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Former Minnesota Twins Ace Drawing Serious Interest From NL East Contender in Free Agency

As free agency has opened up, former Minnesota Twins ace Sonny Gray has drawn serious interest from the Philadelphia Phillies, according to reports.
Brady Farkas|
Former Minnesota Twins Ace Drawing Serious Interest From NL East Contender in Free Agency
Former Minnesota Twins Ace Drawing Serious Interest From NL East Contender in Free Agency

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Minnesota TwinsPhiladelphia Phillies

According to reports, former Minnesota Twins ace and free agent Sonny Gray has drawn interest from the Philadelphia Phillies.

Per Jon Morosi of MLB.com:

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

This is hardly a shocker. Gray is among the best free agent pitchers on the market. The Phillies are also positioned to lose Aaron Nola, who is also one of the best free agent pitchers on the market. Given his age (33), Gray is likely to land a shorter team deal than Nola, so he could also be a cheaper alternative.

He's coming off an excellent year in Minnesota in which he was just named an American League Cy Young finalist. He went 8-8 with a 2.79 ERA and helped the Twins win the American League Central. They also won a playoff series, beating the Toronto Blue Jays in the wild card round.

Gray just finished his 11th season in the big leagues with the A's, Yankees, Reds and Twins. He's 98-85 lifetime with a 3.47 ERA. He is a three-time All-Star. Gray's worst tenure was with the Yankees, when he went 15-16 with a 4.51 ERA over 1.5 years. This could lead to some questions about how he'll perform in a big market, which could make the Phillies leary.

He also was extended a qualifying offer from the Twins, which means the Phillies would forfeit a high draft pick to sign him.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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