You can look through stats and to try to find out about the players the Ranger got in the Joey Gallo trade. Instead of raw numbers, let’s look at what Yankees blogs have said about these players.
Three weeks ago, on a Yankees site called Fansided, Adam Weinrib had this to say about Triple-A pitcher Glenn Otto, the twenty-five-year-old prospect from Spring, Texas, who is furthest along of the four player the Rangers acquired.
“it seems there are one or two mid-to-top tier Yankees top prospects rewriting their own projections and making new names for themselves,” Weinrib wrote. “We could wax rhapsodic about any number of Yankees prospects, but this week, the premier helium candidate is obvious: righty Glenn Otto, who breezed through Double-A again this week with another eye-popping, strikeout-filled start.” In the start he was referring to, Otto hit the first batter, then retired the next 20.
He adds, “Hopefully, Otto (the team’s 28th-ranked prospect entering 2021) has turned enough heads that the team realizes something must be done about him.” That’s encouraging. Chances are Rangers fans will see Otto in a Rangers uniform soon.
Of twenty-two-year-old Dominican High-A second baseman Ezequiel Duran, Pinstripe Alley’s Dan Kelly said, “After initial struggles, Duran adjusted and quickly became one of the biggest offensive forces in the New York-Penn League.” He went on to point out that Duran lead the league with 13 home runs in 2019, “finishing top 10 in the league in numerous offensive categories. FanGraphs’ ZiPS projections rank him as the 84th-best prospect in baseball, based on his strong track record.”
Shortstop Josh Smith has been Duran’s double-play combo partner. Also writing for Pinstripe Alley, Peter Brody said of Smith, “Smith raked in his professional debut with the Staten Island Yankees. He displayed an excellent ability to get on base, walking an incredible 25 times in 33 games. He also showed a surprising amount of pop given his slight stature (5’10”, 172 lbs), which—aided by his bat speed and lofted swing—confirms the belief that he could slug 15-20 home runs after adding mass to his frame.” Smith is twenty-three, bats left, from Baton Rouge.
Trevor Hauver is a twenty-two year old outfielder/first baseman from Arizona. Andres Chavez wrote this about Hauver in Pinstripe Alley: “Hauver is also a little on the old side for a Low-A hitter at age-22, but it’s safe to say that he has passed the test so far in his first pro season. In 48 games and 220 plate appearances, he has showcased a keen eye at the plate, with a 22.3 percent walk rate that more than makes up for his 25.5 percent strikeout rate.”
The Rangers got four prospects for Joey Gallo and Joely Rodriguez. One seems to be nearly ready for his major league debut. The other three are tossed into the same cauldron of uncertainty every low-minor-league prospect is in. It’s way to early to tell what they will develop into, and they are way too far away to help anytime soon.
All we can do is hope.
That’s the Rangers most valuable commodity. When the present isn’t right, the future is always bright.
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TODAY’S GAME:
