Guest Post by Cary Greene
July 21, 2021
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Today I will examine how the Yankees and the Texas Rangers match up.
The Rangers as of Monday morning, they were 17 games out of the Wild-Card and miles behind all of the teams in their division. They are clear-cut sellers and it’s been known for over a month that this would be the case. Texas is also firmly entrenched in rebuild mode and unfortunately for them, most of their better players in MLB’s 21st ranked Farm System are several years away. Texas needs to accelerate this rebuild and they have the trade chips to do it.
The three most desirable trade targets for most teams on the Rangers roster are 33-year-old righty Kyle Gibson, the staff ace who is in the middle of a career year, our old friend, 36-year-old righty closer Ian Kennedy and of course, 27-year-old left-handed hitting outfielder Joey Gallo who can not only play centerfield but is a plus defender there by the way.
However, the Yankees are not most teams and the Yankees have some usual needs – mainly pitching, but some more unusual ones also – mainly centerfield and potentially shortstop, to go along with left field. We’d be remiss if we didn’t peel back the Ranger onion a little further and when we do that, another player, very desirable to the Yankees, appears:
27-year-old right handed Cuban center-fielder Adolis Garcia, under control through 2026, is a player I am sure Brian Cashman would love to pry from the grip of Rangers’ GM Chris Young. Garcia is a plus defender in centerfield. Garcia strikes out a lot, doesn’t walk, and hits a lot of home runs. He is also an RBI Juggernaut. His OPS is a very strong .840 and his WAR is already at 2.2 for the season. If he ever starts taking his share of walks, he could become an All-Star and this is after all, his very first big-league season.
I suspect the Padres are going to go all out for Joey Gallo. With that being the case, Adolis Garcia would be a very interesting fall back for the Yankees. He represents an obvious significant upgrade to Brett Gardner.
The Rangers have an atrocious starting rotation and they would probably look to Brian Cashman to propose packages peppered with strong pitching prospects seeing as how 21-year-old righty Cole Winn, currently in AA, is their highest ranked pitching prospect. The Rangers are also going to need outfield prospects and some middle infield prospects as well. It’s highly unlikely the Rangers would be interested in prospects who are three or more years from being able to help. They’d most likely prefer prospects with timelines no later than 2023 as they are realistically committed to a multi-year rebuild and have hired Chris Young to oversee this.
Let’s look at both players, Gallo and Garcia and let’s also look at Kyle Gibson and see if the Yankees line up.
Here is what a Yankees potential trade with the Ranger’s Joey Gallo might look like:
Yankees Get: OF Joey Gallo – MLB Rangers Get: RHP Deivi Garcia – AAA, LF Clint Frazier – MLB, 2B Ezequiel Druan – A+, CF Estevan Florial – AAA, RHSP Albert Abreu – AAA, LHSP Ken Waldichuck – AA
Acquiring Gallo is costly because he’s a difference maker. His WAR is already at 4. The guy makes a huge impact on both sides of the ball. His left-handed stroke would also be ideal in Yankee stadium. Gallos’ two years of team control helps the Yankees and justifies leading with the Yankees’ “ace in the making” Deivi Garcia the headliner. Estevan Florial and Clint Frazier give the Rangers team control and upside in the outfield and stud infield prospect Ezequiel Duran fits solidly into the Texas rebuild. Lefty starter Ken Waldichuck is a AA prospect who provides the Rangers a solid pitching prospect who is closing in on being Major League ready.
Whichever team that gets Gallo – and there are many other suitors besides the Padres, would need to pick up just $3.1 million on his contract this year and $6.2 million next year so he’s extremely reasonably priced. That makes him even more valuable, and, costly, for the team trying to get him.
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Here is what a Yankees potential trade with the Ranger’s Adolis Garcia might look like:
Yankees Get: CF Adolis Garcia – MLB Rangers Get: RHSP Luis Medina – AA, CF Estevan Florial – AAA, LHSP TJ Sikema – A
Acquiring Garcia is very realistic and involves a lot less costly of a prospect cache than it would cost to acquire Joey Gallo. There’s also ton more team control so this would be an awesome trade for the Yankees if it materializes. As I see it, flame throwing Luis Medina is the conversation starter. He’s a high-end pitching prospect and is currently the Yankees #7 prospect. Florial gives the Rangers a perfect player to put the finishing touches on and his tools are well known. He’s also starting to mash AAA pitching lately and is showing signs of the being the player everyone hoped he could be. Since the Rangers are almost certainly trading Gallo, they’d need Florial in this package because they’d also be trading Garcia to NY. TJ Sikema fits the rebuild nicely and gives the Rangers a crafty lefty with SEC pedigree who has an ETA of late next year. He’s also one of the Yankees top-20 prospects, slotting in at #16. That would be a powerful package!
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Finally, here is what a Yankees potential trade with the Ranger’s Kyle Gibson might look like:
Yankees Get: RHSP Kyle Gibson – MLB Rangers Get: RHSP Luis Gil – AAA
Trading Gibson is an easy decision for the Rangers. He’s having a big year but he could just as easily regress next year and they’d be dumping $5 million off the books this season and another $10 million next year and for a rebuilding team. That’s worthwhile. The Rangers would acquire the Yankees #5 prospect, coveted fire-baller Luis Gil, in this trade – straight up. It’s a trade of now for later.
I believe any of these trades could happen, but will they?
Time will tell.
