Sonny Gray is the MVP for the Struggling A’s

The 2015 season for the Oakland Athletics is finished. However, Sonny Gray gives the entire team a reason to play hard in the last month of games this year. Yes, Sonny hasn’t been perfect lately, but his 13-7 record with a 2.28 ERA shows how important he is to the A’s.

There is part of me that doesn’t want to get too attached to Sonny Gray because Billy Beane is famous for ripping the hearts out of A’s fans in personnel deals.

Do you think there’s a shot that the A’s could ever get Josh Donaldson again? Donaldson is almost a runway favorite to win the American League MVP one season after Beane traded him to the Toronto Blue Jays. The A’s blew their shot to retain arguably the best third basemen in all of baseball. We all know that Beane likes to save a dollar here and there, but the organization should have found a way to retain Josh Donaldson.

Perhaps getting rid of Donaldson was one of the biggest mistakes in the history of the Oakland Athletics. You just don’t get rid of a guy who’s that great of a teammate and player. Of course, this is a retroactive way to think about the situation. Who could have guessed that Donaldson would have transformed from a good player one season to a great player in the following year? Regardless, the A’s should have kept him. The team’s offense and fielding at the third base position has been dreadful.

It’s honestly tough for me to get over the Donaldson situation. However, that trade is in the past, and that’s the reality we must accept. We are in the Sonny Gray era. Billy Beane better not take Gray away from us. If that ever happens, you will hear me yell “no!” in the voice of Tom Haverford from Parks and Rec.

On Tuesday, Sonny Gray showed us his brilliance once again. The opposite pitcher was the ex-Athletic, Scott Kazmir, and Oakland beat the Houston Astros with a score of 4-0. Sonny has had his share of solid shutouts this season, and the offense actually plays well for Gray.

A huge part of the A’s failure this season is the lack of synchronization. When the offense does well, the pitching is horrendous and vice versa. Of course that doesn’t hold true for exactly every game, but you get the point. Fortunately, everyone on the team seems to be on the same page when Sonny Gray takes the mound.

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That’s just one reason why Sonny is the MVP of the Oakland Athletics. His high win total and low ERA makes him a Cy Young candidate, and he still has an entire career of baseball ahead of him. It’s a shame that Sonny’s first All-Star season is during one in which the A’s are at the bottom of the division. If the organization keeps Sonny Gray, he should be the foundation that will build this team into a winning club again.

With Sonny as the ace, the starting rotation will take consistent form eventually. However, the bullpen is a huge reason why the A’s have fallen behind teams this season. Their newly promoted relief pitcher, Ryan Dull, tossed two shutout innings to secure the win for Oakland. Hopefully Dull and Sean Doolittle can turn the A’s bullpen into a respectable force again.

Aside from that, we can always count on Sonny Gray to give fans a reason to cheer even in the worst of times. Gray proved his great value to the Oakland Athletics this season.

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