Braves getting more involved in Sonny Gray trade talks, per report

One week out from the trade deadline, it appears the Braves are heating up their pursuit of Oakland A’s starter Sonny Gray.

According to Jeff Passan of the New York Post, the Braves “have gotten more involved” in trade talks. He mentions that Gray would be a fit given his contract, which runs through the 2019 season via arbitration. Gray is making just $3.6 million this season and would reasonably expect around $6-7 million this winter.

The cost for Gray will be steep. The A’s have made some questionable deals over the years, but surely the front office -- which has undergone some changes in past years -- knows they could ask for a lot.

While I don’t think the cost would be what the Cubs gave up to get Jose Quintana, it would likely require a couple top-100 prospects to get a deal done.

Gray has battled injuries throughout his young career, but he’s been quite good this year and was pretty dominant in 2014 and 2015. He stunk in 2016 and missed a month to open 2017, but he owns a 3.66 ERA and 3.38 FIP through 15 starts with solid yet unspectacular K/BB numbers. He’s been even better since the start of June, presumably once he shook off some rust from missing time on the DL.