With 48 hours or so having elapsed since the Boston Red Sox finalized a trade for Sonny Gray , fans are interested in how the trade went down. When did negotiations begin? How long have the Red Sox been eyeing Gray?

Appearing as a guest on MLB Network on Wednesday, The Athletic ‘s Red Sox insider Jen McCaffrey was able to answer many of these questions about Boston’s pursuit of Gray.

McCaffrey revealed the the Red Sox as a franchise have actually been interested in Gray dating back to the 2011 MLB Draft, when Boston was interested in selecting Gray.

The second thing that McCaffrey noted was that Boston’s current front office — headlined by chief baseball officer Craig Breslow — places a priority on pitchers who can strike people out at a high rate. This attracted Breslow and Co.

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