The Sonny Gray era in New York appears to be coming to an end, and the Giants should pounce at the chance to add the former Cy Young candidate.
According to Jon Heyman, the Yankees are pushing hard to complete a Gray trade soon. He also lists the Giants as one of seven teams that have been involved as possible partners, and perhaps recent favorites.
#SFGiants interesting new entrant in Sonny sweepstakes. It does make sense; Giants prez Farhan Zaidi, who knows Sonny from A's days, is said to be fan. It appears some other linked teams - A's, Brewers, Braves, M's, Pads, Reds - don't appear to be at forefront of talks at moment— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 17, 2019
Why would the Giants want to trade for someone that had a 4.90 ERA in only 130 innings and a whopping 1.496 WHIP last season? The numbers aren't that simple.
It all starts with Yankee Stadium, or The Sandbox in the Bronx. Gray had a brutal 6.98 ERA in 15 games in his home park in 2018, but only a 3.17 ERA in 15 games away from it. His WHIP went from 1.905 in New York, to 1.155 at all other ballparks.
The Yankees are known as the Bronx Bombers for a reason. They turn games into Home Run Derby in your backyard. Now imagine being on the other side of the ball, the one who threw it and saw a pop up turn into a jog around the bases.
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When looking at Park Factors, which compares the rate of stats at home versus the rate of stats on the road, Yankee Stadium was the sixth-best home run park in the league. It's no coincidence Gray allowed 11 home runs at home and three on the road.
By comparison, AT&T Park Oracle Park was the second-worst ballpark for home runs last season by Park Factors.
It's no surprise that the Giants play in one of the most pitcher-friendly places in all of baseball. Gray has never had the luxury of pitching in San Francisco -- he's also never pitched at Petco Park or Coors Field -- but he's only allowed two earned runs in 15.1 innings combined at Chase Field (D'backs) and Dodger Stadium.
Gray, 29, could thrive in a new environment, especially San Francisco, and could either turn into an addition for contention or be the perfect trade chip with a solid individual first half if the Giants are out of the playoff hunt.
In an offseason where bringing back Derek Holland has been the biggest move, it's time to take a chance and make it Sonny in the Bay again.
