Sonny Gray is going to make 35 mill?
Posted: 02 Sep 2025 20:46 pm
Gray is making 35 million next season? Hahahaha. Good grief. A good gig if you can get it, I guess. Wow.
STLtoday.com Forums
https://interact.stltoday.com/forums/
https://interact.stltoday.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1516040
Should have front-loaded it. If he were making just $10 million next year, he could easily be dealt if he waived his NTC.Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑02 Sep 2025 20:55 pm He averages 25 over the deal. They backloaded it. Only made 10 last year.
Yeah backloading a contract to a guy who is already old makes zero sense. Who would take on the remaining salary in a trade? Dumb.icon wrote: ↑02 Sep 2025 21:50 pmShould have front-loaded it. If he were making just $10 million next year, he could easily be dealt if he waived his NTC.Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑02 Sep 2025 20:55 pm He averages 25 over the deal. They backloaded it. Only made 10 last year.
Glad you pointed that out . The Cardinals made out saving $$$ by delaying the dollars some. So rather than paying a straight $25 M per year ,Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑02 Sep 2025 20:55 pm He averages 25 over the deal. They backloaded it. Only made 10 last year.
Cardinals realize nobody will take on the full $35 M but if they pick up say $20+ M for this last year, another team may be willing to pay the remaining $10M - $12M .sdaltons wrote: ↑02 Sep 2025 23:21 pmYeah backloading a contract to a guy who is already old makes zero sense. Who would take on the remaining salary in a trade? Dumb.icon wrote: ↑02 Sep 2025 21:50 pmShould have front-loaded it. If he were making just $10 million next year, he could easily be dealt if he waived his NTC.Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑02 Sep 2025 20:55 pm He averages 25 over the deal. They backloaded it. Only made 10 last year.
I don't think there's even a narrow zone where he stays. The Cardinals are not going to pay him $30 million in 2027. Never happening.cardstatman wrote: ↑02 Sep 2025 22:23 pm So far, according to fangraphs, he has earned $54.1M while getting paid $10M in 2024 and $25M in 2025 for a total of $35M/2yr.
He will make $35M in 2026 but technically he has $40M/1yr (2026) left on the $75M guaranteed deal with the Cards also having an option to pay him $25M to stay on for 2027. He gets $30M in 2027 or he gets a $5M buyout (The $5M buyout is paid at $1M per year from 2027 to 2031). If the Cards pick up the option, Gray can also choose to opt out.
IMHO, next year is likely Gray's last season. If he's great in 2026, he will opt out. If he's awful in 2026, the Cards will buy him out. There's only a narrow zone in between where he stays.
$20+ M for him to play somewhere else. Terrific. I can't imagine we see much of a return in the deal, either.ramfandan wrote: ↑03 Sep 2025 00:25 amCardinals realize nobody will take on the full $35 M but if they pick up say $20+ M for this last year, another team may be willing to pay the remaining $10M - $12M .sdaltons wrote: ↑02 Sep 2025 23:21 pmYeah backloading a contract to a guy who is already old makes zero sense. Who would take on the remaining salary in a trade? Dumb.icon wrote: ↑02 Sep 2025 21:50 pmShould have front-loaded it. If he were making just $10 million next year, he could easily be dealt if he waived his NTC.Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑02 Sep 2025 20:55 pm He averages 25 over the deal. They backloaded it. Only made 10 last year.
Why is anybody talking about eating money to trade Gray?ramfandan wrote: ↑03 Sep 2025 00:25 amCardinals realize nobody will take on the full $35 M but if they pick up say $20+ M for this last year, another team may be willing to pay the remaining $10M - $12M .sdaltons wrote: ↑02 Sep 2025 23:21 pmYeah backloading a contract to a guy who is already old makes zero sense. Who would take on the remaining salary in a trade? Dumb.icon wrote: ↑02 Sep 2025 21:50 pmShould have front-loaded it. If he were making just $10 million next year, he could easily be dealt if he waived his NTC.Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑02 Sep 2025 20:55 pm He averages 25 over the deal. They backloaded it. Only made 10 last year.
DeWitt probably wanted to make the % interest on the lesser amount by not paying more upfront. Have no idea where DeWitt invests his $$$$.icon wrote: ↑02 Sep 2025 21:50 pmShould have front-loaded it. If he were making just $10 million next year, he could easily be dealt if he waived his NTC.Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑02 Sep 2025 20:55 pm He averages 25 over the deal. They backloaded it. Only made 10 last year.
They didn't intend to trade him, hence the no trade clause as well. I don't understand the desire to shed salary if we aren't intending to re-use it.sdaltons wrote: ↑02 Sep 2025 23:21 pmYeah backloading a contract to a guy who is already old makes zero sense. Who would take on the remaining salary in a trade? Dumb.icon wrote: ↑02 Sep 2025 21:50 pmShould have front-loaded it. If he were making just $10 million next year, he could easily be dealt if he waived his NTC.Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑02 Sep 2025 20:55 pm He averages 25 over the deal. They backloaded it. Only made 10 last year.
It’s makes sense for BDW because instead of handing that money up front to the player he can hold on to a large portion and invest it and put it to work for his own gains for several years. Too bad he won’t reinvest some of those earnings back into the product. The only other defense would be there is no guarantee Sonny would waive his NTC even if the team could negotiate a deal that is desirable to another team due to the remaining lower salary.sdaltons wrote: ↑02 Sep 2025 23:21 pmYeah backloading a contract to a guy who is already old makes zero sense. Who would take on the remaining salary in a trade? Dumb.icon wrote: ↑02 Sep 2025 21:50 pmShould have front-loaded it. If he were making just $10 million next year, he could easily be dealt if he waived his NTC.Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑02 Sep 2025 20:55 pm He averages 25 over the deal. They backloaded it. Only made 10 last year.
nailed itBomber1 wrote: ↑03 Sep 2025 08:26 amWhy is anybody talking about eating money to trade Gray?ramfandan wrote: ↑03 Sep 2025 00:25 amCardinals realize nobody will take on the full $35 M but if they pick up say $20+ M for this last year, another team may be willing to pay the remaining $10M - $12M .sdaltons wrote: ↑02 Sep 2025 23:21 pmYeah backloading a contract to a guy who is already old makes zero sense. Who would take on the remaining salary in a trade? Dumb.icon wrote: ↑02 Sep 2025 21:50 pmShould have front-loaded it. If he were making just $10 million next year, he could easily be dealt if he waived his NTC.Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑02 Sep 2025 20:55 pm He averages 25 over the deal. They backloaded it. Only made 10 last year.
He is now and next year will still be their best pitcher.
“Let’s eat $ 20 million and trade Gray so that we need 3 new starters in 2026!”