New York Yankees

Why are the Yankees waiting to trade Sonny Gray?

Yankees fans are upset that Sonny Gray hasn’t been traded yet. The truth is, it’s smart for Brian Cashman to exercise patience.

Sonny Gray’s continued presence on the Yankees roster is a serious cause of consternation for New York fans on social media. Many fans expected Brian Cashman to trade Gray before conducting any other business this season. Obviously, things haven’t worked out that way.

Gray is still employed by the Yankees at the moment, but there’s no reason for fans to panic. Cashman and the organization are still determined to offload him this winter. The reason Gray is still on the roster is shockingly simple.

The Yankees simply haven’t received an offer they like for the right-handed flop. It was reasonable to think that sort of offer would arrive before Monday’s Rule 5 deadline, but clearly things didn’t break in the Yankees direction this week. That makes it very likely that Gray will be a Yankee for several more weeks at the very least.

That doesn’t mean Gray is going to head to Spring Training with New York. It just means Cashman and company don’t have any reason to rush things at the moment. There’s no motivation to clear a roster spot at the given point in time. That could change quickly if the right free agent wants to move to the Bronx, but nothing seems imminent on that front.

As such, Cashman’s best strategy is to wait and see what sort of market develops for Gray’s services. As worthless as he is for the Yankees, it’s very possible another team might see real value in Gray as free agency options start to dwindle. Right now, every team is convinced they’ll sign their top pitching target once the market really starts to heat up. When teams start to miss on the best players on the board, Gray could become a serious priority.

Moves in free agency might also change what the Yankees will look for in a trade. Right now, it seems likely that New York will either look for a prospect or a quality bullpen arm. Theoretically, those are also needs that can be satisfied via the trade market or free agency. If Cashman solves his pitching issues via those methods, he might want to swap Gray for a utility player capable of strengthening Aaron Boone’s bench

Next: 5 moves the Yankees still need to make

The moral of the story here is that Yankees fans need to be patient when it comes to Gray. Waiting around to make sure you receive the best offer possible for him is exactly what the front office should be doing. There’s no benefit to dealing him before his market fully develops.

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