The Athletics are going to trade Sonny Gray, and the only question left at this stage is about which team he’ll be traded to. The non-waiver trade deadline is less than two weeks away, so we know whatever the move is, it’ll happen soon. It would probably be easier to figure out which team is the most likely one to get Gray if a fifth of the league wasn’t linked to him, though.
The A’s are going to trade Sonny Gray
Tuesday’s Say Hey, Baseball looks at Sonny Gray trade rumors, Javier Baez vs. an iPad, and where the NL’s preseason favorites are now.
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ESPN’s Buster Olney lists the Brewers, Cubs, Braves, Indians, Astros, and Yankees as potential suitors for Gray, who Olney wrote about first in his column of players who will — emphasis his — be traded. Bob Nightengale reports that the Brewers “may be the most aggressive team pursuing Gray,” which makes sense given they’re trying to fend off the defending champion Cubs and are in desperate need of another starter given injuries to Chase Anderson and Junior Guerra.
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The A’s have watched Gray struggle with his performance and injuries over stretches where it was expected they would look to deal their controllable top starter. Now that they’ve admitted the rebuild is on and Gray is once again pitching well, it’s not shocking to see that they’re trying to unload him.
Don’t be fooled by Gray’s 3.72 ERA on the season, which translates to a good, but not stellar, 113 ERA+. Gray didn’t get started in 2017 until May, and his last start of that month was a disaster wherein he allowed seven runs in 4-2/3 innings. Outside of that one appearance, though, the right-hander has a 3.04 ERA, allowing just 27 runs in 80 innings, and that also happens to be his ERA over the eight starts since that lone implosion. Whichever team does get Gray is getting someone great, and his deal could tip the scales of whichever race he ends up in.
- In the preseason, we all knew how 2017 was going to go for the Dodgers, Nationals, and Cubs. Things haven’t quite worked out as envisioned, as the Nats have been great in spite of a fatal flaw, the Dodgers might be having an all-time great year, and the Cubs can’t seem to escape .500’s event horizon.
- This isn’t your play of the day because it’s a good play. It’s your play of the day because Javier Baez destroying an iPad with an errant throw is hilarious.
- Joey Votto really did get Zack Cozart a donkey as a reward for making the All-Star team, so we asked you what Cozart should name it.
- “Pat Burroll” is the clear favorite imo.
- The Astros held a pregame funeral for Carlos Beltran’s glove because Beltran hasn’t done anything but DH for two months.
- As the trade deadline nears, we’re going to investigate rumors to see how likely and believable they are. First up: Lance Lynn to the Royals and one of Asdrubal Cabrera or T.J. Rivera to the Red Sox.
- Atlanta has benched Dansby Swanson, which seems like a weird thing to do to your young player in a rebuilding year.
- Speaking of the Braves, they’re involved in every pre-deadline discussion but aren’t the main player in any of them.
- Major League Baseball thinks that the Overwatch League logo is a little too similar to its logo. It might sound silly for a baseball league to be concerned about what an esports logo looks like, but MLB wants to avoid implying an affiliation.
- There’s a Giancarlo Stanton to the Giants rumor out there for some reason.
- The Royals demoted Jorge Soler, so that trade seems to be working for Kansas City.
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