Sonny Gray’s plans give the Reds an exciting rotation opportunity (but there's a catch)

It's no secret that the Cincinnati Reds are short a couple of starters in the rotation. With Hunter Greene shelved for all of 2027 and Brady Singer heading to free agency, the Reds have only Chase Burns, Andrew Abbott, and Nick Lodolo as locks.

They will likely be okay if players like Brandon Williamson, Rhett Lowder, Julian Aguiar, and a few others duke it out for the fifth starter role, but counting on two of these young hurlers is a recipe for disaster.

The bare minimum that the Reds need is a quality innings eater who can fill out the back end. However, given the volatility we saw from Lodolo and Abbott, aiming higher would be a good idea if the team really wants to contend. The hard thing, though, is that the majority of high-end free-agent starters get paid big, both in terms of years and money.

Fortunately for Cincinnati, there could be an option that would cost them a pretty penny, but would likely only require a one-year commitment. On top of that, he'd be a friendly face. We're talking about Sonny Gray, of course.

Given the Reds' history of giving a guy like Nick Martinez the qualifying offer, they could pony up big for one year to bring Gray back to the Queen City. Gray had mulled retirement earlier in the season, but following the Boston Red Sox's disappointing exit from the postseason, Gray has confirmed that he wants to pitch again in 2027.

A Reds reunion with Sonny Gray would be perfect, except for one major problem

Gray turns 37 on November 7, and just authored one of the best seasons of his career, posting a 2.72 ERA over 29 starts and 169 innings pitched. At 37 years old, and already given some thought to hanging it up, it's likely that 2027 would be the Tennessee native's last hurrah. As such, he's going to want to go somewhere that he can ride off into the sunset with a ring, one would imagine.

With that said, if it were solely a matter of maximizing his earnings for one year and contending for a World Series, he'd likely exercise his side of the mutual option he shares with the Red Sox. Boston likely would want him back, too, making this one of the rare occurrences when a mutual option makes sense.

However, Gray is a guy who has never been very comfortable pitching in big markets. His struggles with the New York Yankees were well documented, and it didn't always seem like he was enjoying himself in Boston. In particular, he was unhappy with being pulled early from Game 2 of the AL Wild Card Series, and when asked if he wanted to return to the Red Sox, he flatly replied, "I don't know."

The issue Gray will face is that if he wants to win and he's already crossing off New York and Boston from his list of potential landing spots, his options are going to be limited. You might as well cross the Los Angeles Dodgers off, too, if he doesn't want to play in a massive media market. Now, a team like the Milwaukee Brewers or Tampa Bay Rays might be willing to make the big splash if it were just for one year, but if those two clubs pass, maybe the Reds have a chance.

It's a long shot, and the Reds would seem like a last resort for Gray. They'd also likely have to show him that they're willing to make other moves to improve their 2027 fortunes. So, basically, don't hold your breath.

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