BIB on the Radio: The Red Sox Acquire Sonny Gray
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What is the significance of the Red Sox acquiring Sonny Gray?
Hey, it's Rob Bradford here on Jones and Keefe on WEEI. He is presented by McFarlane Energy. Bradford, I want to keep you waiting. We want to get you right in. How's everything going?
Oh, it's great, man. Was Sonny Gray going to be your random baseball player of the day today?
No, not today. Spoiler alert. You mean Pickles? Don't be him. We had to punt on that. We were just reading the latest from Brad Faux up now on WEI. You can follow him on Twitter at Brad Faux. Of course, baseball isn't boring. I like this line in here from you, Rob. The three-time All-Star is reliable, and while Gray is a perceived top-of-the-rotation option for the Red Sox, he wouldn't seem to be the caliber of starting pitcher Craig Breslow was hinting at earlier this offseason. So what do you make of the trade?
I only deal in facts. Those are facts. Yeah, first of all, I don't think you can really criticize the Red Sox for the trade because it does what everybody wants them to do, which is try to win in 2026. That is undeniable when it comes to looking at this trade. You took on a fair amount of money. Now, I know they're getting $20 million back, but still paying a pretty decent chunk. You're giving up two guys who might be major league, probably are major leaguers, and you're getting a guy for one year. I mean, one year. And he's part of the solution, not part of the problem. Where I wrote that, and this has to be part of the conversation, is this the guy that Craig Breslow was talking about, the GM meetings, to walk side-by-side, hand-in-hand with Garrett Crochet at the top of the rotation, and he's not.
I mean, that's... That's not where Sonny Gray is at this point in his career. Two years ago? Yeah. 2023? That guy? Sure. But not the guy that we saw last year. That doesn't mean he's a bad pitcher. That doesn't mean he can't be a number three starter. But still, that's not this guy. So that's what we sort of have to wait and see. But I think ultimately what you have to look at this trade like, hey... Good for them. I don't think they gave up guys who are really going to hurt you down the road. And even if you do, so what? So what?
How did the trade for Sonny Gray come about?
Don't you want to win now? And this helps you win now.
And really just an upgrade over, you know, best friend of the show, Lucas Giolito.
Yeah.
Like fair to say he had a good year, but he's just unfortunately he hasn't been able to stay healthy. Sonny Gray gets the ball and goes. And for one year, roughly that price tag. Is that kind of what we're looking at here?
Yeah, I think that's a great way to look at it. And I think the problem is that everybody, and they sort of paint themselves into this corner by saying, we're not worrying about three through ten. We're worrying about one and one and a half. And so everybody's so focused on getting that guy, like I said, the Joe Ryan guy, and we're going to have to see if they get him. But I don't... I don't know how you can really criticize him too, too much because this is the type of trade where I would scream and yell, like, why wouldn't you do it? I don't want to be clinging to prospects. I don't want to be clinging to the idea that Richard Fitz someday is going to be a number three starter or Brandon Clark is going to
pop off out of nowhere. Maybe they will. I don't know. But all I know is what you have now is a World Series contending team if everything breaks the right way and you keep adding to them. So that's what they did. They kept adding to it.
So, yeah, I like... I like this trade. I'm curious, how do you think Sonny Gray stacks up compared to guys like Dylan Cease and Fran Brevaldez, who are free agents, and some of the other names that we've been brought up before, like Mackenzie Gore, Hunter Green, Sandy Alcantara? Is he... Do you put him in that same realm, or is he below those guys? How do you rank him?
To me, Rich, it's kind of two different buckets, honestly. One, because of the age. I mean, happy birthday to Sonny Gray. He just turned 36 on November 7th. Happy birthday, Pickles. Yeah, Pickles. There you go.
Even just for this season, because I understand your point.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the significance of the Red Sox acquiring Sonny Gray?
0:00–2:12
2
How did the trade for Sonny Gray come about?
2:12–4:50
3
What are the financial implications of the Sonny Gray trade?
4:50–7:48
4
How does Sonny Gray compare to other pitchers like Dylan Cease and Mackenzie Gore?
7:48–10:41
5
What is the Red Sox's strategy for the 2026 season?
10:41–10:55
Speakers
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