MLB: Will the Oakland Athletics Trade Sonny Gray, Josh Reddick?
The Oakland Athletics finished the 2015 season with a 68-94 record, good for last place in the American League and fourth-worst in the entire MLB. This may signal rebuild for the Athletics front office with starting ace Sonny Gray and gold glove outfielder Josh Reddick as trade candidates, but team president Billy Beane told Gammons Daily that they will not deal two of their stars this offseason.
"Trading Gray is not something I think we could do. We have to put a representative product on the field and continue to dream we get a ballpark. I just cannot see us trading Gray or Josh Reddick," Beane said.
He also mentioned that Oakland won't be looking for a starting pitcher on the free agent market and named Gray, Chris Bassitt, Kendall Graveman, Jesse Hahn, Sean Manaea and Jarrod Parker as potential starters for the Athletics next season.
FOX Sports mentioned that Oakland fans feel anxious during the offseason because the Athletics front office tends to trade away their stars due to the team's tight budget. Last season, the Athletics traded All-Star third baseman Josh Donaldson to the Toronto Blue Jays for a load of prospects.
The soon-to-be 26-year-old Gray won 14 games and lost only seven last season with a 2.73 ERA and still under team control for four more seasons. In his three years with Oakland, he has a career record of 33-20 with a 2.88 ERA, per Baseball Reference.
In a report by Call to the Pen, it is suggested that the Chicago Cubs may offer high-end prospects from their talented farm system like Alberto Almora, Javier Baez, CJ Edwards, Pierce Johnson, Billy McKinney, Kyke Schwarber, Duan Underwood and Dan Vogelbach to try and persuade Beane to deal Gray.
The Cubs may also include Castro and Kyle Hendricks in a trade package in order for the Athletics to accept the deal. It will not be the first trade between the two franchises because Oakland sent Addison Russell, Billy McKinney, Dan Straily and a player to be named later for Chicago's Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel at last season's trade deadline, per MLB.com.
As for Reddick, he will hit free agency sooner than Gray but has hinted that he wants to stay with the Athletics. "This team gave me a shot and I've succeeded here. I hope it's the rare occasion where I stick around and get the kind of extension very few players ever get here," the 28-year-old outfielder told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Athletics Nation speculates that Oakland may offer Reddick a four-year, $50 million guaranteed contract at the end of the 2016 season.
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