Alone on the hook, Sonny Gray isn't attracting any Trout

Sherman, set the Wayback to November of 2018, the good ol' days, back when the Yankees appeared to be buried in an avalanche of suitors for Sonny Gray. What was it - 11 breathless GMs sitting in the front parlor, clutching their radar guns, the testosterone thick as elephant farts. Ahh, such a gilded era! In Sonny, we possessed a highly coveted trade chip, a nugget of pure, off-season gold, which we could easily transform into a starting pitcher, a bullpen stopper or an infielder who'd make us forget Sir Didi... for at least four months.

Ahh, those were sunny days. The original, catastrophic Sonny deal of 2017 was going to work out, after all. Teams were calling, because everyone knew that once Sonny escaped the bright lights and loose hussies of Gomorrah, he'd rediscover his mojo, as did AJ Burnett, Ivan Nova and countless disappointments before them. 

Welp... the 2018 Winter Meetings have disbanded, and Sonny remains a Yankee, and in finding a taker willing to pay-up for the used car, I guess you could say Cooperstown Cashman's plans look like "a fully operational death wish."

We cannot judge Cashman's moves until the entire 2019 picture comes into focus. The devil is always in the details, and MLB rumors never involve details. 
But let's look at the various components and try to figure out where Sonny could fit in.

The Rotation: I keep hearing how the Yankees look solid here, but I'm sorry, I don't see it. Our "ace," Luis Severino, fell apart last summer, and there is absolutely no guarantee that he'll return to form. Masahiro Tanaka is still pitching with a partial tear in his elbow. James Paxton is oft-injured, JA Happ will be 36, and CC Sabathia is a ghost of what he was. In many respects - and it hurts to write this - we'd almost be better off keeping Sonny Gray and seeing what happens.

The Bullpen: Clearly, we must replace David Robertson and Zach Britton - and maybe improve upon them. Let's not forget: Aroldis Chapman and Dellin Betances have both turned into exploding cigars. Chapman's knee could go at any time, and Betances goes from maestro to meltdown. Sonny could probably bring us a veteran bullpen arm, or a couple of young, untested pitchers.

The Infield: The Great Hole of Didi remains unfilled. Until that mystery is solved - either by signing Manny Machado or finding a glove man - nothing can be projected about the 2019 Yankees. Signing Manny could unleash a hurricane of trades - Miguel Andujar, Greg Bird, Clint Frazier - yeesh - it hurts to imagine. But Sonny, packaged alone, could surely bring us a decent, glove-first shortstop. 

The Outfield: No problems here, aside from the glut. Could the relatively cost-effective Sonny be packaged along with the true death star, Jacoby Ellsbury? Or maybe with Frazier? What if he were packaged with Giancarlo Stanton? Would the Dodgers bite? Could it be worth our while? Well, we can dream, right?

Lately, the Sonny Gray market appears to be shrinking, but let's not kid ourselves: It was probably never there to begin with. We all saw what Sonny did last year for the Yankees. We all saw the many chances he blew. Seriously, how much would we give up for the guy? Because that's what we're going to get.