The Cincinnati Reds have acquired pitcher Sonny Gray and pitcher Reiver Sanmartin from the New York Yankees in exchange for the second baseman Shed Long. The Yankees then traded Long to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for outfielder Josh Stowers. Also as part of this deal, the Reds agreed to a contract extension with Gray, a three-year extension worth $30.5 million with a fourth-year club option worth $12 million that has escalators and bonuses. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported the terms of the trades and financials of the extension.
Sonny Gray has been traded to the Cincinnati Reds, a source familiar with the deal tells ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 21, 2019
The Sonny Gray deal may turn out to be a three-way trade, league sources tell ESPN. Seattle is sending center field prospect Josh Stowers to the Yankees, sources said, and Shed Long is expected to go to the Mariners.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 21, 2019
Gray extension with #Reds complete, per source. Three years, $30.5M, covering 2020-22. Club option for ‘23 at $12M. All salaries can grow based on numerous escalators. Plus $500K of innings pitched bonuses each year.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 21, 2019
Gray felt the struggles during the 2018 season at one point being moved into the bullpen. Gray’s 2018 featured an 11-9 record with an ERA of 4.90 and WHIP of 1.49. This was not Gray’s best year and the Reds can only hope that Gray will be able to get back to his better days with the help of pitching coach Derek Johnson who was Gray’s pitching coach at Vanderbilt University. It would seem as if the Reds commitment of a three-year deal with Gray means they have a belief that Gray will be able to figure himself out and get back to the level of competition that he was at.
In terms of the prospects who were flipped, Sanmartin the pitcher acquired by the Reds only appeared in 13 games last year in Single-A and Double-A clubs posting a combined 2.81 ERA. Long who was sent the Mariners is considered as a big leaguer who spent his time in Double-A ball last year posting a slash line of .261/.353/.412 in 2018. Josh Stowers who the Yankees acquired from the Mariners spent his time in Single-A (Low-A) posting a .260 batting average while swiping 20 bags showing his speed and running abilities.
The Reds have now acquired Alex Wood, Matt Kemp, Gray, and Yasiel Puig this offseason. After the trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Reds were not listed as being counted out in both the Gray sweepstakes and the JT Realmuto sweepstakes which is still ongoing, though rumors have faded lately. It appears the Reds and New York Mets are competing for the team who has improved and changed their team the most over the course of this offseason.