Texas Rangers: 3 takeaways from the massive Joey Gallo trade to NYY

Texas Rangers trade takeaway: GM Chris Young has a plan

Look, I know it’s hard to see this given the sadness of Joey Gallo’s departure. But it’s time to acknowledge that Chris Young has a plan. And that plan is to accrue as much young talent as possible to be well positioned for the future.

In acquiring Ezequiel Duran, the Yankees’ No. 15 prospect, along with RHP Glen Otto, SS Josh Smith, and INF Trevor Hauver, the Rangers added a significant amount of young talent in one sitting.

Sure, no Jasson Dominguez, no Clarke Schmidt, no Deivi Garcia or Estevan Florial. No doubt we would’ve wanted Texas to secure one of those names. But with the organization running thin on position players, the depth quotient increases dramatically, setting themselves up well for the future by ensuring they’ve got more darts to throw.

Quantity over quality seemed to be the strategy here, and time will tell whether that pays off. My guess would be this is a prudent strategy, since the Rangers’ periods of contention historically don’t last long (1996-99, 2009-16 with some bad years in between).

Would you rather contend in short bursts, or set yourself up for a prosperous future with a farm system that keeps on giving? We want things to be different this time around.

Remember as well that the Rangers still have to trade Ian Kennedy and Kyle Gibson. They also have a high pick next year. This rebuild has to be done the right way for long term success, and it looks like Chris Young is more than committed to going that route. That means aches and pains along the way, but Young is an intelligent man running a big league front office and more than qualified to do so.

Let’s trust the man that brought us Jack Leiter.

Texas Rangers trade takeaways: It’s possible better offers were out there for Joey Gallo

We can try to take a positive spin on what the Texas Rangers got in return for Joey Gallo, but it’s plenty fair to speculate on whether or not this was the best offer available.

The San Diego Padres, for example, were known to be very interested in Gallo and have better prospects than the New York Yankees. However, they were also looking for suitors to take on one of their big money contracts (i.e. Eric Hosmer, Wil Myers). Doing so might’ve landed the Rangers a legitimate star prospect like a Robert Hassell or CJ Abrams.

More from Nolan Writin'

• Framework for a potential Max Fried trade to the Texas Rangers
• Early 2023 MLB mock draft has Texas Rangers selecting an Ohtani-lite
• 3 Texas Rangers outfield trade targets not named Bryan Reynolds
• Did Jacob deGrom really mean what he said at his Texas Rangers press conference?
• Where do Texas Rangers prospects Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker stand after the DeGrom signing?

Wouldn’t we rather have an elite prospect and lesser overall return rather than some intriguing assets with upside, but with most still years away from making an impact? I certainly would.

If the Padres were really locked in on Gallo, the Rangers could have taken on a big money contract in exchange for Gallo while picking up a top young prospect. If that opportunity existed, the Rangers definitely missed it.

Again, Chris Young and company seemed to emphasize quantity over quality, and perhaps adding a big veteran contract to the payroll at this juncture didn’t appeal to Texas. But it sure would’ve made trading a franchise player a bit more palatable knowing a future star resides in the pipeline.

Texas Rangers trade takeaway: Joey Gallo deal is franchise’s biggest trade since Mark Teixeira

No sugarcoating this trade: it’s the biggest one for the Texas Rangers since the 2007 Mark Teixeira deal that landed the team Elvis Andrus, among many others. Safe to say that worked out pretty well.

And with the amount of prospects the Rangers got for Joey Gallo, this trade has the potential to be as fruitful as that exchange.

The Tex trade completely changed the tide for the organization when it was made, sending an established MLB hitter to Atlanta for pieces that would come to define a World Series core. And sometimes, those are the moves teams must make to really put themselves in position to build a winner for the long run.

Consider how eerie the timing is with both the Teixeira and Gallo trades. Both came a few years before an anticipated contention window. And if the Tex trade was any indication, the Rangers should stand to benefit from the Gallo swap as well. Maybe sooner than we all expect too.

Final thoughts

Look, it sucks to have traded a franchise player and not cooped up a star in return for his services, or at least a recognizable name. But many experts seem to concur on the fact that this was a great return for the Rangers.

Chris Young isn’t here to spite us, he’s here to save us. And it definitely may not seem that way in the moment, but let’s appreciate all that Joey Gallo did for us and his time as a Ranger. He was a lot of fun to watch and hoping for nothing but success as he embarks on his journey to the Bronx.