Atlanta Braves rumors: Ron Washington departure, Sonny Gray dilemma, trade partner
By Mark Powell
Braves Rumors: A Sonny Gray signing is far from a certainty
The Atlanta Braves need starting pitching, this is no secret. Kyle Wright is out for the season. Max Fried is a free agent after 2024. Charlie Morton may not come back.
Atlanta general manager Alex Anthopoulos is tasked with adding to the starting rotation with an uncertain future. There's no guarantee Fried is on this team next year. Sonny Gray, meanwhile, could be a solution. Gray has made it clear that winning is his top priority, rather than money. While he likes Minnesota, it's easy to see why comments like these would spur some interest from the fanbase.
“We want to go to a place where you feel wanted,” said Gray, per The Athletic's Dan Hayes. “I don’t know if this is the right thing to say before going to become a free agent, but I’ll say it because it’s honest. Money is not the ultimate factor for me. Never has been. Having said that, you want to be valued appropriately. … There are a lot of factors that go into those decisions. It’s not only me making it. As anyone who’s known me throughout the course of this year and last year, there are a lot of other things that go into it, my wife and my kids a big part of it. But I do love it here.”
The one issue here may be Gray's qualifying offer, which this year would sit at $20.5 million. If Gray declines it and signs with another team, that organization would then forfeit a draft pick, something Anthopoulos surely would prefer to avoid.