Reds acquire RHP Gray from Yankees

[January 22, 2019]  The Cincinnati Reds acquired right-handed pitcher Sonny Gray from the New York Yankees on Monday.

Gray will reportedly sign a three-year, $30.5 million extension -- with a $12 million club option for 2023 -- as a condition of the trade, which sent second base prospect Shed Long and a compensatory draft pick to the Yankees, while also bringing lefty prospect Reiver Sanmartin to the Reds.

The Yankees then sent Long to the Seattle Mariners for minor league outfielder Josh Stowers.

Gray was set to enter the final year of his contract with a $7.5 million salary in 2019, but he is now under the Reds' control for five seasons.

MLB.com reported over the weekend that the sides were finalizing a trade, but Gray's willingness to sign an extension with Cincinnati was a sticking point, with Monday set as the negotiating deadline. Had a deal not gone through, the Yankees were expected to try to send Gray elsewhere, after general manager Brian Cashman made it clear in November he planned to trade the pitcher.

Gray, 29, went 11-9 with the Yankees with a 4.90 ERA last season, his first full year with the team after arriving via trade from the Oakland Athletics in 2017. He went 15-16 with a 4.51 ERA in 37 appearances (34 starts) over parts of two seasons with New York.

The right-hander is 59-52 overall with a 3.66 ERA in his six-year career, earning an All-Star appearance in 2015.

Long, 23, was considered the No. 6 prospect in the Reds' system. He batted .261 with 12 homers and 56 RBIs in 126 games at Double-A Pensacola in 2018.

Stowers, 21, was the 54th overall pick in the 2018 draft, appearing in 58 games for short-season Class-A Everett, where he hit .260 with five home runs and 20 stolen bases. He ranked eighth in the Northwest League with an on-base percentage of .380.

Sanmartin, 22, spent 2018 between the Class-A and Double-A levels, going 5-7 with a 2.81 ERA in 13 appearances (10 starts), tallying 58 strikeouts in 67 1/3 innings.

--Field Level Media

[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.