Sonny Gray Blockbuster Is Big Yankees Win Both Now and for Bright Future

There is only one possible way Sonny Gray is not a fit with the New York Yankees: He is but a wee lad of 5'10".

I mean, have you seen these Yankees? They're enormous. Walk into their clubhouse and it's like you've stepped into a huddle with NFL linemen. Dellin Betances is 6'8", 265 pounds. Aaron Judge is 6'7", 282. CC Sabathia is 6'6", 300. Even closer Aroldis Chapman goes 6'4", 212. They could lead the league in velocity (fastball, and exit) and yards per carry. Hut, hut!

Otherwise...heck yeah, Gray was the Hail Mary pass the 2017 Yankees needed not only to strengthen their bid for an American League East title this year but also for the near future, too. The beautiful thing about this acquisition is that it furthers what general manager Brian Cashman and Co. started last year, this whole business of re-tooling the pinstripes.

Gray finally is pitching like an upper-rotation starter after a year-and-a-half detour, a detour that as recently as at the All-Star Game in Miami a couple of weeks ago had executives riveted about how this would turn out. As one exec told me then, there is a difference "between where they value him and what he is." Well, in four July starts, Gray pitched a lot closer to Oakland's opinion of him than anything else: He was 3-1 with a 1.48 ERA and 0.99 WHIP.

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

Just in the nick (not Swisher) of time, Gray helped Oakland executive vice president of baseball operations Billy Beane and general manager David Forst squeeze good value out of a return.

Under club control through 2019, Gray also fits not just with Judge, Gary Sanchez and Luis Severino as they charge toward the stretch run this year, but he also nicely will complement first baseman Greg Bird next year (or when he returns)...and shortstop prospect Gleyber Torres when he shows up...and left-hander Justus Sheffield when he appears.

Look, the Yankees are loaded and remain loaded. This was a big win for them in that they didn't have to empty their strong, revamped farm system to obtain badly needed pitching help for the rest of this season and beyond. And they've energized an already overachieving team in the thick of the summer.

Oakland did fine in the deal, but the Athletics' part of it came wrapped in Ace bandages and ice: Outfielder Dustin Fowler, 22, is out for the year with a knee injury suffered in his debut with the Yankees in June. Right-hander James Kaprielian, 23, is out for the season following Tommy John surgery in April. Shortstop Jorge Mateo, 22, is the one piece still standing, but he's got some things still to prove after New York iced him for two weeks last season, a suspension that caused him to miss the Futures Game.

There are Yankees fans who fell in love with Fowler this summer—ah, young (prospect) love, it's a powerful force—and who liked Mateo and no doubt have mixed emotions about losing them. But that's the wrong lens through which to view Monday's deal.

Let's reiterate: Gray will join Severino, Masahiro Tanaka (on those days when he actually, you know, pitches to his potential) and a re-energized Sabathia to give the Yankees a strong chance to win every night, not to mention maybe scare Boston's David Price into focusing on his opponents instead of on the Red Sox television broadcasters and media.

And while the Yankees accomplished that, they still held on to Torres, Sheffield, outfielder Clint Frazier and a whole bunch of other prospects who fit into their future. In the days leading up to Monday's non-waiver trade deadline, I was talking prospects with one high-ranking MLB official, discussing the fine line between properly valuing them and overvaluing them, and he went on and on about how the real pain Cleveland felt in sending a four-player package to New York for Andrew Miller last July was in parting with Sheffield. That guy, the executive said, is going to be an ace.

Maybe. Probably. Who knows? That's the thing with prospects: Until they develop, it's all just working on spec. But the point is the Yankees still have Sheffield. And Frazier and Torres.

And in addition to Gray, they've added starter Jaime Garcia, bolstered their bullpen with David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle and added infielder Todd Frazier.

When Cashman unloaded Miller and Chapman one year ago, it signaled the beginning of the end, in short order, for Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira and Brian McCann, too. While the Yankees were thrilled with their haul for the two relief aces, there was no way anybody could have predicted that one year later they'd be leading the division by half a game over Boston and gaining momentum.

Yet the cards were played Monday on another trade deadline, and here the Yankees are. So bring it on, Sonny Gray. Come deliver your goods, and your moxie. You fit like a glove (Rawlings, or Wilson).

But maybe, just in case, you'll want to hit the weight room a few times. Your new teammates are pretty darned intimidating.

Scott Miller covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report. Follow Scott on Twitter and talk baseball.