The Athletics are very likely to move staff ace Sonny Gray ahead of Monday's non-waiver trade deadline. Keeping him carries too much risk given his injury problems over the last year or so, and chances are his trade value will never again be as high as it is right now. With Oakland in a rebuild, trading Gray just makes sense.

Several teams have expressed interest in acquiring the right-hander, including the Yankees, Dodgers, Cubs, Brewers, Astros and Braves. Regardless of where Gray ends up, the A's are reportedly seeking a young center fielder in return.

The Yankees (Estevan Florial, Dustin Fowler), Brewers (Lewis Brinson, Brett Phillips), Dodgers (Alex Verdugo), Braves (Ronald Acuna), Astros (Daz Cameron) and Cubs (Albert Almora) all have top center field prospects to offer the Athletics. Florial, who is mentioned in the report, is currently hitting .293/.372/.485 with 11 home runs in 86 games at Low Class-A as a 19-year-old. He represented the Yankees at the Futures Game earlier this month.

I find it a bit surprising the Athletics are looking to fill a specific need by trading Gray. They don't only want a young center fielder, of course. They want a young center fielder to be part of the package. That said, when you're a rebuilding team a long way from contention and you have a trade chip as valuable as Gray, it seems the best course of action would be to accumulate as much talent as possible, regardless of position. Get the best possible players and sort them out later.

Then again, maybe it shouldn't be surprising, because this "trade for specific needs" approach is one reason the A's are where they are today. They wanted a young third baseman in the Josh Donaldson trade, and that led them to Brett Lawrie. They wanted a shortstop in the Jeff Samardzija trade, hence Marcus Semien. Maybe the A's couldn't have done better for Samardzija. But Donaldson? They for sure could have landed a better package by being more open-minded and not focused on a set positions.