Overview
- Brian Cashman said that after the 2018 trade deadline, Sonny Gray told him in a closed-door meeting that he never wanted to be in New York.
- According to Cashman, Gray said his agent, Bo McKinnis, advised him to lie about wanting to be a Yankee to avoid hurting future free agency.
- McKinnis strongly denied Cashman’s version, calling it nonsensical and rejecting that Gray ever said he wanted out of Oakland or was told to misrepresent his preferences.
- Cashman also recalled hearing while Gray was with the A’s that he wanted to join the Yankees, a claim the agent disputes as well.
- The dispute follows Gray’s Red Sox introduction, where he said he never wanted to go to New York, and comes after a rocky Yankees stint in 2017–18 that included a mid-4s ERA and a demotion from the rotation; no independent corroboration beyond the principals’ statements has been reported.