With trade deadline approaching, Jon Gray hopes he’s still a Rockie on Friday night
SAN DIEGO – Jon Gray tried to keep his day before a start routine as close to normal as possible on Thursday.
But it’s impossible to ignore the trade rumors spewing around him. Even if he avoids his phone, the TVs in the clubhouse are all turned to MLB Network, where the feed is focused solely on the deadline right now.
Gray will be a free agent at the end of the season, and his name has come up as part of the rumor mill. But Gray wants to stay a Rockie, and he said he would jump at the chance to sign an extension. The two parties have begun preliminary discussions about keeping him in Colorado, he said.
“Every time I think about it, I get sad,” he said of the possibility of being traded. “I try not to.”
The trade deadline is at 2 p.m. mountain time on Friday, and Gray is scheduled to start a few hours later against the Padres in San Diego. The Rockies, though, have formulated a backup plan in case they don’t have Gray here to make his start as scheduled.
Ashton Goudeou was acquired from the Reds in exchange for cash considerations on Thursday. Goudeou, who has been with the Rockies two previous times, has been used mainly as a reliever in the majors but has thrown about 90 pitches in minor league starts this season and could be ready on Friday to start if needed.
The Rockies have made only one other move so far, sending Mychal Givens to the Reds in exchange for pitching prospects Case Williams and Noah Gross. Trevor Story and Daniel Bard are both still on the market in addition to Gray, but sources say no moves are currently close and they do not expect anything to happen on Thursday night.
Gray has only known this organization, and he has come to embrace the challenges of playing at Coors Field. He said if he got traded to another team and they won the World Series, he wouldn’t feel great about it. He thinks better days aren’t too far off for the Rockies, and he said he wants to be a part of that.
“If I won here, it would mean the world to me,” he said. “I can’t pass up on that. I don’t want to.”
He has a feeling he’ll still be here on Friday night, but said he’s going to embrace tonight in case it’s his last night in the dugout. He’ll be the biggest hype man, he said, taking it all in.
“I just want to wear purple,” Gray said. “I don’t ask for a whole lot here.”
Chacín back from COVID list
Jholuys Chacín returned to the team on Wednesday after testing positive for COVID-19. He was one of six players and coaches placed on the COVID list on July 16, and it’s unknown if the others tested positive or were part of contact tracing. The Rockies tier one employees, which includes all coaches and players, have been over 85 percent vaccinated since the start of the season.
He tested positive during the All-Star break, and Chacín said he was only actually sick for four days before he started to feel better. His body felt weak as he came back, but he said he feels back at full strength now.
Yonathan Daza, Yency Almonte and Antonio Senzatela, the other three players placed on the list at the same time as Chacín, are all still in Arizona working their way back. Chi Chi González was placed on the COVID list on Wednesday and is quarantining.