14-Year Veteran Sonny Gray Makes Decision on Future

It took Sonny Gray just over a week to make a big decision on his baseball future.

The veteran hurler, who seriously pondered retirement over the past few months in his 14th season, revealed via Alex Speier of The Boston Globe that he and his family talked it through and he will return for another season in 2027.

Gray, 36, is coming off of the best season of his long MLB journey that began in 2013. His 2.72 ERA and AL-best 18 wins were both career-highs, but many within the Boston Red Sox organization believed he may walk away after the year to spend more time with his family. But as Gray indicated to Speier, it didn’t end up being much of a tough decision at all.

“My family and I have talked about it and it’s an easy decision,” Gray said. “I still want to win a World Series, whether that is [with] Boston or with whoever wants me.”

Toward the end of the season Gray had spoken very highly of his time in Boston, telling Speier in September that he has “really enjoyed the city.”

“You never know what to expect,” he explained. “But I think the people have been great. I think Fenway is awesome. It’s a very special place.”

But Gray’s season ended on a sour note, with newly minted full-time manager Chad Tracy pulling him from his start in Game 2 of the Wild Card series against the New York Yankees. Gray had looked good and was at just 70 pitches with one out left to get in the fifth inning but was removed in favor of Erik Miller, who immediately surrendered two hits and pushed in one of his starter’s inherited runners.

Gray voiced his displeasure for the move, telling reporters after the game that he “would have liked to be trusted in that moment,” citing his excellent season splits when facing the order for a third time in an outing.