Yankees acquire Sonny Gray for three prospects to boost rotation
NEW YORK (AP) — Last year at this time, the New York Yankees were looking toward the future.
Turns out, that future arrived pretty fast.
In an aggressive move designed to boost their starting rotation for an unexpected playoff run, the Yankees acquired pitcher Sonny Gray from the Oakland Athletics for three minor league prospects on Monday.
"This team has shown it's got the ability to allow us to push a lot of these chips in the middle of the table and recognize 2017 has a chance to be special," general manager Brian Cashman said.
"We're trying to go from good to great."
Oakland received Jorge Mateo, a top shortstop-outfielder prospect at Double-A; right-hander James Kaprielian, the 16th overall pick in the 2015 amateur draft who is recovering from Tommy John surgery on April 18; and Dustin Fowler, an outfielder who ruptured the patellar tendon in his right knee in the first inning of his major league debut on June 29, ending his season. New York also receives $1.5 million in international signing bonus allocation from the A's.
In the works for weeks, the deal was announced less than an hour before the 4 p.m. EDT deadline for making trades without waivers.
"Most of our serious conversations were with the Yankees," Athletics executive vice president of baseball operations Billy Beane said in Oakland, California.
"We're in last place, so we needed to do something. Sonny was a great player for us, but at this point we need a lot of great players. There's a talent deficit that exists right now, and the way to acquire multiple good players is to trade some of the good players you currently have."
A 27-year-old right-hander who has been slowed by injuries, Gray is 6-5 with a 3.43 ERA in 16 starts this season.
In his last six outings, he is 4-2 with a 1.37 ERA.
He makes $3,575,000 and is not eligible for free agency until after the 2019 season.
Gray was an All-Star in 2015, when he won 14 games for the second consecutive season and finished third in AL Cy Young Award voting.
"I think we've definitely improved ourselves," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.
"When I look at ownership and the front office, they've given us an opportunity to do something special here. Now we have to go out and do it."
Last season, the scuffling Yankees stockpiled prospects at the trade deadline by dealing away veteran stars Andrew Miller, Aroldis Chapman and Carlos Beltran.
But with the quick emergence of young sluggers Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez and others, the Yankees entered Monday with a half-game lead in the AL East over rival Boston.
New York missed the playoffs last year and has not won a postseason series since 2012.
So to get Gray and several other big league pieces recently, Cashman dipped into one of baseball's deepest farm systems.
Gray slots into the middle of a rotation that includes Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia and veteran Jaime Garcia, acquired Sunday from Minnesota.