New York Yankees Having Issue Unloading Substandard Relief Pitcher

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.

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.