Upon placing Sonny Gray on the trading block, the Oakland Athletics received interest from the Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees, among others. Fittingly so, as Gray immediately joined Texas Rangers ace Yu Darvish as one of the top pitchers available at the trade deadline.
The Dodgers’ focus appeared to lie more squarely on Darvish, while an expectation arose over the weekend that that the Athletics and Yankees were nearing a deal. That’s believed to still hold true in spite of the Yankees trading for Jaime Garcia.
Amid somewhat of a stalemate between Oakland and New York, the Dodgers and Athletics are maintaining contact on potentially aligning on a trade involving Gray, according to Jon Morosi of MLB.com:
Source: #Dodgers and #Athletics have stayed in touch on Sonny Gray — a wise move for both parties, if only to create leverage. @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 30, 2017
A willingness from both sides could serve of benefit in terms of leverage. The Dodgers may relay to the Rangers they are willing to pursue a starter other than Darvish, while the Athletics could attempt to pry a more attractive offer from the Yankees.
Of course, it also would not come as a complete surprise if the Dodgers were to ultimately trade for Gray. Assuming costs for Darvish and Gray are essentially equal, the latter better fits with the Dodgers’ vision.
President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman is hardly one to part with his top prospects at the deadline, and is especially reluctant to do so for a rental. Gray, unlike Darvish, is under team control beyond this season.
The 27-year-old is eligible for salary arbitration this winter and can’t become a free agent until after the 2019 season. Though, there are injury concerns with Gray as he missed time last season due to a strained right trapezius then a strained forearm, and spent the first month of 2017 on the disabled list with a strained right lat.
