MLB Trade Rumors: Market for Oakland Athletics Pitcher Sonny Gray May Take a While to Develop
Gray expected to be a trade target for teams in need of starting pitching
Seemingly every Major League Baseball season, some teams hoping to make the postseason find themselves in need of some starting pitchers. And for this year, those squads may need to contact the Oakland Athletics if they want an upgrade in the rotation.
That is because the Athletics are expected to be one of the teams that will actually be willing to deal quality Major Leaguers this trade season and also because they currently employ Sonny Gray.
Gray has been mentioned quite frequently in trade rumors dating back to spring training, but to this point at least, no deal has materialized.
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Recently, MLB insider Peter Gammons also reported that the calls Athletics general manager Billy Beane has apparently received related to Gray have been "keep me in mind" requests.
That suggests that there are indeed teams eyeing Gray, but for now, they may be holding off on putting their assets on the table that would get an actual deal done.
It makes sense too that teams may be waiting a bit before they go all-in for a Gray trade.
While Gray's 2017 numbers are back to what they were before injuries and ineffectiveness caused them to take a turn for the worse last year, teams looking to trade for him may still want a larger sample before they sign off on moving quality prospects for the 27-year-old pitcher.
Gray likely is not coming off the trading block as well, given that the Athletics would be hard-pressed to make a postseason push. The Athletics may also be better off trading Gray now as they may be able to get a better return for him, since he will be arbitration-eligible for two more years before he becomes an unrestricted free agent in 2020 - unless an extension is agreed upon prior to then.
The market for Sonny Gray may not be bustling just yet, but it will likely heat up soon enough with just a few more weeks remaining before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.
