Jon Heyman has tweeted that the Cincinnati Reds are finalizing a trade for Sonny Gray from the New York Yankees. What has been reported is that the Yankees will receive second base prospect Shed Long, an early pick in the upcoming draft and possibly another minor league player.
Yankees, Reds are finalizing the Sonny Gray trade. infield prospect Shed Long and a draft pick are expected to go to NY, and possibly a 3rd lesser piece. Long is an excellent hitter, fair defender. Just need to cross t’s, dot i’s (ie medicals, 40-man considerations, etc.)
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 20, 2019
This all comes after months of discussions by both teams in multiple areas. The Yankees had made it clear that they were looking to trade Sonny Gray after a rough 2018 season where he went 11-9 and had a 4.90 ERA. He was eventually moved into the bullpen after starting most of the season and did not pitch for the Yankees in the postseason.
The Yankees will add the Reds seventh-best prospect in Long. He is a big-time bat that has plus power but struggles defensively and in making contact at times which is evident from his 123 strikeouts in 126 games in 2018. It is interesting that the Yankees would want Long unless they plan on moving him away from second. They just signed DJ LeMahieu and have uber-prospect Gleyber Torres manning the same position.
For the Reds, they have made it clear that they are ready to compete by adding Tanner Roark and Alex Wood to strengthen their rotation after it has been consistently one of the worst for the past three seasons. Sonny Gray will likely slot in the second or third spot in their rotation. The Reds will be hoping that with his former pitching coach, Derek Johnson, that Gray will get back into his potential ace form. The team was also likely willing to give up Long for Gray as he was blocked by Scooter Gennett and another uber-prospect in Nick Senzel at second.
If Gray can pan out then the Reds will have found their top-level pitching without having to give up any of other their major prospects. They will also likely look to extend his contract should both sides feel like Cincinnati is the best spot for Gray. He just finished arbitration and will make $7.5 million in 2019 with free agency available to him in 2020.
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