The Cincinnati Reds traded right-handed pitcher Sonny Gray to the Minnesota Twins for a prospect on Sunday in their first move following the lockout, signaling at least a short-term rebuild.
Gray had a 23-20 record and a 3.49 ERA in 68 career starts with the Reds, helping the team to a playoff berth in 2020. He met with his college pitching coach, Derek Johnson, and was selected to the All-Star team and received Cy Young votes in 2019.
The Reds received right-hander Chase Petty in return for Gray. Petty was the 26th overall pick in last summer’s MLB Draft. Petty, who will turn 19 in April, was rated as the No. 7 prospect in the Twins’ farm system by Baseball America and No. 14 by FanGraphs.
“First, I’d like to thank Sonny for everything he has done with our club,” Reds General Manager Nick Krall said. “He’s been a tremendous teammate, a tremendous player, just a really great guy to have. Talking to him was really tough but we felt this was a good baseball deal for us.
“Chase Petty was a pick in the first round of the draft in the last year, he has a chance to be a high-end starting pitcher for a long time. We’re really excited to have him.”
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The 32-year-old Gray was one of the Reds’ top trade chips this offseason as the club lowers its player payroll. He is in the last guaranteed season of his contract, owed $10.7 million, with a $13 million club option for 2023. He’ll receive a $1 million assignment bonus because he was traded.
Trade talks between Jeff Graupe, the Reds’ senior director of player personnel, and the Twins started at the General Managers Meetings last November. Talks were halted because of the 99-day lockout, but the deal was completed before Gray was set to travel to Arizona for the beginning of spring training.
“Obviously, payroll has been an issue the last couple of years with some of the moves we’ve made,” Krall said.
Said Derek Falvey, the Twins’ president of baseball operations: “The ability to access someone like Sonny Gray who we think pitches near the top of a rotation for anybody is very unique.”
The Reds now have three starters cemented for their rotation, assuming they’re healthy to begin the 2022 season: Luis Castillo, Tyler Mahle and Vladimir Gutierrez. Jeff Hoffman, Reiver Sanmartin, Tony Santillan, Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Riley O’Brien, Graham Ashcraft and Ben Lively are among the starters competing for the last two spots in the rotation.
“We’re going to look to fill that, whether it’s internally or externally,” Krall said. “We’re still looking at the free-agent market. We’re still looking at the trade market. We’re still trying to run our offseason as we’re going into Spring Training. We’re still working on that right now .
“We do have a handful of younger guys that are competing for spots. We’re excited to see where they are and what they bring.”
Petty, drafted out of high school, was targeted by the Reds for one of their two comp-round picks last year before he was taken slightly ahead of them at the end of the first round. He was the hardest-throwing high school in last year’s draft class, according to Baseball America, and reached 102 mph.
There are plenty of risks associated with high school flamethrowers, but the Reds hope Petty develops into an impact starter or reliever. Petty made two appearances for the Twins’ rookie-level team last summer.
“Big fastball, 95-100 mph, good slider,” said Krall, noting Petty was scouted extensively by Northeast area scout John Ceprini. “He’s just a really premium athlete on the mound.”
Along with Gray, the Reds traded 24-year-old right-hander Francis Peguero. He had a 4.96 ERA in 28 appearances at High-A Dayton last season with 36 strikeouts and seven walks in 32 2/3 innings.
www.cincinnati.com
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