Minnesota Twins Rumor: Sonny Gray a potential trade target

The Minnesota Twins have been linked to another recognizable name as the Hot Stove continues to turn out rumors and this time it is starter Sonny Gray.

The Minnesota Twins are thought to be looking for ways to continue to upgrade their starting rotation. Bob Nightengale of the Boston Globe recently mentioned that the Twins are one of a handful of teams who have checked in on New York Yankees starting pitcher Sonny Gray.

The Yankees are certainly in a place of flexibility in their rotation as they recently sent a package of prospects to the Seattle Mariners for starter James Paxton. Gray was already rumored to be available in a trade, but the acquisition of Paxton and the return of CC Sabathia have helped add to the Yankees ability to trade Gray this offseason.

What makes Gray especially attractive to teams with smaller payrolls is that he is in his final year of arbitration and MLB Trade Rumors has estimated that he will make $9.1 million this coming season. The cost to acquire him should also be a bit lower than some of the other starting pitchers available for trade because of his ability to enter free agency this after the 2019 season.

Gray was acquired in the middle of the 2017 by the Yankees and was able to perform well for them in 11 starts to finish out the season. He held onto a 3.72 ERA, a 1.255 WHIP, and a 8.1 K/9. It was clear in 2018 that something about being a part of the Yankees rotation wasn’t going to serve him well as he saw his ERA jump to 4.90 in 23 starts.

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The home and away splits for Gray are pretty striking. While in the bandbox called Yankee Stadium, Gray had a 6.98 ERA. When on the road Gray returned to the level of pitcher we have come to expect from the right-hander as he turned in a 3.17 ERA and even an improved 9.9 K/9.

The Twins would not be acquiring a starter with absolutely electric stuff in terms of velocity, but Gray has used his mix of pitches to be a good strikeout pitcher with good overall results. Gray produced a 21.1% K-rate in 2018 and actually seemed to perform better than his 4.90 ERA suggest as he boasted a 4.10 xFIP. All numbers that point to Gray being a potential solid addition to the Twins rotation as a change of scenery may do him wonders.

Nightengale further suggests in his piece that the Yankees could be looking for either prospects or a bullpen arm in return for Gray. Both of which should be something that the Twins should be willing to give up for Gray, assuming the Yankees won’t be asking for the cream of the crop out of the Twins system such as Royce Lewis and Alex Kirilloff.