Ken Rosenthal: Braves are targeting Sonny Gray trade

With several massive holes in their rotation, the Braves have no choice but to be aggressive in their pursuit of starting pitching leading up to the trade deadline. They’ve already been linked to Tarik Skubal, and now Ken Rosenthal is reporting that they covet veteran Sonny Gray as well.

“The Atlanta Braves are one of several rotation-needy teams expressing interest in Boston Red Sox starter Sonny Gray, according to people familiar with the situation who were not authorized to speak freely on the topic,” Rosenthal wrote on Thursday for The Athletic.

Whether it’s free agency or trade rumors, Sonny Gray has seemingly been linked to the Braves every year for the last half-decade. For whatever reason, a deal has never come to fruition — but perhaps the desperation in Atlanta finally changes that this time around.

“They (Braves) lead their division even with essentially a full rotation on the injured list,” Rosenthal continued. “They are fit to cover both the prospect and financial cost (the St. Louis Cardinals are paying about half of Gray’s remaining commitment, and either the Red Sox or a new team would owe him slightly more than $6 million after the trade deadline). And while Gray, 36, holds a full no-trade clause, he lives in Nashville and presumably would embrace playing in Atlanta, about a four-hour drive away.”

After a couple of decent seasons with the Cardinals, Gray has turned back the clock in his age-36 campaign, posting a 2.61 ERA and 155 ERA+ (55% above league average). He’s owed just $11 million this season and comes with a $30 million mutual option for next year that carries a $10 million buyout. Given a potential lockout and the uncertainty around the future of the sport, that could complicate things a bit for teams looking to trade for him — but the Braves aren’t exactly in a position to nitpick.

Gray has been a legitimate 2-3 option his entire career, far better than anything Atlanta has rostered outside of Chris Sale. He immediately gives the Braves a respectable one-two punch in a potential playoff series, and the prospect capital required to land him shouldn’t be too absurd.

There is, however, one potentially significant complication: after playing absolutely horrendous baseball for months, the Red Sox have begun to turn it around and are right in the thick of the American League Wild Card race.

“Boston wants to see if it could fight its way back into the playoff picture, though people briefed on the club’s thinking suggested the Red Sox will be realistic about their position as the deadline gets closer,” Rosenthal wrote.

“Despite being as many as 14 games below .500 on June 24, the Red Sox, like so many other teams, are hanging around just well enough to complicate the trade market. Since that low-water mark, Boston has won 10 of its last 12 games. They are just three games behind the third American League wild card, with FanGraphs giving them a 27.5 percent shot at making the postseason.”

This is the problem with evaluating trade targets for the Braves this year. There aren’t many obvious sellers, especially in an American League with so few quality teams. Even clubs 10 games under .500 don’t feel anywhere close to out of the race for a playoff spot.

The Red Sox match up really well with the Braves, though. They have players they could move at several positions of need in Atlanta, making them a team fans should be keeping a very close eye on over the next several weeks.