Athletics trade Sonny Gray to Yankees

The Yankees have acquired right-hander Sonny Gray and international bonus money from the Athletics for outfielder Dustin Fowler, shortstop Jorge Mateo and right-hander James Kaprielian, according to Jack Curry of YES Network and Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports.

New York has been targeting Gray in talks for weeks, being cited as the favorite to land Gray throughout the weekend. The right-hander drew interest from a ton of teams, with the Brewers, Cubs, Braves, Padres, Astros and others all being involved in talks for him.

Gray, 27, is under club control for two seasons after this one, giving the Yankees a proven rotation option for more than two seasons. He become half of a formidable 1-2 duo with Luis Severino in 2018 and 2019 with CC Sabathia and Masahiro Tanaka potentially departing in free agency this winter.

For now, Gray joins Severino, Sabathia, Tanaka, Jordan Montgomery and fellow newcomer Jaime Garcia in a Yankees rotation that recently lost Michael Pineda for the rest of the season. Gray owns a 3.43 ERA and 3.24 FIP in 16 starts this season, rebounding after a rough start to enhance his trade value tremendously with a strong recent stretch.

Gray is the fifth significant addition for the first-place Yankees this month, joining Garcia, Todd Frazier, David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle. He joins Sean Doolittle, Ryan Madson and Adam Rosales out the door in Oakland, where the A’s have embarked on yet another rebuild.

Fowler appears to be the prize of the package for the Athletics, as he was recently ranked as the no. 89 prospect in baseball by Baseball America. The outfielder, of course, suffered a gruesome knee injury in his major-league debut with New York late last month and will miss significant time.

Fowler owns a .293/.329/.542 line in 70 games at Triple-A this season and projects as a future starting outfielder for Oakland. The former 18th-round pick (2013) is a five-tool player with highly regarded speed and defense.

Mateo, 22, recently came in as the no. 8 prospect in New York’s strong system (via MLB.com). He has hit .258/.318/.438 in 99 games between Hi-A and Double-A this season but has seen his stock drop rapidly over the last two seasons. Mateo has excellent speed (leading to 39 steals this season) and could project as a second baseman or center-fielder in the majors.

Kaprielian, 23, is a 6-foot-4 righty who was taken with the no. 16 overall pick in 2015 out of UCLA. He is out for the entire season due to Tommy John surgery and has only registered 29 minor-league innings since being drafted, but is still viewed as a high-ceiling arm due to his college performance and draft position. He was recently ranked as New York’s no. 12 prospect, via MLB.com.

New York has now traded a bevy of young players this month, with Blake Rutherford, Ian Clarkin, Tito Polo, Zack Littell and Dietrich Enns joining Fowler, Mateo and Kaprielian leaving town. The Yankees still have top prospects Gleyber Torres, Chance Adams and Estevan Florial for their future along with young players Aaron Judge and Clint Frazier.