Phillies connected to starter Sonny Gray in free agency

The Phillies appear to be putting together a contingency plan in case starting pitcher Aaron Nola leaves the team in free agency.

Philadelphia has interest in free-agent right-hander Sonny Gray as an alternative rotation option should the club fail to re-sign Nola, according to a Wednesday report by Jon Morosi of MLB Network.

The Phillies are interested in Sonny Gray, sources say, and will be a top suitor for him if they do not retain free agent Aaron Nola.

Gray and Philly pitching coach Caleb Cotham are former college teammates and worked well together while Cotham was with the Reds. @MLBNetwork

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 8, 2023

Gray, 34, is a veteran starter coming off the third All-Star season of his career in Minnesota. He posted a 2.79 ERA in 184 innings across 32 starts for the Twins in 2023, one of the best campaigns of his 11-year career.

A frontline starter early in his career in Oakland, Gray struggled in his first full season in a big market as a New York Yankee in 2018, before reviving his career in Cincinnati with an All-Star season the next year. With the Reds, the former Vanderbilt standout got to work with his former college teammate Caleb Cotham, the team’s assistant pitching coach. Cotham has been the pitching coach in Philadelphia since 2021.

Gray was traded to Minnesota before the 2022 season, putting up two strong seasons and receiving a qualifying offer from the Twins this week.

Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has pegged Nola as the club’s “top priority” this offseason, even following a lackluster 2023 performance for the career Phillie. His durability has been tremendously valuable over the years in Philadelphia and would be difficult to replace.

Still, Nola is perhaps the top pitcher in this winter’s free-agent class and retaining him will not be without competition. MLB Trade Rumors predicted that the longest-tenured Phillie over the last two seasons would sign a six-year, $150 million deal with the St. Louis Cardinals. His services will certainly be coveted by more teams than just the Phillies.

In the case Nola leaves, finding another top-of-the-rotation arm to slot in behind ace Zack Wheeler will be the key of the offseason for Dombrowski and the Phillies front office. With this in mind, names like Gray, Blake Snell or perhaps  Yoshinobu Yamamoto — a top starter from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball — will likely continue swirling until Nola makes a decision.

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