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CARLSBAD, Calif. – This was a Vanderbilt star who seemed overwhelmed by the Northeast market when he had not been able to play well at home or in the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry.
David Price overcame all this in October to become a series hero and a darling of the Red Sox. Did this give Brian Cashman the belief that former Vanderbilt star Sonny Gray – who has struggled at Yankee Stadium and Rivalry – could follow the same path?
"We are going to move it if we get the right deal because I do not think it will work in the Bronx," Cashman told Monday at GM meetings. "I do not think we can do the same exercise and hope for different results."
Cashman said that he had sparked a lot of interest for Gray, enough to have confidence in the possibility of an exchange. The Yankees general manager said: "There are enough teams that think enough about him, who are interested and who understand why. [Gray pitched poorly]. "
The Reds, looking for starters, has just signed Derek Johnson, Gray's Vanderbilt pitching coach. Johnson left the Brewers, who were interested before. Giants pitcher coach Curt Young was Gray's pitcher coach A. Gray has his admirers. The Yankees will probably use Gray to land a reliever they like, add to the depth of their minor championship, or include it in a larger package.
Gray was 11-9 with a 4.90 ERA. On the road, he had an ERA of 3.17 and a 0.64 OPS, compared to his home, where he was 6.98 and 0.932. He had a record of 14.73 and a 1,049 OPS pace against the Red Sox in three games (two starts).
Like the Yankees, many teams are looking for launchers combining high attack rates and ground strike rates. Even in a disappointing year, Gray averaged 8.5 shots in nine innings and a ground ball rate of 50%. The only other pitchers to have worked at least 120 innings and lead both are Lance McCullers Jr. of the Astros, Aaron Nola of the Phillies and Walker Buehler of the Dodgers.
"That's why so many teams are interested," Cashman said. "This is not a cheap guy. All data say that it is not. He will be a good pitcher wherever he goes. "
Cashman's remarks – which Gray will succeed elsewhere – remind us that this has happened with some regularity for the Yankees, with competitors such as Jose Contreras, Jeff Weaver, Javier Vazquez and AJ Burnett behaving better before and after his passage in the Yankees.
Cashman said that he was not at peace for any reason, but added that trying to determine the personality traits that would allow a player to flourish in the first place. Intense universe of the Yankees is part of the consideration.
"Until someone passes your door and the living [life as a Yankee]it's hard to know, "Cashman said. "You try to control every aspect. You plan and work and sometimes it pays and sometimes not. "
Nathan Eovaldi was the last starter to leave the Yankees to succeed elsewhere. Eovaldi needed a surgery from Tommy John at the end of the 2016 season. Since he was to miss most of the re-education of the 2017 campaign and was to become a free agent thereafter, the Yankees released him. Eovaldi has signed with the Rays, missed all of 2017, played well for Tampa in 2018 and even better after being traded to the Red Sox, particularly thriving in the playoffs.
"There was no fear problems with Eovaldi [with the Yankees]Cashman said. "He continued to evolve with us, and then he was hurt. But her makeup was great. He has never been afraid to fail. We had no problem with [Eovaldi]. "
Eovaldi is a free agent now. Cashman has once again defined the playing field as the Yankees' main area to deal with the offseason, and a meeting with Eovaldi is not impossible.
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