Colorado Rockies rumors: Jon Gray on New York Mets radar?

As the hours tick down toward the expiration of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, could starting pitcher Jon Gray exchange his Colorado Rockies uniform for one from the New York Mets?

Here’s why the rumors about Jon Gray leaving the Colorado Rockies for the New York Mets are heating up

In a tweet on Saturday morning, Joel Sherman of The New York Post said that Gray was a “name to watch” when it comes to the Mets. He went on to say that, “Lots of interest in the industry on his upside and the Mets are part of the group that is trying for the RHP.”

Part of that group is also likely the Colorado Rockies, the franchise that drafted Gray out of the University of Oklahoma with the third overall pick in the 2013 draft and the only team he has taken the mound for since making his Major League debut on August 4, 2015. He currently ranks among Colorado’s all-time leaders in strikeouts (849, second), innings pitched (829.1, sixth), wins (53, tied for seventh), ERA (4.59, eighth, minimum of 50 starts), and games started (151, fifth).

Last season, the just-turned-30-year-old Gray logged a streak of seven consecutive home starts of five or more innings, four or fewer hits, and three or fewer earned runs between April 3 and May 23. That’s the longest such streak in franchise history.

During the recent MLB general manager meetings in Carlsbad, Calif., Rockies GM Bill Schmidt was brief when talking about where things stood between Gray and Colorado in terms of what comes next in his career. It has been reported that Gray has already turned down a deal from the Rockies that was extended just before the 2021 season ended.

“There hasn’t been any conversation,” Schmidt said. “We had some at the end of the season. And that’s been it. He said they’d stay in touch. I assume they’re trying to figure out what the market is.”

That market could well be heating up for Gray, and time could be ticking on whether Colorado can keep him if the pitcher wants to sign before the CBA expires as starting pitchers such as Noah Syndergaard, Justin Verlander, Steven Matz, and Eduardo Rodriguez have already done.