Clock ticking on A’s Gray
A game of chicken revolves around Sonny Gray as teams wonder if the A’s will take the best offer available by 4 p.m. Monday or hold the righty and market him again in the offseason if they do not get their desired package.
Oakland officials have let it be known they will not undersell their ace and can always revisit trading Gray when the inevitable freeagent stickerprice shock for top starters occurs in November and December.
However, interested teams recognize Oakland would be taking a risk. The biggest concern about Gray is his ability to stay healthy, which he is right now and pitching well. He allowed four runs, but none earned, and struck out six Tuesday night in a loss to Toronto.
That is Gray’s sixth straight start of two or fewer earned runs allowed. If they are going to move him, the A’s would almost certainly prefer not to incur the peril of letting him make his next scheduled start, Sunday, the day before the deadline.
That is why the perception is growing in the industry of Oakland pushing for final and best offers from teams, with the belief the Yankees are sitting on the best bid and the A’s wanting to see if another club will top it or the Yanks will push even more into their package.
The four most interested teams — the Yankees, Brewers, Braves, Astros and, perhaps, Dodgers — all have strong farm systems.
One element the A’s are looking for is a center fielder of the future. Finding one is not a deal breaker, sources told The Post, but it is a preference.
One of the A’s most trusted evaluators — director of player personnel Billy Owens — has been canvassing the Yankee organization and has seen both Estevan Florial, at Low-A, and Jorge Mateo, at Double-A, play center field. Florial’s star has been on the rise this year (he played in the Futures Game) and is considered a player who can excel at center field.
Mateo has revived some of his once lofty prospect status by performing well after his elevation to Double-A. Mateo is a natural shortstop, but scouts who have seen him say center field may be his best position due not just to his legs, but better instincts for the position than anticipated.
Owens also recently saw wellregarded Domingo Acevedo start. Six-foot-eight righty starter Freicer Perez has been getting a lot of love from scouts in low-A as has Albert Abreu, the main piece the Yanks received from Houston for Brian McCann.
The Yanks believe they upgraded their chances to make the playoffs — and be a force should they get in — by improving their bullpen with Tommy Kahnle and David Robertson. They would love to add a starter to hedge against the fragility of CC Sabathia and Masahiro Tanaka, and the youth/ endurance of Jordan Montgomery and Luis Severino.
The A’s are said to want a deal structured similarly to what the White Sox received for Quintana — two highend prospects and two pieces perhaps further away, but with upside.
The Yanks do not value Gray to the same level, in part because of his durability questions. But he is controllable through 2019, which is appealing to the Yankees and he is their main aim now even over the more talented Yu Darvish.
The Yanks do seem determined to add a starter just to create more options for Joe Girardi and greater depth to hedge against injury. So if it were not Gray, they would have to look to a different level (but with a lower asking price). Starters such as Toronto’s Marco Estrada, St. Louis’ Lance Lynn and Colorado’s Tyler Chatwood are all in their walk years.