ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Athletics were in last place and 12 games under .500 when they traded Sonny Gray to the Yankees at last year’s trade deadline in yet another rebuilding move.
Though Oakland has hardly gotten anything out of the return for Gray, with Dustin Fowler and Jorge Mateo not doing much and James Kaprielian still recovering from arm issues, the A’s still were able to go on a second-half tear this season to qualify for the wild-card game.
Asked if it would be strange for the Yankees to be in the postseason against the team with which he came up, Gray — who has been a huge disappointment in The Bronx, pulled from the rotation and a virtual certainty to not be included on the postseason roster — shook his head and said, “it’s a job.”
Given his history with the A’s organization, the quick turnaround in Oakland wasn’t unexpected for Gray.
“It’s not surprising when you look at what happened in 2011 and 2012,’’ Gray said Wednesday before the Yankees’ 8-7 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field. “We were terrible in 2011 and going into the next season, we were supposed to be so-so, but young guys came up, played well and then we were the best team in baseball in 2013 and 2014.”
The issue, as Gray noted is “they don’t keep any of the guys and everyone goes their separate ways. But when they hit it, you see what they do.”
That’s what they’ve done this season. After a 34-36 start, Oakland entered Wednesday night on a 61-27 tear.
“Every six years or so they get a two-or-three year run,’’ said Gray, who came up in July 2013 and pitched in the ALDS that year.
“The position players they had, you could always see these are ‘guys,’ ” Gray said of the heart of the lineup. “[Matt] Chapman, [Matt] Olson were there, Khris Davis was doing his thing. [Marcus] Semien was always good. They had those young guys and kept Jed [Lowrie]. You could tell they’d be tough.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone also noted how productive Stephen Piscotty has been, as well as rookie outfielder Ramon Laureano.
The A’s rotation has survived the loss of Sean Manaea, who is out after shoulder surgery, and Brett Anderson, who had two stints on the disabled list, but is back now, in part because of journeymen like Mike Fiers and Edwin Jackson. And Blake Treinen has emerged as one of the game’s top closers.
“They did the same thing in 2012 and ’13,’’ Gray said. “They signed veterans and hit on different guys, one or two years at a time.”
Despite his connection to the organization, Gray said the matchup against the A’s doesn’t mean much.
“I was there the first half of last year, but it’s not my team,’’ Gray said. “I’m looking forward to the playoffs here. I didn’t play with half those guys. I know just as many guys on the Nationals or Red Sox.”