A CASE FOR A'S SONNY GRAY

I can't believe it's only been a few days and the Yankees Wild Card loss is still fresh. Yet, I'm writing about upgrades for our Yankees... unreal.

Since we lost, and near the end of the season, there was a lot said about our pitching and whether or not our rotation could handle the playoffs down the stretch.  While Masahiro Tanaka didn't pitch horribly against the Astros, he wasn't outstanding either.  Now comes a piece about upgrading our starting rotation a bit, and it comes from the New York Post:

Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes:  "At present, the A’s will say Sonny Gray is not available. However, the young righty is so talented, this is the one place the Yankees should think of investing big prospects and exhausting the possibility.

(Jorge) Mateo is likely to be a consensus top-20 prospect next year, and the Yankees believe he can be moved from shortstop and be a Jose Altuve-like impact second baseman by 2017. (Aaron) Judge also will be in the top 20, and Gary Sanchez likely in the top 50.

The Yankees at least have to consider putting two together to front a package for Gray. In that scenario, you have Gray and Severino as anchors, and if health and full production ever come from Eovaldi, Pineda and Tanaka, the rotation is awesome."

I know, I heard the collective gasp.  Why trade away our prospects like Judge and Mateo for Sonny Gray? 

Well, here's the thing, and I'm not necessarily agreeing with Sherman here,but I do like the idea about Sonny Gray on our team, but here's the thing; One thing about the Toronto Blue Jays... they pretty much never stop calling the Oakland A's about Josh Donaldson.  They liked him so much, even though the A's said no... the Jays constantly presented trade scenarios to them until they had to say yes. In other words... it was an offer they couldn't refuse.  With that trade, Donaldson helped catapult the Jays into a great run and now... in the playoffs. I'm not saying we unload top prospects for Gray, but Cashman can no doubt be smart about getting Gary, especially as Sherman describes... "you have Gray and Severino as anchors."  I like that.

Whatever the case, it was an interesting idea by Sherman even though some of the comments that followed in the article disagreed:

Yeah, there were other names mentioned in Sherman's piece as well to upgrade our rotation...we're concentrating on Gray here. Now, I'd never call Sherman an idiot. I call him crafty, and smart to put something out there so provocative. Oh... and if you're wondering about Gray's numbers?  14-7, 2.73 ERA, 159 Ks.  Me likey.

 Imagine him, Severino, Nathan Eovaldi, Masahiro Tanaka and Michael Pineda? Throw in a healthy, drink free CC Sabathia?  Maybe an Ivan Nova?  We have options... and an upgrade. 

We shall see...

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