Milwaukee Brewers Looking to Acquire Sonny Gray
Throughout the years, Milwaukee Brewers fans have gotten used to all the disappointing seasons since their 1982 World Series loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. The club has only been to the playoffs twice since then, but this year's team has shown a lot of promise.
The Brewers are currently sitting at the top of the National League (NL) Central and they need to hold on to that spot. While they are favorites to win the division title, the Chicago Cubs have become a huge threat after they acquired José Quintana for the White Sox.
The Cubs may have acquired an ace pitcher, but the Brewers are looking to add an ace of their own. Now that Quintana is off the market, the Brewers are expected to go after the Oakland Athletics' Sonny Gray.
The connection is there. Gray played college ball at Vanderbilt University, and Brewers pitching coach Derek Johnson used to be a coach there. In fact, respected baseball insider Jon Heyman has reported that some people close to Gray believe the Brewers may be his most likely destination if he gets traded.
However, it is generally accepted that the Brewers may have to give up some of their top prospects to acquire Gray. The price is going to be steep and they may have to include top prospect Lewis Brinson in the deal. But according to FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal, that may not necessarily be the case.
"Brett Phillips would figure to be part of any Brewers offer to Oakland for Gray; the A's need a center fielder, and the Brewers probably would prefer to keep their two top prospects according to MLBPipeline.com, Lewis Brinson and Corey Ray," Rosenthal said.
"The Brewers' system is strong enough for them to put together a package for Gray without Brinson; Ray, the fifth overall pick out of Louisville in the 2016 draft, is struggling offensively in the High-A Carolina League," he added.
Of course, this is likely just speculation on Rosenthal's part. But if it's true, the Brewers should really consider pulling the trigger on a deal to acquire Gray.