July is a busy month in the Majors. Names come and go. Teams in contention gear up for postseason, struggling ones try to plan ahead. Yu Darvish, Justin Verlander, Todd Frazier among many others. In the midst of all this, lies the Tennessee born Oakland A’s pitcher: Sonny Gray. Just as fellow pitcher Darvish, Gray seems to have at least a handful of teams hoping to acquire his services on the mound.
The Yankees, Nationals, and Mariners have hopes of adding the right handed to their pitching staff according to reports. Nonetheless, a very unique team sits behind them, also hoping for a trade to be made. The San Diego Padres, almost out of nowhere, hope for Gray to land in Petco Park.
Why?
This kind of trade talk involves two struggling teams. Better said, it involves two rebuilding teams. The long term plans down in the south, and the famous Moneyball philosophy up north. A move such as this one would be a huge leap forward in the rebuilding process for the the Friars. Gray would represent a huge lift for a seemingly never-ending struggle on the mound. Coming in with a 6-5 record, and an ERA and WHIP much more lower than the Padre standards, it seems that the still Oakland-based pitcher would be a crucial addition. Padres will take all the help available to get unstuck from their neutral position.
As for the Athletics. The Green and Gold is simply looking to move forward in terms of their usual Modus Operandi. Why sticking with one player if I can two or three in exchange? Getting rid of Gray goes along with the moneyball life that The Elephants live in. While doing so, they could also land some very solid prospect from the San Diego farm system
How?
The most relevant of the two questions. How is all this apparent madness going to go trough? For starters, Padres get Sonny Gray, a pitcher with a five pitch repertoire. The right-handed pitcher has a very vast arsenal at his disposal. A four seam-fastball and sinker that light up the radar gun in the low-nineties. A slider capable fooling batters. A nineties cutter to crowd left handed hitters. Last, but most notably, his mid-eighties curveball: His bread and butter. He certainly does not hang a lot of K’s on the wall, since he is not a dominant pitcher, he compensates by getting hitters off balance.
The sole surviving team in the city of Oakland could look for adding interesting pieces from the Old McFriar Farm. In need for a center fielder, the A’s could turn their the heads to Franchy Cordero, the Dominican outfielder top-prospect down at Triple-A with the El Paso Chihuahuas. More importantly, the swinging A’s need some secure hands on defense. Mexican born Luis Urias could come in handy for the future. Lastly, but not by any means least, A’s need to create depth in their roster, since injuries tend to pile up on the Southern Californians. How is a team going to compete wen it is full of broken players?
Friar Horse
If we take a look at the whole situation with a horse racing-like point of view, it all seems even more fitting. Padres share a lot of resemblance to Patch: The one-eyed race horse. Yes, they might not be flashy, or wear pinstripes and they definitely do not have the money to spend. Despite all of this, San Diego could pull up the biggest upset of this trade season.