Sonny Gray, 34, who won 98 games in his 11-year major league career, will wear a St. Louis Cardinals uniform.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported on Aug. 28 (ET), ‘The Cardinals have agreed to terms with right-hander Sonny Gray, according to a source. It’s a three-year, $75 million deal,” and “The Cardinals have not yet confirmed the deal, but it will be announced as soon as he completes his physical.
By signing another veteran starter to join Lance Lynn (36) and Kyle Gibson (36) last week, St. Louis appears to have accomplished one of its biggest tasks this offseason: bolstering its rotation.
The Cardinals’ signing of Gray comes just over a week before the Major League Baseball Winter Meetings, and MLB.com reports that geography is what drew him to the Cardinals, as Gray’s hometown is Smyrna, Tennessee, 33 miles from St. Louis.레모나토토
However, Gray is in the privileged clubhouse with an average annual value (AAV) of $25 million, doubling his single-season record of $12.8 million this year.
Minnesota Twins’ Sonny Gray throws hard during the second inning of Game 2 of the wild-card series against the Toronto Blue Jays in Minneapolis, Oct. 5. AFP
Gray pitched in 32 games for the Minnesota Twins this season, going 8-8 with a 2.79 ERA and 183 strikeouts in 184 innings, finishing second in AL Cy Young Award voting behind winner Gerrit Cole of the New York Yankees.
Gray, who made his major league debut with the Oakland Athletics in 2013, went 98-85 with a 3.47 ERA and 1521 strikeouts in an 11-year career with the Yankees, Cincinnati Reds and Minnesota. His career has been up and down, with three stints on the disabled list each in 2021 and 2022, but he’s been healthy and in the rotation full-time this season.
Gray has plenty of experience with NL Central teams, as he spent three years with Cincinnati from 2019-2021. He went 23-20 with a 3.49 ERA in 68 appearances for Cincinnati before being traded to Minnesota last March.
St. Louis had a 5.07 starting ERA this season, 26th out of 30 teams. That was a far cry from the bullpen’s 4.47 ERA. This led Cardinals president John Mozeliak to publicly declare after the season that he planned to “add three or more starting pitchers.”
This gave the Cardinals a five-man rotation of Miles Mikolas, Steven Matz, Lynn, Gibson, and Gray. It’s interesting to note that all five are veterans over the age of 30. Michaelas is 35, Matz is 32, and Lin and Gibson are both 36.