NY Mets starting pitcher trade options if they miss on Trevor Bauer

Sonny Gray

The second member of the Cincinnati Reds I have my eye on is Sonny Gray. There have actually been rumors of Sonny Gray being on the trade block and the Mets having interest. To save money, the Reds might be trying to blow things up. If that does happen, Sonny Gray would be an amazing get for the Mets in my opinion.

When I first saw these rumors, I immediately thought about his time with the Yankees. Gray struggled mightily in the Bronx. In his only full season there in 2018, Gray went 11-9 with a 4.90 ERA in 23 starts (30 appearances) and was left off of the postseason roster. This led people to come up with a narrative that Gray just couldn’t handle New York. I just don’t believe that to be the case.

After being traded to the Reds in that offseason, Gray blamed his struggles on the Yankees forcing him to throw way more sliders than he wanted to. Gray says the slider is a pitch he likes to use in a two-strike situation to throw in the dirt. The Yankees wanted him to use it more and try to throw it for strikes.

Since he arrived in Cincinnati, Gray threw his slider more than he ever did with the Yankees in 2019 and threw it a lot in 2020 as well. He threw it 21.6% of the time in 2019, and 15.3% in 2020. The difference is the situation he is throwing them in. Gray has said he has a hard time throwing his slider for a good strike.

This means one that isn’t flat that the hitter can crush for a home run or one that just misses the strike zone entirely. He likes to throw it in a two-strike count to try and put a hitter away. The Yankees had him throwing it more in hitters counts which caused some issues for him.
The results of his new approach have been outstanding. His strikeout rate in 2018 with the Yankees was at 21.1%. In his two seasons in Cincinnati, his strikeout rates jumped up to 29.0% and 30.6%.

If Gray can continue to throw his pitches the way he thinks he can be successful, I don’t see it being an issue pitching in New York. He has pitched in games with pressure and has done very well. In his two playoff games with the Athletics, he allowed just three runs in 13 innings pitched, including eight scoreless innings in his postseason debut.

I believe Gray is closer to the pitcher he was in Cincinnati and Oakland which saw him make two all-star games and finish in the top three in Cy Young voting one year. In his last full season in 2019, Gray went 11-8 with a 2.87 ERA, striking out 205 hitters in 175.1 innings pitched. Those are ace quality numbers, and he was on track to do even better this season before getting injured.

The 31-year-old has two years and a team option left on his contract. The two years are worth $10 million dollars a season, and the team option year is worth $12 million dollars. This is a bargain and if the Mets can find the right trade to land him, I do that in a heartbeat.