CINCINNATI — The Reds have acquired a pair of pitchers — right-hander Sonny Gray and left-hander Reiver Sanmartin — from the New York Yankees, the team announced Monday.
In exchange, they’ll send infielder Shed Long to the Bronx and allow the Yankees their 2019 Competitive Balance A draft pick.
Gray, who headlined the Reds’ news release about the pair of acquisitions, was a 2015 American League All-Star and a hot ticket for the Yankees when they acquired him in 2017.
ESPN, however, characterized the 29-year-old’s time in New York as “topsy-turvy,” marked by “an egregious home-road split … that grew severe enough he eventually lost his rotation spot and and didn’t make the team’s postseason roster.”
In joining the Reds until 2022, he will be reunited with pitching coach Derek Johnson, who coached for Vanderbilt during Gray’s time there from 2009-’11. Those were more auspicious times for Gray, according to the Reds’ news release: His 27 career wins made him the second-ranked player in the school’s history, and he ranked fourth in strikeouts with 317.
Sanmartin, 22, has a 19-11 record, 2.68 ERA in 33 starts and 28 walks in 205 innings pitched.
