Don’t be surprised if Jon Gray signs soon … and not with the Colorado Rockies

The Colorado Rockies have dropped the ball a lot of times in handling Jon Gray and his free agency in the last few months. They didn’t trade him to a contender at the trade deadline (and, reportedly, didn’t even consider it), gave him their first offer late in the season and made it a lowball offer, and then didn’t give him a qualifying offer.

Now, Jon Gray’s market is heating up, and, according to MLB.com’s Jon Morosi on Twitter, Gray is a “good candidate” to sign within the next week.

And, seemingly, the Colorado Rockies are not among the favorites to land Jon Gray. But the Texas Rangers are among the favorites.

Morosi’s colleague, Mark Feinsand, added to Morosi’s report and said that the Texas Rangers are a team with “legitimate interest” in former Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Jon Gray which makes sense considering that we know the Texas Rangers offseason plans.

Despite the Texas Rangers losing 102 games in 2021, they have said that they could add around $100 million to their payroll for next season. They desperately need some starting pitcher and, frankly, about 23 other guys to be signed, traded for, or step up in 2022 for them to be in the playoff hunt. One of the players like are looking at is Gray’s former teammate, Trevor Story.

But also, it makes sense for Gray. He is a native of Oklahoma so playing baseball in North Texas (Arlington) puts him closer to home than Denver. And if the Rangers do spend money this offseason to put together a competitive team, then Gray could be in the playoff hunt again. The Rockies, on the other hand, do not look like they will spend a ton of money this offseason. They have said that they will make some moves but not any huge moves.

Morosi says that Steven Matz’s contract with the St. Louis Cardinals will be the barometer for Gray but he may get a bit more than Matz. Matz got four years and $44 million (MLBTR projected he’d get three years and $27 million). They also projected Gray would get four years and $56 million and almost all of their projections have been a bit short, like Matz.

If that’s the case, the Colorado Rockies likely won’t be the team to sign Jon Gray.