Red Sox fan reaction to Sonny Gray trade makes it clear he peaked with Twins

On Tuesday, the St. Louis Cardinals traded former Twins right-handed starting pitcher Sonny Gray to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for right-handed pitcher Richard Fitts and left-handed pitching prospect Brandon Clarke, who ranked as St. Louis' No. 5 prospect per MLB Pipeline at the time of the deal.

The Cardinals are sending the Red Sox $20 million to cover part of Gray's 2026 salary and the buyout of his $30 million club option for 2027. After the trade, Boston negotiated Gray's $35 million salary for next season to $31 million and increased the buyout of his 2027 option from $5 million to $10 million. Gray can also opt out of the option if the Red Sox exercise it.

While some Red Sox fans are excited to add a pitcher who finished second in American League Cy Young voting just two years ago and struck out over 200 batters the past two seasons, others feel the deal is underwhelming. Gray, 36, likely has some gas left in his tank, but it's unlikely he repeats the success he saw with the Twins in 2023.

Red Sox fan reaction to Sonny Gray trade makes it clear he peaked with Twins

WEEI's Nick Stevens said he isn't a big fan of the Boston Red Sox acquiring Sonny Gray for the price they paid.

"Consider me dubious. There are so many reasons to not necessarily want to put all of your faith and trust eggs in the Sonny Gray basket," Stevens said. "Number one, the guy stinks against the Yankees. And also, he couldn't pitch in New York, and last time I checked, Boston is about as big a media market, or at least as big a baseball media market with scrutiny and media galore, which I'm not sure this guy thrives under."

The Oakland Athletics traded Gray to the New York Yankees midseason in 2017. Gray posted a 3.72 ERA (4.87 FIP) over 65 1/3 innings with New York in 2017 before posting a 4.90 ERA (4.17 FIP) over 130 1/3 innings with the Yankees in 2018. In two playoff starts in 2017, he allowed five runs (four earned) over 8 1/3 playoff innings with the Yankees.

Understandably, many Red Sox fans are slightly disappointed with the Gray trade, as many of them were expecting someone like Joe Ryan or Dylan Cease to be the No. 2 starting pitcher behind Garrett Crochet, and it seems as if a mid-30s Sonny Gray will fill that role instead. However, it's probably unfair to jump to the conclusion that Gray will stink with the Red Sox just because he wasn't great with the Yankees almost a decade ago. Sure, he hasn't been able to repeat his 2023 success the past two seasons, but Gray still has elite strikeout stuff and could help the Red Sox win their first World Series since 2018.