Sonny Gray is the perfect target for the Cardinals
I have been very open about my desire for the Cardinals to go after Sonny Gray this offseason, as I believe he is the perfect offseason target for this Cardinals team.
As you can see my enthusiasm in the thumbnail of that clip from the Noot News Podcast, I'm a big believer in Gray, not just because he's been one of the best pitchers in baseball this year, but because he's been amongst the best in baseball since he came into the league.
I have plenty of analysis to share on Gray in the next few weeks as I'm preparing a deep dive on him, but just at a glance, he finished the 2023 season 8-8 with a 2.79 ERA in 184 innings and is likely to finish second in the American League Cy Young voting. Outside of Blake Snell, he's easily been the best pitcher in baseball that is hitting the open market.
While I think his market has risen since I first started clamoring for this name, he still won't take the annual salary or years that Nola, Snell, or Yoshinobu Yamamoto will, but he may give similar or better production over the length of his contract. Right now, I would guess he gets between $22 million and $25 million a year, but due to him turning 34 soon, on a shorter deal, somewhere between two and four years. Those other guys are looking at a minimum of $25 million a year, and likely five to eight-year contracts.
I have plenty more to say on Gray here in the near future, but you can check out my Twitter (or X) timeline @joshjacoMLB for plenty of facts and tidbits on why I see Gray as such a great fit.
Now let's take a look at Aaron Nola.