Should Boston Red Sox Bring Sonny Gray Back in 2027?

On Friday night, Boston Red Sox starter Sonny Gray put any retirement talk to rest, announcing he plans to pitch again in 2027. The 36-year-old veteran has a mutual option with Boston for $30 million in 2027, with a $10 million buyout, which is likely to be declined. Should the Red Sox bring back the likely free agent? 

After being acquired in a December 2025 trade with the St. Louis Cardinals, Gray stepped up and played a major role for the Red Sox in the absence of Garrett Crochet. The 14-year veteran had a career resurgence in 2026, posting a 2.72 ERA over 169 innings, the fifth-lowest in the American League and eighth-lowest in baseball. His incredible season should put him in the top five in American League Cy Young Award voting. 

On the surface, it’d be easy to say the Red Sox have plenty of pitching depth to let Gray walk in free agency. However, as the team has learned over the last two seasons, you never have enough pitching, as Boston ran its pitching pipeline nearly dry in both 2025 and 2026. 

If Boston let both Gray and fellow pending free agent Patrick Sandoval walk, they’d be looking to replace two arms in their rotation. Of course, Crochet, who enters the offseason with a clean bill of health, will retake his spot atop the rotation. However, there are no reliable options to fill in behind Crochet, Payton Tolle, Ranger Suarez, and Jake Bennett. 

Tanner Houck made his first start since May 2025 in the regular-season finale, allowing three earned runs on four hits across three innings. Despite the mixed results, Houck’s velocity and movement were down significantly from his last time on the major-league mound. 

The team also had right-hander Kutter Crawford working his way back to health late in the season. He was scheduled to make a rehab appearance on the final day of the minor league regular season with Triple-A Worcester; however, it was rained out and not rescheduled. Now 30, Crawford hasn’t appeared in a major league game since 2024. Relying on him to play a major role in 2027 would be a major risk. 

Finally, there’s Johan Oviedo, who made only one regular-season appearance before landing on the injured list with a right elbow injury. After spending much of the 2025 season recovering from Tommy John surgery in 2024, Oviedo's last full season of pitching came in 2023, when he posted a 4.31 ERA in 177.2 innings. The 28-year-old right-hander made one rehab appearance with Triple-A Worcester in the final week of the minor league regular season, allowing one earned run on two hits with four strikeouts and one walk over 2.1 innings. While Oviedo is certainly a high-ceiling option for the Red Sox, relying on him after three consecutive injury-plagued seasons is another major risk. 

With Crochet coming back from a major left-arm injury, Bennett and Tolle both soaring past their career highs in innings pitched in 2026, and Suarez's history of dealing with minor injuries requiring injured list stints throughout his career, Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow would be wise to target an innings-eating veteran, like Gray, to supplement his rotation.

In 2026, Gray proved he could pitch at a high level and thrive in a major market like Boston. After speaking highly of his time in Boston throughout the season, Gray told Alex Speier of the Boston Globe that he was open to returning to Boston, and the interest should be mutual.