Reds acquire Sonny Gray

[KeithStone53151]

This is officially happening, per Passan

 

[coolhandluke121]

Fine by me. Didn't want the Brewers in on that. The Central is deep as hell but nobody is truly scary unless all the Cubs duds from last year bounce back.

 

And they're all making marginal upgrades at bad value prices, whether in terms of assets, salary, or both. The Brewers are the reigning champions, and the more their rivals make short-term upgrades, the more I'm convinced the Brewers have the brightest long-term future in the division as well. I just think these teams are buying tickets to nowhereville.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

That Reds' rotation is either going to be great or horrible. No in-between. I feel like that whole rotation is #4-5 starters with #2-3 upside.

[Fear The Chorizo]

I know it's still the Reds but they've had a pretty darn aggressive offseason thus far. No word on whether they actually signed him to an extension or not, right? Barring them throwing an obscene amount of money Gray's way, this move gives them some rotation stability

 

It might wind up to just reshuffling the deck chairs on a listless ship, but IMO the 2018 NL Central cellar dwellar Reds have gotten quite a bit better this winter. This division is going to be a grind in 2019.

[KeithStone53151]

Sonny Gray reached an extension as part of he deal. 3/30.5 with a club option and escalators. This extension starts after his current 2019 agreement.

 

[StearnsFTW]

I know it's still the Reds but they've had a pretty darn aggressive offseason thus far. No word on whether they actually signed him to an extension or not, right? Barring them throwing an obscene amount of money Gray's way, this move gives them some rotation stability

 

It might wind up to just reshuffling the deck chairs on a listless ship, but IMO the 2018 NL Central cellar dwellar Reds have gotten quite a bit better this winter. This division is going to be a grind in 2019.

 

Extended at 3/30 with a team option.

 

Meh deal for the Reds. I don't really like Gray though. Gave up a decent prospect and a high draft pick.

 

I would not be pleased if the Brewers had made this deal.

[KeithStone53151]

Shed Long and a comp pick has been the rumored package for the Yankees. Looks like the Reds are also getting a LHP back. I don't know much about either of these guys.

 

[anglotiger]

Oh no... now Fangraphs will have the Brewers finishing last on their own... might as well have a fire sale...

[xisxisxis]

I don't know, but I get the feeling that in 10 years the 2019 Reds will be the prime example of "how to spend a ton of money and resources just to go from 67 to 79 wins"....

[rickh150]

The Reds are making it more difficult to get the Wild Card from the Central, as well as any 100 win team.

[KeithStone53151]

I don't know, but I get the feeling that in 10 years the 2019 Reds will be the prime example of "how to spend a ton of money and resources just to go from 67 to 79 wins"....

 

It actually does a lot for your fan base and ticket sales to be more competitive than a 67 win team. Also, I wouldn't dismiss the Reds chances as quickly as you seem to be. If DJ truly is an outstanding pitching coach, he might be able to craft their pitching into a successful enough group. Their offense is as good as any in the NL.

[homer]

I don't know, but I get the feeling that in 10 years the 2019 Reds will be the prime example of "how to spend a ton of money and resources just to go from 67 to 79 wins"....

 

Yeah I have no idea what they are doing. As strong as the division is they should be selling off and rebuilding.

[danzig6767]

Fine by me. Didn't want the Brewers in on that. The Central is deep as hell but nobody is truly scary unless all the Cubs duds from last year bounce back.

With teams playing such a large number of their games inside the division, playing in a tough division makes it harder to win say 95 games or more, thus if you don't win that division, Wild Card hopes are lesser.

 

It helps to have a bad team or two that is mainly tanking to rack up some likely easier wins.

[KeithStone53151]

I don't know, but I get the feeling that in 10 years the 2019 Reds will be the prime example of "how to spend a ton of money and resources just to go from 67 to 79 wins"....

 

Yeah I have no idea what they are doing. As strong as the division is they should be selling off and rebuilding.

 

I really can understand them trying to compete for a few years. Votto is still basically prime Votto, but that won't last forever. Theoretically, DJ should help their pitching staff. They have some once highly regarded prospect not doing well at the MLB level, maybe DJ can help. They also have a pretty strong farm headlined by Senzel likely to make his debut in 2019. Senzel is right up there with Hiura, possibly even ahead of Hiura as a prospect...he's a future stud.

 

I get that the NL Central is crazy good this year, but I'm really not sure waiting is a better option considering their roster construction. Putting all brewer fan bias aside, I love what they are doing and think they'll be a good team next year. I can also tell you that Votto is probably pretty happy that the team is making competitive moves. That guy has been stuck raking with a mediocre to bad team for quite a while.

[xisxisxis]

The Yankees announced on Monday that they have traded Gray to the Reds, along with left-hander Reiver Sanmartin, for second-base prospect Shed Long and a competitive balance pick in the 2019 Draft.

 

The Yankees then sent Long to the Mariners for Minor League outfielder Josh Stowers.

 

#Yankees high on Stowers, who was #Mariners’ 2nd-round pick in 2018. Also: Unlike Long, Stowers does not need to be added to 40-man roster. So, NYY gets last year’s 54th overall pick plus 36th selection in ‘19 for Gray, a pitcher they wanted to trade, and LHP Reiver Sanmartin.

Nice job by Cashman to get some value out of a SP they didn't want to keep...

[wallus]

I don't know, but I get the feeling that in 10 years the 2019 Reds will be the prime example of "how to spend a ton of money and resources just to go from 67 to 79 wins"....

 

It actually does a lot for your fan base and ticket sales to be more competitive than a 67 win team. Also, I wouldn't dismiss the Reds chances as quickly as you seem to be. If DJ truly is an outstanding pitching coach, he might be able to craft their pitching into a successful enough group. Their offense is as good as any in the NL.

 

Ticket sales aren't as important to team revenue as they used to be. 79 wins is a terrible place to be.

[SRB]

Very good deal for them, but I still don't see the Reds being contenders on paper.

 

No idea why Gray accepted that extension. I guess he wants to get out of New York badly.

[Lathund]

Jerry Dipoto couldn't bear seeing a trade go down that the Mariners weren't part of, so had to get involved.

[adambr2]

Very good deal for them, but I still don't see the Reds being contenders on paper.

 

No idea why Gray accepted that extension. I guess he wants to get out of New York badly.

 

I think it's a great deal for Gray. He's 29, coming off a 4.90 ERA season and his career guaranteed earnings just went from 19M to 50M with one swipe of the pen in a brutal FA market. There's no guarantee of a turnaround especially at Great American Ballpark and if he has one more bad year he enters free agency probably looking at small prove-it deals on the wrong side of 30.

[DHonks]

seems like a very good deal for the Reds. Brewerfan users almost always assume players are in decline and will not bounce back. Sometimes they are right, and many times they have been wrong.

[paul253]

Yeah I think Cincinnati really made a good deal here. A fringe prospect and a draft pick for a decent MLB starter who signs a very team friendly extension. I gladly would have given up an equivalent prospect md pick for Gray.

[MadThinker88]

I don't know, but I get the feeling that in 10 years the 2019 Reds will be the prime example of "how to spend a ton of money and resources just to go from 67 to 79 wins"....

 

Yeah I have no idea what they are doing. As strong as the division is they should be selling off and rebuilding.

 

I really can understand them trying to compete for a few years. Votto is still basically prime Votto, but that won't last forever. Theoretically, DJ should help their pitching staff. They have some once highly regarded prospect not doing well at the MLB level, maybe DJ can help. They also have a pretty strong farm headlined by Senzel likely to make his debut in 2019. Senzel is right up there with Hiura, possibly even ahead of Hiura as a prospect...he's a future stud.

 

I get that the NL Central is crazy good this year, but I'm really not sure waiting is a better option considering their roster construction. Putting all brewer fan bias aside, I love what they are doing and think they'll be a good team next year. I can also tell you that Votto is probably pretty happy that the team is making competitive moves. That guy has been stuck raking with a mediocre to bad team for quite a while.

 

The Reds rebuild is already going into its 6th season IIRC. I have read on other boards that the Cinci fan base is getting restless and attendance has been dropping.

 

Add to that they have had front row seats to some aggressive moves/ results by the Brewers & I can understand the Reds idea of making a push any way they can..

[adambr2]

seems like a very good deal for the Reds. Brewerfan users almost always assume players are in decline and will not bounce back. Sometimes they are right, and many times they have been wrong.

 

I never said, nor am I saying, that Gray is in decline and won't bounce back. He very well may. But there are certainly risks. At his age and this market, guaranteeing himself another $30M for the prime of his career coming off his last season seems like a great plan to me, rather than running the risk of entering a very uncertain free agent market following perhaps two poor seasons, or a poor season followed by a major injury.

 

That seems like a very smart approach to me rather than roll the dice in hopes of 100M later. I'm sure not everyone would agree. Obviously, Gray does.

[JosephC]

Great day for Josh Stowers, who just went from being something of an obscure prospect rated #10 in a poor minor league system, to one of the most attractive toolsy outfielders and almost a lock to be a top 100 prospect in all of baseball when the lists are updated.

[sveumrules]

The Reds rebuild is already going into its 6th season IIRC. I have read on other boards that the Cinci fan base is getting restless and attendance has been dropping.

 

Add to that they have had front row seats to some aggressive moves/ results by the Brewers & I can understand the Reds idea of making a push any way they can..

 

This is pretty much it. The Reds last made the playoffs in 2013. In the five seasons since they have won an MLB worst 343 games, 10 fewer than the next worst club.

 

Their offense has been comparable to ours the last three years (93 wRC+/55.2 WAR vs 95 wRC+/56.5 WAR), but they've had thee worst pitching on all of MLB by a huge margin (9.2 WAR vs 24 WAR for the next worst team).

 

After a half decade of being comfortably the worst team in MLB you almost have to make some moves to at least give the appearance of trying. The Reds trying to fix their pitching by bringing in DJ & making the moves they have should make the NL more competitive & thus more interesting, which I can always get behind.