New York Yankees Ready to Make a Title Run After Acquiring Sonny Gray
The New York Yankees did all the right things leading up to the nonwaiver trade deadline on July 31. They added depth to the bullpen by acquiring Dave Robertson and Tommy Kahnle, and they also improved their infield with Todd Frazier. The Yankees also upgraded their pitching staff by picking up Jaime García in a trade with the Minnesota Twins, but the team saved the best for last.
In the final hours before the deadline, the Yankees finally pulled the trigger to acquired starting pitcher Sonny Gray in a trade with the Oakland Athletics.
"I know that he's somebody that can slide into any rotation and automatically make the team better. He's somebody that I think we're all excited to get to know. We're excited to get him over here and work alongside him. I think he's going to be a big boost for us," Brett Gardner said, via MLB.com.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The team had to give up infielder/outfielder Jorge Mateo, outfielder Dustin Fowler, and pitcher James Kaprielian to get him, but at least they didn't have to include top prospects Gleyber Torres, Clint Frazier or Estevan Florial in the deal.
The Yankees have been hanging around the fringes of contention in the past few years, but with the moves they made in the past few weeks, the team may have set themselves up for a title run. In fact, if Yankees general manager Brian Cashman didn't believe that they had a chance to win it all, he probably wouldn't have made all these moves before the deadline.
"On behalf of this fan base, this team has shown it's got the ability to allow us to push a lot of these chips in the middle of the table and recognize 2017 has a chance to be special," Cashman stated, via MLB.com.
Gray will make his Yankees debut this Thursday when they open a four-game series against the Cleveland Indians.
