Yankees Get Perfect Fit in Joey Gallo Trade, but Can He Save Their Season?
The New York Yankees haven't lived up to expectations in 2021, but that didn't stop them from pulling off the season's biggest trade to date Wednesday.
Mere hours after Jack Curry of the YES Network tweeted that the Yankees were "pushing hard" for Texas Rangers All-Star slugger Joey Gallo, news broke that said push had succeeded.
Yankees get: RF Joey Gallo and LHP Joely Rodriguez
Rangers get: SS Josh Smith, 2B Ezequiel Duran, 2B/OF Trevor Hauver and RHP Glenn Otto
For the Yankees�who are 8.5 games out of first place in the American League East at 53-47�Gallo is obviously the centerpiece. This season has seen him post an .869 OPS and 25 home runs, plus six outs above average in right field. He's also making a modest $6.2 million, with another year of club control in 2022.
For his part, Rodriguez is a nice throw-in. His 31 appearances in 2021 have only yielded a 5.93 ERA, yet he's held left-handed batters to a .488 OPS.
Of the prospects going to Arlington, none of them cracked the club's top 10 in B/R's most recent rankings. According to MLB.com, though, Smith, Duran, Hauver and Otto ranked as the team's No. 14, 15, 23 and 28 prospects, respectively.
