Texas Rangers: The Joey Gallo trade is about to start paying off

It’s only going to take one month for the Texas Rangers to start receiving a return on their Yankees’ farm system investment.

Fans will reluctantly remember the trade deadline in late July, when the Texas Rangers dealt fan favorite outfielder Joey Gallo to the Bronx for four prospects: SS Josh Smith, SS Ezequiel Duran, 2B/OF Trevor Hauver and RHP Glenn Otto. All four prospects reside within the organization’s top 30 rankings.

The last of those names, Glenn Otto, is slated to make his big league debut Friday night in Arlington against the Houston Astros, per official team communications.

Glenn Otto will be the first Joey Gallo trade piece to emerge for the Texas Rangers

Otto, 25, is the Rangers’ 25th ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline. In 95.2 minor league innings this season (split between AA and AAA), the righty has a 3.20 ERA and 134 strikeouts, including a solid 2.70 ERA since arriving in Round Rock.

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Projected to be a pitcher with a floor of a middle reliever, Otto’s stock has climbed to the point where Texas is confident he can pitch in the back end of rotation, an encouraging sign. They’ll follow through on this belief by giving him his first big league start Friday.

The fact that it took just about a month for the Rangers to start seeing pieces emerge from the Joey Gallo trade is an accomplishment by itself. Typically, trades involving prospect hauls take years to fully develop and analyze.

This will, of course, still be the case with the remaining three prospects acquired in the deal, as well as how Otto performs in the bigs, but it’s nonetheless exciting and heartening that Texas will be able to start reaping the rewards of the transaction right away.

One start shouldn’t define Otto either; if he struggles in his debut, there will be plenty of opportunities down the line to correct those mistakes. On the contrary, if he performs well against the Astros, all the better.

Glenn Otto’s anticipated debut should be a win-win situation for the Texas Rangers, regardless of the final result. It’s just exciting that it only took a month for the return package to begin paying some dividends.