Cashman says Bombers will seek trade for Gray
Brian Cashman confirmed what many had already believed: Sonny Gray’s time with the Yankees should be over. “It hasn’t worked out thus far,’’ Cashman said at a press conference at Yankee Stadium. “I think he’s extremely talented. We’ll enter the winter, unfortunately, open-minded to a relocation. To maximize his abilities, it would be more likely best [for him to be] somewhere else.” Gray has been a colossal disappointment since coming from the Athletics at the 2017 trade deadline in exchange for three of the Yankees’ top prospects: James Kaprielian, Jorge Mateo and Dustin Fowler. None of the trio of minor leaguers has worked out for Oakland, but Gray has been a bust in The Bronx. After struggling down the stretch in 2017, the right-hander was even worse this season and he pitched especially poorly at the Stadium. In 15 games (11 starts) this season in The Bronx, Gray had a 6.98 ERA as opposed to a 3.17 ERA in 15 appearances away from home. Gray was bumped from the rotation in August, didn’t fit well in the bullpen and wasn’t on the ALDS roster. Since he is under team control, Cashman will look for a trade partner this offseason — although he insisted he won’t give away the 28year-old. “If I do find a match, you’re gonna see what we had hoped to see here,’’ Cashman said. “It doesn’t work out sometimes. … Someone, if they trade for him, is gonna get the player we wanted. I fully expect that.” In addition to Didi Gregorius’ Tommy John surgery, Cashman said CC Sabathia has had another surgery on his right knee. Sabathia has pitched effectively the past three years and Cashman said the lefty expects to be able to perform at the same level in 2019. The 38-year-old said he intends to pitch next season — even if it’s not with the Yankees, which he previously indicated was the only team he would play for.
“He’s been successful,’’ Cashman said. “He’s had an amazing career that has a chance to continue — whether it’s gonna be for us or not. … We have [organizational] meetings to go through at the end of the month.”
In 29 starts this season, Sabathia finished with his lowest ERA (3.65) since 2012 (3.38). Despite Giancarlo Stanton’s horrific showing in the ALDS, Cashman said he had no second thoughts about trading for the slugger last December.
“He’s one of the better players in the game, period, regardless of how he played during this divisional series,” Cashman said. “We got one of the better players in the game from an offensive standpoint, period. I have no regrets on that.”
Aaron Boone said Luke Voit will have a “leg up” on Greg Bird for the first base job, based on how well he played after being acquired from the Cardinals.
“He certainly came over here and was given that opportunity and took it and kicked the door in,’’ Boone said of Voit, who wrested the job away from Bird.
“I’m sure there will continue to be competition on all kinds of levels,’’ Boone said. “The one thing with Greg that I never lost is we’ve seen him be an impact player at times in his career. … This year, in a lot of ways, was a little bit of a lost season for him.”