Red Sox-Sonny Gray Trade Rumors Begin With NL Powerhouse

The Boston Red Sox have one of the most intriguing potential trade chips in baseball in Sonny Gray.

Apr 14, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Sonny Gray (54) delivers a pitch against the Minnesota Twins in the first inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images | Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

If the Boston Red Sox don't get hot, then they're going to have no choice but look to add pieces ahead of the 2026 Major League Baseball trade deadline by way of making some difficult decisions involving veterans on the roster.

That's just the name of the game. If you're struggling, typically you'll see teams trade away veterans who may not stick around beyond a given season to bring back prospects ahead of the trade deadline. Right now, Boston is 14 games below .500 at 29-43 and needs a long winning streak just to get into sniffing distance of being .500. For the Red Sox to turn their season around, they'll need to play near-flawless baseball from here on it and this club has unfortunately not shown signs that is possible.

The pitching is great. That's a fact. But, even if you only give up two or three runs, you still need to score at least one more run than your opponent. In three games against the Toronto Blue Jays, Boston was only able to muster up four runs total. Boston has the fewest runs in baseball with just 282, which is 10 runs behind the Texas Rangers in 29th place.

Boston looks much more like a seller, than a team that is going to right the ship. Naturally, that has led to chatter around three-time All-Star starter Sonny Gray, among others. When it comes to Gray, the reason why he has been talked about as a trade candidate is because of the fact that he's having a great season and pitching is always under a microscope at the deadline. You can never have enough of it and there are plenty of contenders out there who could use another hurler.

Sonny Gray Is Under A Microscope

Jun 12, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Sonny Gray (54) pitches against the Texas Rangers during the first inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images | Eric Canha-Imagn Images

On Thursday, Jon Heyman of The New York Post shared a column in which he talked about the top potential pitching trade chips and where they could land. Naturally, Gray's name popped up. Heyman said that the Atlanta Braves are a team that likes him, but did note that Gray's trade candidacy is complicated because of a no-trade clause and the money attached to him.

When it comes to Atlanta, the idea would make a lot of sense. When Gray was a member of the St. Louis Cardinals and the idea of a trade was tossed around a lot, but his no-trade clause shut the idea down for a while before Boston was able to land him.

On the Braves front, they make sense for Gray because they are missing Spencer Strider, Joey Wentz, and Spencer Schwellenbach. The Braves are still contenders, but need another starter. Gray is also from Nashville, Tennessee. The closest big league team to Nashville is the Braves. It's important to note that Gray still has a no-trade clause and isn't going anywhere, unless he wants to. Heyman mentioning the Braves is interesting and this likely won't be the last time we see buzz like this, but there's nothing imminent for Boston at this point or guaranteed.