MLB trade rumors: Yankees trying to trade Sonny Gray, Brian Cashman says

The New York Yankees will try to trade Sonny Gray in the offseason, general manager Brian Cashman said Friday.

NEW YORK — Brian Cashman sighed and paused.

The Yankees general manager was about to say something that almost nobody admits publicly.

Cashman said he plans on trading disappointing starting pitcher Sonny Gray in the offseason while at a press conference at Yankee Stadium on Friday afternoon, just days after the Yankees’ season ended with a 3-1 loss to the Red Sox in the American League Division Series.

“I think it’s probably best to try this somewhere else,” Cashman said of Gray, who has gone 15-16 with a 4.51 ERA in 41 games (34 starts) since the Yankees acquired him from the A’s before the 2017 trade deadline.

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It’s highly unusual for a member of a team to say the club will actively seek a way to get a player off a roster.

But if anyone was going to do it, Cashman would have been a good bet. When the Yankees signed reliever Rafael Soriano in 2011 for three years and $35 million, Cashman said he didn’t like the deal, and that ownership made it over his head.

Gray couldn’t handle New York?: Cashman had alluded to this midseason when the Yankees booted Gray from the starting rotation for good. “This environment can bring out the best in certain individuals,” the GM said. “It can bring out, obviously, the worst in certain individuals. This is a unique environment.”

Selling Gray hard: Cashman played up Gray big-time. He said the right-hander, who will turn 29 in November, is still plenty talented. MLB Trade Rumors projects that Gray will earn about $9 million in 2019 via salary arbitration – if the Yankees choose to tender him a contract.

“Someone, if they trade for him, is going to get the player that we wanted,” Cashman said.

He added, “It hasn’t worked out this far. I think he’s extremely talented. I think that we’ll enter the winter unfortunately open minded to a relocation. Probably to maximize his abilities would be more likely best somewhere else. But then it comes down to the final decision of the price in terms of trade acquisition and matching up with somebody, if we match up.”

What Gray said: Leaving the clubhouse late Tuesday night, Gray said, “I don’t know, man,” when asked about his future in pinstripes. Now it’s clear: It’s not in New York.

Brendan Kuty may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @BrendanKutyNJ. Find NJ.com Yankees on Facebook.