MESA, Ariz. – If you’re an A’s fan, all those offseason reports about teams showing trade interest in Sonny Gray might have made you nervous.
It turns out that Gray notices those reports himself. He just does his best to shrug them off.
That’s part of the job requirement when you’re the marquee player on a team that’s never shy about pulling the trigger on a high-profile trade.
Gray discussed that and various other topics with me in the latest “A’s Insider Podcast,” which you can find now at CSNCalifornia.com.
[STIGLICH: The A's Insider Podcast: Episode 2 with Sonny Gray]
Several national reports came out over the winter that teams were making a hard push for Gray. Jon Heyman of the MLB Network recently wrote that “everyone” inquired about Gray during the offseason. All along, A’s executive V.P. of baseball operations Billy Beane and general manager David Forst have denied wanting to trade him.
“I don’t think you really pay attention to it,” Gray said of all the trade speculation. “But you obviously notice it because, with social media and everything, it’s kind of hard not to see stuff come across your timeline or this and that. You notice some stuff, but I think every guy handles it their own separate way. You can read some stuff, click on some links and stuff, but it’s all kind of irrelevant until , or if, possibly anything did happen.”
Among the other highlights from the Gray podcast:
--He’s a big fan of fellow A’s right-hander Chris Bassitt, who joined Gray for offseason workouts in Nashville. Bassitt is a strong contender to land in Oakland’s season-opening rotation.
“I think he’s got all the tools to be great in this game,” Gray said. “… The talent and everything is there, and you can see his stuff. His stuff is as nasty as nasty gets.”
--He weighed in on his friendship with David Price, a fellow Cy Young finalist from last season. “We do different things (on the mound), but I think what you can learn from a guy like that is you see how he treats people off the field. He treats everybody the same, and that’s not an act. It’s not something he does in the spotlight. It’s just the way he lives his life.”
Listen to the entire podcast to also find out about the surprising Christmas gift Gray received from his mother.
I’ll be cranking out new episodes through the rest of spring training and the regular season.
