ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Athletics were in last place and 12 games under .500 when they traded Sonny Gray to the Yankees at last year’s trade deadline in yet another rebuilding move.
Though Oakland has hardly gotten anything out of the return for Gray, with Dustin Fowler and Jorge Mateo not doing much and James Kaprielian still recovering from arm issues, the A’s still were able to go on a second-half tear this season to qualify for the wild-card game.
Asked if it would be strange for the Yankees to be in the postseason against the team with which he came up, Gray — who has been a huge disappointment in The Bronx, pulled from the rotation and a virtual certainty to not be included on the postseason roster — shook his head and said, “it’s a job.