Sonny Gray

[OnTheBlack]

I read that tweet as it being one of Long or Stephenson, not both.

 

 

That's because that's exactly what it says. ONE of Long or Stephenson may be going.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

I read that tweet as it being one of Long or Stephenson, not both.

 

 

That's because that's exactly what it says. ONE of Long or Stephenson may be going.

 

Yeah, I read it wrong. My bad.

[JosephC]

MLBTradeRumors posted, and I'll do a copy and paste here:

 

The Reds and Yankees are inching closer to a deal, with two prospects and a draft pick the expected return for Gray. Long and Stephenson (currently the #6 and #7 prospects in the Reds system per MLB.com) are the prospects most likely to be headed to New York.

 

That's probably where much of the Stephenson AND Long concepts came from. Clearly stated two prospect and a draft pick and then named both Long and Stephenson.

 

I'd still consider Long and a draft pick an overpay for Gray but it's not a crazy swap. Been checking out Reds message forums the last couple of days and they think Long is the ideal player to trade away. They think he's stuck at 2B and doesn't have the ability to play another position. Scooter is there short-term and they think Jonathan India eventually winds up at 2B...which would make Long a difficult fit on their 25 man roster.

[Fear The Chorizo]

If Gray had terrible numbers pitching at home in Yankee Stadium, he'll be thrilled to pitch half his games during his FA year at Great American Bandbox Ballpark, too. Plus, he'll get to pitch a good number of road games against darn good NL Central clubs, two of which (Brewers/Cubs) play in pretty hitter-friendly places.

 

I can see where this trade makes sense for the Reds given the pitching coach connection and their current dearth of MLB-caliber starting pitching - but even the Reds should be careful in what they actually need to trade away for Gray at this point.

[SRB]

The pitching coach connection seems ridiculous to me. The goal with Gray is to repeat what he was doing early in his career with Oakland. Has nothing to do with Johnson.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Except that in this situation, it's not - Johnson was Gray's coach for 3 years while at Vandy and was instrumental in recruiting him there, and it's obvious they've formed a longlasting relationship. What Gray was doing early in his career with Oakland has a high likelihood of being built on the foundation he had developing as a collegiate pitcher with Johnson. Gray essentially pitched one minor league season across a few calendar years in Oakland's system, so it's not like he went through an extended development period under other minor league instruction before he became the pitcher he was a few years ago.

 

Seems likely that the Reds are his landing spot, as there is rumors swirling that the Reds are actually trying to get him signed to a contract extension before finalizing the trade. Whether an extension happens probably impacts the return the Reds want to send NY.

[adambr2]

Nice to see the Yankees have been gracious enough to back off the Taylor Trammell ask.

 

To ask for Stephenson or Long isn't a crazy, but it would still be an overpay IMO from the Reds standpoint. They should tell the Yankees to move about another 6 spots on the prospect list and then they will be in business.

 

You are assuming that the Yankees (or Reds) care in the least about an arbitrary prospect ranking. I mean, it is easy to determine what every team's top prospects are, but once you get past the first 5 or so, each team is going to have its own ranking system, and I wouldn't doubt that its different than the mlb or any other prospect ranking list that is available to fans.

 

I will say however that it's a pretty good starting point. You are correct in saying every team is going to have their own system, but they're still going to be relatively consistent. For example Baseball Prospectus will have their own separate rankings from Pipeline but for the most part they'll be similar. No one is going to have Cameron Roegner as the Brewers' #1 prospect and Keston Hiura as the #17 prospect, for example.

[82brewcrew82]

Nice to see the Yankees have been gracious enough to back off the Taylor Trammell ask.

 

To ask for Stephenson or Long isn't a crazy, but it would still be an overpay IMO from the Reds standpoint. They should tell the Yankees to move about another 6 spots on the prospect list and then they will be in business.

 

You are assuming that the Yankees (or Reds) care in the least about an arbitrary prospect ranking. I mean, it is easy to determine what every team's top prospects are, but once you get past the first 5 or so, each team is going to have its own ranking system, and I wouldn't doubt that its different than the mlb or any other prospect ranking list that is available to fans.

 

I will say however that it's a pretty good starting point. You are correct in saying every team is going to have their own system, but they're still going to be relatively consistent. For example Baseball Prospectus will have their own separate rankings from Pipeline but for the most part they'll be similar. No one is going to have Cameron Roegner as the Brewers' #1 prospect and Keston Hiura as the #17 prospect, for example.

Well, almost no one.

[Eye Black]

A couple more Tweets from Jon Heyman...

 

Gray’s agent Bo McKinnis and Reds don’t have extension yet and have until day’s end Monday to get one done. There’s reason to believe there’s still a very good chance to extend him. But if not, NYY could possibly look at a deal w/SF, OAK, MILW, ATL, etc. or keep him.

Here’s why there’s still good reason to believe Reds will get extension w/ Sonny: 1. Reds like Sonny very much 2. Sonny has said players want to play where they’re wanted 3. Reds pitching coach Derek Johnson was Sonny’s coach at Vanderbilt 4. Cincy is close to his Tennessee home.

[TURBO]

According to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, the Yankees had trades for Sonny Gray in place with teams other than the Reds on Friday.

 

The Reds have a tentative deal in place, but it's contingent on completing a contract extension with Gray. Their 72-hour negotiation window expires at some point on Monday after which the Yankees could pivot to other possible deals. If the trade with the Reds goes down, complete with the contract extension, it's believed the return package for the Yankees would include at least infield prospect Shed Long and a competitive balance pick. Not working out an extension doesn't rule out a different trade with Cincinnati, but teams like the Brewers, Athletics, and Padres have also been mentioned as possible landing spots.

 

Source: Mark Feinsand on TwitterJan 21 - 12:30 PM

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

According to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, the Yankees had trades for Sonny Gray in place with teams other than the Reds on Friday.

 

The Reds have a tentative deal in place, but it's contingent on completing a contract extension with Gray. Their 72-hour negotiation window expires at some point on Monday after which the Yankees could pivot to other possible deals. If the trade with the Reds goes down, complete with the contract extension, it's believed the return package for the Yankees would include at least infield prospect Shed Long and a competitive balance pick. Not working out an extension doesn't rule out a different trade with Cincinnati, but teams like the Brewers, Athletics, and Padres have also been mentioned as possible landing spots.

 

Source: Mark Feinsand on TwitterJan 21 - 12:30 PM

 

LOL David Stearns = rebound chick!

 

I don't know how interested I am in Gray, but seeing Stearns swoop in and steal him from under the Reds' noses would be fun.

 

Edit: On second thought ... nope: