It’s no secret the New York Yankees are looking to trade pitcher Sonny Gray, who vastly underachieved with the Bronx Bombers over the past two seasons.
They might need to drop their asking price, though.
An official of a team interested in Gray told George A. King III of the New York Post that the Yankees have asked about high-end major league talent in trade talks regarding the right-hander.
This news Thursday comes amid various trade rumors involving Gray, with Jon Heyman of Fancred reporting Wednesday that the Cincinnati Reds, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners are in on the 29-year-old.
It’s hard to imagine the Yankees landing much of a haul for Gray despite his past success with the Oakland Athletics. He’s coming off a 2018 campaign in which he went 11-9 with a 4.90 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP in 30 regular-season appearances (23 starts) while losing his spot in New York’s rotation.
The Yankees entered this offseason in need of starting pitching. They lost out on free agent Patrick Corbin, who signed a six-year, $140 million contract with the Washington Nationals, but they acquired James Paxton in a trade with the Mariners and reportedly agreed to a deal Wednesday with J.A. Happ, who finished 2018 with the Yankees after coming over in a midseason trade from the Toronto Blue Jays. New York’s rotation figures to consist of Paxton, Happ, Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka and CC Sabathia, although the Yankees still could explore other options.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has made it clear this offseason he intends to trade Gray, who spent four-plus seasons with the A’s before landing with New York in exchange for prospects James Kaprielian, Jorge Mateo and Dustin Fowler in July 2017.
Gray’s best season came in 2015, when he earned an All-Star selection and finished third in American League Cy Young voting after going 14-7 with a 2.73 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP in 31 starts.
