The Oakland Athletics were a relatively late entrant into the trade market but they nonetheless drummed up plenty of speculation involving Sonny Gray, who instantly became one of the more sought-after players.
An argument on whether Gray or Yu Darvish is the more talented pitcher can be waged, but what’s undeniable is Gray offered much more team control. Whereas Darvish is eligible for free agency this winter, Gray won’t reach that point until after the 2019 season.
The Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees and Washington Nationals were among the clubs with reported interest in Gray. The Yankees began to emerge as a frontrunner of sorts over the last couple of days.
According to Jack Curry of the YES Network, New York reached an agreement to trade for Gray:
Source: Sonny Gray will be traded to the Yankees.
— Jack Curry (@JackCurryYES) July 31, 2017
In addition, Oakland is sending New York $1.5 million in international bonus money, while the Athletics are receiving a trio of prospects, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports:
Source: In addition to Sonny Gray, the Yankees are getting $1.5M in international bonus money.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 31, 2017
Source: Gray to Yankees done. Fowler, Mateo, Kaprelian coming back.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 31, 2017
Per MLB Pipeline, outfielder Dustin Fowler is ranked the Yankee’s fourth-best prospect, outfielder/shortstop Jorge Mateo is eighth-best, and right-hander James Kaprelian is their No. 12 prospect. Fowler and Kaprelian are out for the remainder of the season due to injuries.
The 27-year-old Gray was scratched from his scheduled start on Sunday afternoon in anticipation of being traded. He went 6-5 with a 3.43 ERA, 3.24 FIP and 1.18 WHIP in 16 starts for Oakland this season.
Over parts of five seasons with the A’s, he went 44-36 with a 3.42 ERA and 1.20 WHIP in 114 games (112 starts). Gray made a career-high 33 starts in 2014, then dipped to 31 during a 2015 All-Star campaign.
The Yankees have already acquired Jaime Garcia from the Minnesota Twins, and Todd Frazier, Tommy Kahnle and David Robertson from the Chicago White Sox, along with completing minor deals.
With Gray no longer available, the Dodgers and others in the market for a starting pitcher may next turn their attention to Darvish. Dan Straily and Justin Verlander are other options, though neither are of the ace-caliber that some contenders may be searching for.
