bauer ever comes back.
Yeah. When I think of teams that would take on a P at 32.5 million a year for 2 years the Reds were the first team that popped into my head. I bet Castellini just wet himself READING that.
Burns hasn’t thrown a pitch in pro baseball,he won’t be in the majors
A smart GM would look into it. Unfortunately, the Reds don’t have one.
Johnny, no one wants Bauer, and he sure as hell wouldn’t front the Reds rotation.
Johnny, I can’t confirm from a couple of comments if someone is delusional, but I’m getting that vibe.
Gbs- 12 years old and delusional and holding a whole box full of useless Trevor Bauer baseball cards. His life is over. Sad really.
Wait…wait…Lowder just had under a 2.00 ERA in his first 5 ML starts and he doesn’t deserve a spot in your rotation, but Bauer does b/c Mexican league stats matter??
Move on.
Run- He doesn’t have any Lowder baseball cards yet. So he doesn’t count.
Bauer was extorted by some cun+, and all of MLB convicted him of it without a trial.
Weird dude? Yep. Good pitcher? Yep. Any other weird dudes playing today? Yep. Reds going to hire him? In my opinion, no. Lowder will be in their rotation if he’s healthy.
These genius mocking you, are saying Reds won’t pay 32.5 million, obviously they can’t read a story. Since it states STL would have to pay part of it.
I’d like to see Sonny back, but I hope they concentrate on bats. 16 times being shut out is sad.
Bauer paid her-yep. Charges were dropped because he paid her off-yep. Stupid dude-yep. Any other weird dudes playing-What does that have to do with anything? Decided to play with a drone when his team was in the WS and almost cut his hand off-yep. Good Pitcher-Meh. Baseball Career over-yep. Most important part of the article- Gray has no trade clause-yep. Your post uninformative- He** yep.
Trevor Bauer did not pay her off.
Bauer is radioactive. It doesn’t matter if he wasn’t convicted, because the stuff that got aired about him liking violence in bed makes him untouchable. He has to wear that on his forehead like a Mark of Cain, and even the most desperate front office won’t be willing to attach their name to that PR nightmare.
Uncle, not a good look when nearly everything you said here is wrong. Read some of your other comments on here. You need another timeout.
So is everything you say in support of Bauer. You don’t know anymore than I do. So stop yourself. As far as my post goes- Gray-Fact. Bauer almost cutting his hand off- Known fact. Bauer stupid-fact. Are there other weirdos in baseball-Nobody cares-fact. Baseball career over-fact. Seems like MOST of what I posted is fact-fact. Plus I don’t think Bauer was all that great-My fact.
Huh? Not about support, more about the fact that you were wrong in your statement.
Whether Bauer gets another shot or not, his social media venture has taken off. He no longer needs MLB. MLB needs him more than he needs the league. We are now at that point.
ROTFLMAO. My God. How do manage to get out of bed in the morning? Do you fall a lot? You do right.
its,
How and why does MLB need Bauer?
GBS- I’ve seen a LOT of stupid Bauer posts the last few years, But that one is in a League of it’s own; I almost wet myself from the stupidity of it all. My God.
Just a heads up I think the two accounts coming at you could be the same person. It could be coincidence but their IP addresses look very suspicious.
Refute what I said Unclemike. Go.
its,
Explain how MLB needs Bauer. Go.
MLB’s social media presence and targeting younger demographics. Bauer does that better than MLB. MLB did see an uptick this past year in the younger demo, however Bauer has a presence with the younger demographic and is showing stronger gains. This is a struggle MLB has had, as World Series viewership is not where they want it to be. How to you solve that? Get the younger demo to watch.
Do you like wasting your money when you don’t seem to know what’s going on, gbs42? Maybe use less emotion and more understanding. The Bauer situation, whatever you believe, isn’t true if you’re aligned with clueless UncleMike who’s David Bote debacle was embarrassing for all Cubs fans.
UncleMike humble yourself. Remember how you got caught with your pants down because you know nothing about your Cubs. David Bote, that’s all I need to say. You truly need to learn something and be humble, you aren’t smart enough to be this ignorant.
Bringing up David Bote is a false equivalency. What someone knows about one situation doesn’t necessarily have any bearing on what they know about another.
I remember this! No, Uncle was very irrational in his statements and he wound up being wrong. Very, very wrong.
Mike also said things about Bauer that are not true. If the same person is wrong about two different issues that would be called a pattern.
Because David Bote was owed a million dollar buyout that I didn’t know about matters how? That’s right it doesn’t. In the over all scheme of things it’s as worthless a fact as all of your posts. the Cubs will gladly pay 1 million to save 4 million and my point is made- he’s gone. As to you other post it’s too laughable to imagine. The Cardinals just admitted to the fact that they’re going to go cheap. And you’re talking about them signing Soto? That’s a joke right? Because that’s the first thing I think of when I think Soto-cheap. Then Alonso and Skenes is the even bigger joke. Except for your posts. They’re the biggest joke of all.
Wait, you didn’t know about your own player’s contract situation and then started berating people for pointing it out.
Uncle Mike, sit this out. You are too emotional. That is why you never bring facts to your responses. You really do need to know more before you post.
Bauer offered his services to almost every team this past spring and for league minimum and every team said no
That’s not likely to change
Bauer is not going to be MLB’s savior in any way whatsoever. He would bring far more trouble than he will benefit.
“do you like wasting your money when you don’t sleep and know what’s going on, gbs42?”
What is that even supposed to mean? What am I wasting my money on?
gbs it means since you are a paid subscriber I would expect more in-depth baseball knowledge rather than takes based on emotion.
Ooh, sick burn!
Sorry, but I don’t keep up with Bauer’s social media status because I couldn’t care less. Seems like something someone would follow based on emotion rather than in-depth baseball knowledge.
Exactly
Telling someone else to humble themself while acting like you have some sort of special insights and knowledge into how the world works is wonderfully ironic.
Gray has a full no trade clause. Sonny has a close relationship with Red’s pitching coach Derek Johnson. Johnson coached Sonny at Vanderbilt and Gray’s first stint in Cincinnati. The Reds nearly signed Gray last year before losing out to St. Louis. Sonny Gray has expressed a desire to play near Nashville where he and his wife live. Cincinnati is closer to Nashville than St.Louis. The Reds have already announced they are interested reuniting with Gray.
St. Louis will probably have to send cash to Cincinnati for this deal to happen. If Gray is traded this off season, it will be to Cincinnati.
What do you mean “some money”? You are talking about the Reds here.
Yeah if the reds wanted gray back they would’ve just signed him last year
But that would be too expensive
The cards are in need of a big change. And the fans are ready for it. They should trade gray, Contreras, and Helsley (I dont want to, but now is the time to cash in on him). Goldy is likely gone. They should cash in what value they have and stock the farm. Start looking towards a younger core of Walker, Winn, wetherholt, burleson, and hence and bring in some better developmental coaches to get the most out of them.
I love this cardinals momentum my pipe dream of them firing moz and marmol and hiring skip Schumacher seems increasingly more likely
Every team should be open to at least listening to offers on every player. It doesn’t cost anything to listen, and you might end up making another deal.
Let’s stop alowing the Cubs fan to write articles about the Cardinals.
This seems like total nonsense. Plenty of ways to cut costs without trading Gray. He’s also owed a ton of money and has a NTC. And trade him within the division? Uh no.
Goldschmidt, Gibson and Lynn. That’s a ton of money coming off the books. Doesn’t require a trade it’s very simple to not bring any of them back if the team wants to cut costs.
It’s Nightengale he just says random stuff for clicks
Blackpink: If I remember correctly, I believe Nightingale used to write for the Chicago Sun-Times, and the media in Chicago falls all over themselves to see who lives the cubs the most.
1. Why would a Cub fan give a crap about what the Cardinals do?
2. That’s big talk for a guy who doesn’t even have spell check and can’t spell allowing.
3. I’m sure the cheaper the cardinals go the more the Cubs would hate it.
4. Nobody really cares what the Cardinals are doing because it’s mystifying at best.
@Uncle
“1. Why would a Cub fan give a crap about what the Cardinals do?”
Why wouldn’t they?
Knowledgable fans typically keep up to date with more than just their favorite team.
You can’t really know your own team if you don’t know their competition.
After you threw up writing that did all the stains come out in the wash?
We watch what every team within the same division does. If the Cardinals acquired Juan Soto, Pete Alonso and Corbin Burnes (hypothetical), you as a Cub fan would care.
@Skenes
“If the Cardinals acquired Juan Soto, Pete Alonso and Corbin Burnes (hypothetical), you as a Cub fan would care.”
You might be giving Uncle too much credit
Slopes-I’d laugh until I cried. First of all the chances of that happening are the same as you becoming a Mensa member. Alonso is about to be some teams Biggest contract nightmare. Skenes isn’t going anywhere. What stupid post. my God.
Unclemike1525
1. Why would a Cub fan give a crap about what the Cardinals do?
============================
Maybe because they are in the same division and have been long-term rivals?
If they’re downsizing from 108 million because it’s too rich and going into a rebuild No Cub fan could care less. Especially when you consider Gray, Arenado and Contreras are about 75 million of that. The Cardinals are through for awhile. Sorry Joe. As far as rebuilds go they’re already at least 3 years behind the Reds and Pirates.
It appears you missed the point. What a shock.
What JoeBrady was trying to say in a nice way is what you said about not caring what the rest of the teams in your division is doing was one of the stupidest comments in history. I think I will scroll down to see what other nonsense you decided to type.
Says the guy who advocates for Bauer. Who by the way, Ain’t coming back EVER. Take a hint.
So you’re 12. Thanks for confirming. Your Trevor Bauer baseball cards are worthless. Like I said, Take a hint.
All BB fans are entitled to their opinions! That is, if this is still a free country!
Gray for Springer. St Louis save about 800k per year. That has to be enough cost cutting!
lol that would be the biggest lose-lose trade ever
JDGoat knows what losing looks like.
But the Jays should be in on Gray if they unload Bassitt. Some package involving the two. Springer, believe it or not, the Jays still (kinda) need.
JD muted me because he felt Patrick Corbin would be a very good low risk acquisition. Maybe he has an affinity for expensive pitchers?
If they’re expensive they have to be good, right? It’s not like pitchers can randomly get worse
Signing a backloaded contract to an older player isn’t the brightest move
@ElG
“Signing a backloaded contract to an older player isn’t the brightest move”
It doesn’t REALLY make that much difference.
The biggest difference is that it makes them a bit harder to trade. As this example illustrates.
Other than that, though, contracts are structured for all kinds of reasons: present value being the biggest – players might be looking to a specific total dollar amount for whatever reason. Cash flow reasons for the team being another.
“The veteran right-hander had something of a down season in his first year with the Cardinals, posting a 3.84 ERA that’s just 9% better than league average by ERA+. Even so, Gray’s 3.12 FIP was nothing short of excellent”
So, another excellent season. Probably a better season than in 2023
’23: 7.3 BB%, 24.3 K%
’24: 5.8 BB%, 30.3 K%
Yeah that was an odd comment. Again, this writer is a Cubs fan
Mozeliak is an embarrassment. The DeWitts have allowed him to fly his little “I won the World Series in 2011” flag for the last 13 years with zero accountability and now they are paying the consequences. He should have been shown the door years ago.
I’ve heard this article talk a lot about goldy and the arbitration players, but where’s the talk on arenado? He (probably) has their highest salary so shouldn’t they find a way to get rid of him?
Full NTC, and he’s been about as committed to that thing as Trout has.
Mozeliak sold Arenado a bad bill of goods. If you want to cut some massive salary, start with him and see if the Dodgers are interested. I’m sure Nolan would love to go home and play for an actual contender.
@gr8
“see if the Dodgers are interested”
Muncy outplayed Arrenado significantly this season. Every team should always be interested in every player at the right price, but I can’t imagine the Dodgers are willing to pay much for Arenado
They could use a right-handed bat in the lineup. But Arenado has been very average for 1250 PA’s.
Why would the dodgers lose a lefty above average bat to get a righty average bat with declining defense thats older and a lot more expensive?
Muncy has more value then arenado and even if they made that trade for some reason why would the cards want muncy
@SadT
“Why would the dodgers lose a lefty above average bat to get a righty average bat with declining defense”
You did an interesting thing here
You compared Muncy’s and Arrenado’s bats on equal terms, but then you mentioned their defense but didn’t compare it
Arenado is, of course, a much better defender than Muncy. Yes, he’s declining, but so is Muncy (he may have improved this year, but the overall trend and expectation is down).
The Dodgers would want Arenado if the price to acquire him were significantly less than the cost to retain Muncy. It’s unlikely the Cardinals would deal Arenado for that low of a price.
Muncy is a fat dude with a glove of stone who doesn’t belong playing 3B on any team other than the White Sox
@They
Yet he’s playing 3B for the best team in baseball
And I trust their assessment over yours
That’s it?
You don’t watch baseball, especially not the Dodgers.
Muncy isn’t ideal but isn’t a liability waiting to happen on the field like raffy devers, arenado is slightly better right now defending but arenado has gotten so much worse
Muncy has the better bat and is cheaper so that matters more than a slightly better defender that’s a year older
Arenado is 33.
Muncy is 34.
Muncy can’t even stay on the field.
Memo to Dodgers: if you want to stay competitive: dump Muncy, Taylor, Kiki. Austin! Bring up young players!
Max Muncy one of the most overrated players in BB. Paid like a star. Performs like a Ham and Egger!
Muncy is done! Too many injuries. Backup! 1B on most bad teams. See my Dodger analysis below!
@UW
“Memo to Dodgers: if you want to stay competitive: dump Muncy, Taylor, Kiki. Austin! Bring up young players!”
Which young players specifically should they bring up?
@UW
“Paid like a star. ”
You sure about that?
Why? Because Mozeliak is incompetent and the Dodgers can probably get him for a song right now. He’s definitely better than Muncy when he’s motivated. There was nothing to be motivated about in St. Louis the past two seasons.
Gray will want to stay close to his Nashville home. The Cardinals will try to take the best offer, but the Braves probably have them over a barrel. I’m sure they’d rather trade him to Atlanta over division-rival Cincinnati.
Seems like a perfect trade for the Red Sox.
Trade a prospect or two (yes you’d have to tap into young MLB talent and probably a prospect in the top 5-10 range) and get an ace on an affordable short term deal.
It makes too much sense.
Gray has to approve the trade with the NTC. Considering his time in NYY, not likely he’ll willingly go back to what could be a similar situation — further from home.
From the Sox perspective, it certainly does. With Bloom, maybe we can get a deal as we know he loves to get rid of money.
I’m not sure how this makes sense. Gray is owed $65M over the next two years, had a 1.9 bWAR in 2024, and is on the IL.
Couldn’t hurt Arizona to have him. Or maybe try and peddle him off to Oaksacvegas and eat some of his salary.
I think Arizona wants to run it back with that rotation, if they are all healthy and ready they could have the best rotation in baseball
I’ll give ya Masa Yoshida straight up.
Trading Gray is the right thing to do for the team and the player. Even if Mo can’t bring himself say it, it’s rebuild time in St. Louis. They should be listening to offers on anyone over 30.
On a separate note, the “notable organizational changes” will more likely be a series of half measures designed to preserve Mo’s dignity. Fans shouldn’t get fooled by the “lack of TV revenue” excuse. Mo is %100 guilty of all the problems this team is having. Fans should stay away until he is fired.
I completely support the idea of a tear down. I just don’t want Mo to be in charge of it. Ownership deserves to feel the financial pain of an empty stadium for letting it get this bad and refusing to take decisive action.
No tanking. We’re above that. No trading Gray or Helsley. Let Gibson and Lynn go. Sign Sean Manaea. Let Goldy go. Have Baker and Burleson man 1B.
Rotation should be Gray, Fedde, Pallante, McGreevy, and Matz/Mikolas.
I wouldn’t consider it tanking. We already have a young core in place. But we need a financial reset. Clear the books so that a new management team has maximum resources in ’26. There is no point in staying in this twilight zone of mediocrity.
Kinda why they brought Bloom in. Cut costs while staying away from full tanking. He’ll cut a pound of flesh and fill it with artificial mechanics straight out of an underdog shonen story.
To DO: A rebuild of a medium extent.
TO Card Fan 69:One of Baker and Burleson would also play DH!
Agreed. Arenado, Contreras, and Gray should all be made available. Lynn, Gibson, and Goldschmidt should be allowed to walk. It’s time to rebuild instead of continuing to use duct tape.
You might be right. However, you will be battling this Bucs for 2 years for the cellar!
You mean the way the Cardinals have already battled them the last two years for last place?
Not Gibson. He pitched well worth his contract his year and $12 million next year is a good deal if he can repeat. Someone will pay him that. BUT!! After you pick up his option you TRADE Gibson like they should have at the trade deadline when he would have been the second best starter traded. They won’t get as much now, but don’t let the guy go for nothing when you have the ability to sign and trade him.
TO DO: Money talks very loudly!
He’s a really good pitcher but you’re not getting anything back at 2/65
I don’t think they would expect much in return. If they trade him, it’s a pure salary dump.
A lot of fans don’t look at that stuff.
Gray could have signed with Cincinnati, but chose to go to St. Louis. Why would he turn around and waive his no trade clause to go there?
Unless the Cardinals eat at least half of that salary it’s a no go anyway. The Reds aren’t going to trade youngsters for Gray unless it’s a shortstop or three. I was hoping last off season the Reds could get either Gray or Miley, and they ended up with Montas, who actually has said he wants to come back to Cincinnati after being sent to Milwaukee. I can see somebody wanting to get the **** out of Milwaukee after being there more than 10 minutes, so maybe he does come back to Cincinnati.
Dumping Gray but retain Gibson and Lynn? Makes zero sense. One year into that contract? Cant see it happening. At the same time, they have alternatives to cutting payroll, but that strategy doesnt seem to work out well. Sad really, the Cardinals franchise among others sinks to this level because MLB is so friggin incompetent promoting its product in bas8c ways.
DUMP LYNN! Dump Lynn! Easy advice from Mr. Brewer fan!
I think StL has come to the realization that in order to compete in the division and entire league (and have consistent postseason potential) they need to have a major youth infusement.
Goldschmidt may be back but is on a serious decline, Arenado looks like he has seen his best days (He should be a solid contributor for another 4 years I believe (similar to Springer when he first signed with TOR.
Sonny Grays 2 year window – he probably won’t be around when Cardinals become dangerous again.
They could be where the TX Rangers were a few years ago. Chaim Bloom will get a second chance after BOS to put his footprint on a teams structure. Valuable TB lessons learned.
Gray for Yoshida.
The Dodgers could use Gray in the Postseason but I don’t think the league would allow that.
Let Goldy walk
Find a trade that works for Arenando (he’s partially subsidized by COL still)
Trade Gray to a more relevant contender
Bring in a manager who doesn’t crush youngsters
Set the timer for 2027
Giants could do a trade for Gray. Send Ta Rogers and his remaining $11M salary for 2025. Also, Gray played for Bob Melvin so he might welcome that trade.
I think Cards would have to include some money for 2026 though and/or some international signing bonus money.
But would Sonny approve the trade to be 4th fiddle in the NL West (behind LAD, SD, ARZ) and further away from his home in Nashville, where he wanted to get closer to win he signed with STL? 90% of teams could do his short-term contract, but most wouldn’t be approved by him — and I imagine he wouldn’t want to return to NYC (via NYY, NYM) based on previous experience.
Gray was himself before 2018 and certainly with the Yankees in 2018.
You hear a lot of “coming into their own” for pitchers and in Sonny Gray’s case he wasn’t coming into his own, he learned the Roger Beshens Football Slider and started throwing it the start of the 2019 Reds season. So Sonny Gray didn’t come into his own, he came into being influenced by the “Roger Beshens influenced slider” It will come out soon, it’s in a video during a bullpen session with a pitching coach and 11 ML pitchers.
I don’t see the Cards trading Gray. Not unless they get a top prospect back.
Not sure why Deeds thinks the Cardinals have to trade an effective pitcher that would cost them $25 million but would keep 2 ineffective pitchers for $25 million.
Sounds like a Sonny Gray trade to the Orioles makes sense. Cheaper than resigning Burnes & his 2 year remaining term carries less financial risk (+ that option year gives them another year of control).
This makes a lot of sense if Corbin becomes too expensive!
I like it. Maybe Os FO goes for it if Cards eat salary in exchange for a prosoect or two.
With Bloom it’ll be a taste of ’20-’23 Red Sox. At least the colloars will match.
The Tigers have the cash and need a #2 to replace Flaherty next year. Madden or another young pitcher might be someone they could work a deal around. I more expect them to chase Verlander but Gray is a good #2.
Do not chase Verlander. Too old and now injury prone!
Even if he just pitches one inning I want to see him go out as a Tiger!
As i stated above, the Tigers won’t add any notable pitching until the 2025 deadline. Mize was hurt all year. They will run out Skubal, Mize, Jobe 1-3. Olson and Montero are 25 and 24 respectively. They’ll probably the 4 and 5 if they are pushing for a playoff spot at next years deadline they will use their other prospects to land a veteran starter for the push.
Mize was hurt last year and it’s his first year back from Tommy John. Skubal and Olson are good #1 and #3 starters. They have potential with Montero, Jobe, Madden and Hurter but no guarantee they end up on the starting staff out of spring training. Who knows if Manning will ever pan out. Every outlet seems to be predicting the Tigers will sign another starter. Maybe they don’t but I think they will grab someone.
He goes to the Dodgers for a reasonable return. Calling it
Easy cut advise: Pay lance Lynn 1 million and say goodbye. This will hurt my Brewers but save you a lot of money!
Probably not interested. They have Skubal, Mize and Jobe for their 1-3 next year. Detroit is going all youth and it worked to get them into the playoffs Gray’s salary and age don’t fit what the Tigers are trying to do. They are more likely to pick up a veteran starter at next years deadline for help their playoff push. But not going into the year
Not a chance of the Reds trading Lowder, Abbott or Lodolo for Sonny Gray and his $60 Million dollar contract. They may offer Ashcraft, but even that seems unlikely
Giants for losing Snell
Gray has an NTC and accepting a trade from MO to CA, NY or IL would cost personally between $6-8m in additional taxes.
Well, we know Gray won’t be returning to the Bronx at any price.
Great !!! Why don’t we trade him away for a pair of wool socks? That’s about how the Cardinals do trades anymore. The last trade they did any good and was Arenado trade. Other than that, we have traded away so much talent and gotten nothing. I can’t wait for Mo to leave. Oli should have been gone a long time ago. He can’t manage a pitching staff to save his life , not to mention a lineup. 162 games and what was there 150 different changes ? Dewitt doesn’t deserve anything making the comments he made.
Signed one pissed off Cardinals fan
Maybe Gray for Jorge Soler would work to get the cost down and solve the Max Fried departure issue for ATL and give the Cards some thump to replace Goldy?