The 2018 season was a disaster for Sonny Gray. He struggled right out of the gates—especially when pitching at home—and was never able to right the ship. It became so bad that you could almost count on the Yankees losing when he took the mound. Then Gray experience bottomed out on August 1st when he gave up seven earned runs to the Manny Machado-less Baltimore Orioles. The Yankees were left with no choice but to banish him to the bullpen.
In the months since the season ended, Brian Cashman has been weirdly vocal about his desire to trade Gray.