Texas Rangers rumors: 3 potential Joey Gallo trade partners

In a recent report made by MLB insider Jon Heyman, he revealed that teams around Major League Baseball have frequently been checking in with the Texas Rangers regarding Joey Gallo‘s availability.

Could the Texas Rangers finally trade Joey Gallo?

A hot name in trade talks for the past few seasons, 2021 could definitely be the year the Rangers finally decide to part ways with their standout outfielder. He’s set to be a free agent after the 2022 season, and it does in fact look like the Rangers are going to be “sellers” at this year’s trade deadline.

Here are three potential suitors that could emerge moving forward:

Chicago White Sox

The White Sox are coming off back-to-back offseasons of major spending, and are currently nine games over .500, sat atop the American League Central.

Needless to say, they are going to be “buyers” this season.

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Despite the White Sox early success this season, they’re operating with a not-so-great outfield situation at the moment. They’re currently playing former first baseman Andrew Vaughn out in left field, and Adam Eaton is nothing special in right.

Swapping out either of those players with Gallo would not only give the White Sox a major boost offensively, but it would also improve their defense quite dramatically. Gallo is coming off a Gold Glove winning season in 2020, and has looked pretty fluid this year as well.

With both Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez out for the foreseeable future, pressure feels pretty high for Chicago to make a significant addition to their outfield sometime this summer.

Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies have gotten off to a sluggish 22-20 start this season, but like Chicago, they are coming off back-to-back offseasons of major financial investment. They obviously signed Bryce Harper back in 2019, but the additions of Zack Wheeler, Didi Gregorius, Archie Bradley, and the re-signing of J.T. Realmuto paint the picture of a team desperately trying to contend moving forward.

Throw in the hiring of Dave Dombrowski that took place earlier this offseason, and you’re looking at a franchise that is also set to “buy” at this year’s trade deadline.

The Phillies don’t have an immediate opening for Gallo at one of their corner outfield positions, but they could run him in center field for the time being. With Gallo set to be under team control through 2022, he then could slide over as the team’s starting left fielder upon Andrew McCutchen’s expected departure this upcoming offseason.

It’s not the most seamless of fits, but it gives the Phillies another big-time bat in 2022.

The one sticking point with the Phillies is that their farm system is among the league’s worst. In a bidding war with Chicago or some other team, Dombrowski wouldn’t stand a chance. This deal likely only happens if the market for Gallo isn’t as intense as the Texas Rangers may have initially hoped it to be.