The New York Yankees are in the process of bolstering their starting and relief pitching rotation, but one option is on the trade block due to a poor 2018 season.
Sonny Gray, a once highly coveted starting pitcher for the Oakland A’s, was brought over to the Yankees during the 2017 season, where he earned a 4-7 record. With a 3.72 ERA, Gray was though to be just having an off-year. This was not the case, as he followed up his lackluster 2017 campaign with arguably an even worse one in 2018.
How Sonny Gray performed for the Yankees last season:
Gray finished the season 11-9 with an ERA of 4.90. He was dropped from the starting pitching rotation and fell into a relief role, where he lost opportunities consistently due to bad performances.
GRAND SLAM Rafael Devers.
The @RedSox jump out to a 4-0 lead over Sonny Gray & the Yankees in the 1st pic.twitter.com/exrOnfUUYl
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) June 30, 2018
In 2019, the right-handed pitcher will be in an arbitration year, which will allow the Yankees to slash his salary by a maximum of 20% of his total hit. He will earn an arbitration award of $9.1 million.
The Yankees are desperately trying to trade Sonny Gray:
The issues the Yankees are having with unloading Gray stem directly from their asking price. They have been pursuing high-end talent for the pitcher, who has a career record of 59-52.
The Yankees have traded for James Paxton and signed J.A. Happ to a two-year deal while trying to shop Gray. It doesn’t seem as if the team sees Sonny as a relief or rotational/reserve option, given his shopping.