Sonny Gray got brutally honest about why he didn't return to the Twins
It was always a long-shot that he'd be back, but it still stinks to hear this.
A lot has been made over the last few years about the Minnesota Twins' inability to win a trade. The nightmare that was the 2022 deadline has colored our glasses as we look back, but it has also unfairly blocked out perhaps the best trade the team has made in years.
In March 2022, the Twins quietly acquired Sonny Gray from the Cincinnati Reds in what felt like another classic low-risk move to fix the starting rotation. The price was steeper than usual, though, with first-round pick Chase Petty going back to the Reds while an aging Gray was being asked to be the ace Minnesota had been chasing for years.
He delivered on that promise to a historic degree.
Gray formed a dynamic pitching duo a year later with Pablo Lopez that helped end a 19-year postseason losing streak. He was a Cy Young runner-up, helped reset the balance of the rotation, and was absolutely worth the price the team paid to get him.
Trade capital seems to be the only currency the team was willing to spend on Gray, though.
After his contract expired at the end of last season, Gray signed a $75 million deal with the St. Louis Cardinals and recently revealed just how unwilling the Twins were to match that.
Sonny Gray says the Twins told him they couldn't afford to re-sign him
There were already plenty of reasons why Gray leaving made sense, most notably the tension between him and Rocco Baldelli over his innings. As is most cases with the Twins, though, it was the almighty dollar that was the difference maker.
Gray said that the Twins were open about their unwillingness to spend money in free agency which pretty much ended any sort of discussion about a return on the spot.
“They were very transparent from the get-go, saying, ‘Listen, we do not have the resources to give you a contract, as much as we would like to,'" Gray said, via the Star Tribune.
Credit to Gray for his honesty -- and the Twins for at least wearing the fact they were going to go cheap on their sleeves. It might be a frustratingly frugal franchise, but Minnesota at least has some dignity in not wanting to lead players on.
To be fair, it seemed unlikely from the start that Gray would be back. Minnesota's money woes were no secret, but it stings a little more now to hear the reason things fell through given all that has happened this year.
Minnesota's strategy of simply hoping for the best while investing the bare minimum into the roster has unsurprisingly backfired. While the team is just a few games back from first place, the Twins are moving in the wrong direction. A loss to Gray's Cardinals sunk Minnesota into third place and the house of cards appears to be collapsing.
There's no guarantee that the Twins would be better off had they spent to keep Gray, and there was almost no chance the team met his demands. Still, it's a painful reminder of just how much this team might be getting held back from decisions that were made for the lamest reason.
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