Sonny Gray is coming off a disastrous 2016 season, though that's not stopping the Oakland Athletics right-hander from generating interest on the trade market.
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Gray on Braves' Radar
Tuesday, Nov. 15
According to MLB.com's Mark Bowman and Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal, the Atlanta Braves have looked at Gray as a potential trade option to bolster their starting rotation.
Gray's trade value will likely never be lower. He posted career lows in ERA (5.69), WHIP (1.47), strikeouts per nine innings (7.2), home runs allowed per nine innings (1.4) and hits allowed per nine innings (10.2), per Baseball-Reference.com.
The 27-year-old essentially missed the last two months of the season because of a forearm issue. He made one appearance after August 6, tossing one scoreless inning in relief against the Los Angeles Angels on September 28.
It's easy to figure out why other teams would be interested in Gray. While his value took a huge hit in 2016, he's still one year removed from finishing third in American League Cy Young voting and is under team control through 2019.
A team like the Braves, which is still in rebuilding mode but trying to field a respectable squad to open its new stadium in 2017, would be betting on a bounce-back season from Gray.
The A's, however, don't have incentive to move Gray coming off a bad season because he's under control for multiple years. Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors estimates the All-Star will get $3.7 million in arbitration in 2017, a manageable salary for a small-market team.
Unless A's general manager Billy Beane thinks Gray is damaged goods and wants to strike while it's still possible to ask for a decent return, it will likely take a big package from any interested team to pry him away from the Bay Area.
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