Role
The Red Sox got Sonny Gray from St. Louis last November for Richard Fitts and Brandon Clarke to be the No. 2 behind Garrett Crochet. When Crochet went down in April, Gray became the ace by default and pitched like one: 18-5 with a 2.72 ERA over 29 starts and 169 innings. He started Game 2 of the Wild Card Series and was pulled with two on and two out in the fifth, down 1-0. Boston lost 9-2.
Outlook
His 2027 club option became a mutual option when he waived his no-trade clause for the trade, and MLB Trade Rumors notes that it has been more than a decade since both sides picked up a mutual option, so free agency is the likely outcome. He told the Globe's Alex Speier he wants to keep pitching (quoted by MLB Trade Rumors): "I still want to win a World Series, whether that is [with] Boston or with whoever wants me." He turns 37 next month. The one soft spot is the strikeouts, 149 in 169 innings, his lowest rate since 2016. Hitters still batted only .236 against him, and he led qualified AL pitchers with a .180 average allowed the third time through the order (per MLB.com).
Our take: Boston should offer one or two years, but we expect him to land elsewhere. He told reporters after Game 2, "I would've liked to have been trusted in that moment," and Ian Browne of MLB.com wrote that he might prefer to pitch closer to his Tennessee home.