CarterHud

The New York Yankees have acquired OF Joey Gallo and LHP Joely Rodriguez from the Texas Rangers in exchange for IFs Ezequiel Duran, Josh Smith, Trevor Hauver, and RHP Glenn Otto

This is an old-fashioned blockbuster. This is ironic, since Gallo is the very opposite of an old-fashioned player. The outfielder is a .223 hitter with 125 strikeouts before the end of June. But he is still an elite player. How? Well, Gallo has incredible power. His left-handed bat will generate even more home runs with the short porch in the Yankee Stadium right field. He also mashes the ball, regardless of the outcome, Gallo has a 18.4 barrel percentage and a .502 xwOBACON, which does not factor in strikeouts. Secondly, Gallo is still amazing at getting on base. His 19.1 BB% leads the majors. Thirdly, he is an amazing defender. Gallo leads all right-fielders with six outs above average this year after winning his first Gold Glove in 2020. Thanks to Aaron Judge, Gallo will have to move to either left or center field. He will be a free agent after the 2022 season. The Yankees also get Rodriguez back in this deal, who fills the void that was created when Luis Cessa and Justin Wilson were traded to Cincinnati. Rodriguez has one more year left on his contract after this year and is slated to earn $3 million next season. He has a 3.92 xERA this year and his changeup has nearly a 35 percent whiff rate this year.

Gallo, 27, has hit 25 home runs with six stolen bases, a .379 OBP and an .869 OPS in 388 Plate Appearances for the Rangers this year. In his MLB career, all for Texas, Gallo has hit 145 homers with 26 stolen bases, a .336 OBP, and an .833 OPS in 2173 Plate Appearances.

Rodriguez, 29, has a 5.93 ERA with 30 strikeouts and a 1.610 WHIP in 27.1 innings for the Rangers in 2021. In his MLB career for the Rangers and Philadelphia Phillies, Rodriguez has a 5.05 ERA with 72 strikeouts and a 1.578 WHIP in 76.2 innings.

The Rangers certainly made a choice to go with quantity over quality, which is a risky move. They could not pry out any of the top-13 prospects in the Yankees system, per MLB Pipeline. Not giving up righty Clarke Schmidt is a big win for Yankees GM Brian Cashman. The Rangers did get a ton of players from Pipeline’s top-30 Yankees list. Ranked highest is Smith at 14. He was drafted in the 2nd round in 2019 out of LSU. Ranked 15th is Duran, an international signing who quickly rose through the organization’s prospect rankings. Pereira, another international player is 17th. In the third round of the 2020 draft, the Yankees selected Hauver, who has raked at Single-A this year. Otto, ranked 28th, was a 2017 5th round pick. He has really emerged as a high-strikeout starter this season. Finally, Vasquez is the one prospect not ranked by Pipeline. He is a young Dominican in High-A as of now. All six prospects have amazing numbers in the minors this year, so this has the potential to produce many solid pieces for the future of the Rangers.

Hauver, 22, has hit nine home runs with a .445 OBP and a .943 OPS in 299 Plate Appearances for Single-A Tampa this year. In his collegiate career at Arizona State, Hauver hit 18 home runs with a .426 OBP and a .964 OPS in 462 Plate Appearances.

Smith, who will soon be 24, has hit nine home runs with 17 stolen bases, a .448 OBP, and a 1.089 OPS in 175 Plate Appearances between Tampa and High-A Hudson Valley this year. In his minor league career, Smith has hit 12 homers with 23 stolen bases, a .449 OBP, and a 1.018 OPS in 316 Plate Appearances.

Duran, 22, has hit 12 home runs with 12 stolen bases, a .374 OBP, and a .907 OPS in 297 Plate Appearances for Hudson Valley in 2021. In his minor league career, Duran has hit 32 home runs with 34 stolen bases, a .330 OBP, and an .806 OPS in 874 Plate Appearances.

Otto, 25, has a 3.33 ERA with 115 strikeouts and a 1.018 WHIP in 75.2 innings between AA Somerset and AAA Scranton this year. In his minor league career, Otto has a 3.07 ERA with 227 strikeouts and a 1.207 WHIP in 167.1 innings pitched.

The Colorado Avalanche have acquired goalie Darcy Kuemper from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for a 2022 first-round draft pick, defender Conor Timmins, and a conditional 2024 3rd round pick.

This is a panic move for the Avalanche, but definitely one that was necessary. After striking out on goalies, most notably Philipp Grubauer, in free agency, the Avalanche’s choices were dwindling down for a Grubauer replacement. Kuemper and maybe John Gibson of the Ducks seemed to be the only two options. Kuemper most likely would have cost less and he is a good stopgap. He had a down year in 2020-21 but was mostly tremendous in his stint in Colorado. He also has just one year left on his contract at $4.5 million and the Coyotes did retain $1 million of that. So, getting Kuemper at $3.5 million for the season is very affordable. The cost is very high but the team did put themselves in a bad spot.

Kuemper, 31, had a 2.56 GAA with a .907 save percentage in 27 games for the Coyotes in 2020-21. In his NHL career for the Coyotes, Minnesota Wild, and Los Angeles Kings, Kuemper has a .917 save percentage with a 2.47 GAA in 242 games played.

The tank continues for the Coyotes as Bill Armstrong does a good job with this deal. He gets a first-round pick for a goalie that probably was not worth it. So, they got a first, second, and Timmins for their goaltending tandem from last year of Kuemper and Adin Hill. Timmins was selected with the first pick of the second round (32nd overall) in 2017. Almost all of his NHL games played came in 2020-21. He showed solid two-way potential. Timmins could easily be flipped as the selling continues. The condition on the pick is that the pick only transfers if the Avs win the Stanley Cup this upcoming season and Kuemper plays in 50 percent of their games.

Timmins, 22, had no goals and seven assists in 31 games for the Avalanche in 2020-21. He has just two additional career games played, with no points.

The Milwaukee Brewers have acquired IF Eduardo Escobar from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for OF Cooper Hummel and IF Alberto Ciprian.

As the Brewers look to extend their seven game lead on the Reds for the NL Central and make noise in the playoffs, they needed to improve at third-base. Travis Shaw has really struggled this year, leaving them with no choice but to improve. So, they went out and got a switch-hitter rental in Escobar. He has been an above average defender this year while playing second and third. His main strength this season has been his power, although Escobar has been around league average at everything else. Given Shaw’s numbers this year and that no top-30 MLB Pipeline prospects were lost, this is what the team needed.

Escobar, 32, has 22 home runs with a .300 OBP and a .778 OPS in 400 Plate Appearances for the Diamondbacks this season. In his MLB career for Arizona, the Minnesota Twins, and Chicago White Sox, Escobar has hit 132 homers with a .308 OBP, and a .743 OPS in 4071 Plate Appearances.

The Diamondbacks are the worst team in baseball this year, which is not a thing that many saw coming. This means that everyone must go, or at least the pending free agents. Since Escobar has been good, but not great and does not have term left, the return is not outstanding. Hummel was drafted in the 18th round in 2016 who has an insane OBP in AAA this year. He has walked 41 times to just 26 strikeouts. Ciprian is eight years younger than Hummel and just starting his professional career.

Hummel, 26, has hit six home runs with a .435 OBP and a .942 OPS in 168 Plate Appearances for AAA Nashville this year. In his minor league career, Hummel has hit 36 home runs with 13 stolen bases, a .389 OBP and an .805 OPS in 1363 Plate Appearances.

Ciprian, 18, has no home runs with two stolen bases, a .465 OBP and a .979 OPS in 43 Plate Appearances in rookie ball this year.

The Washington Capitals have acquired goalie Vitek Vanecek from the Seattle Kraken in exchange for a 2023 second-round pick.

Say what you want about the Capitals, but they definitely are not the losers in this deal. They are able to re-acquire Vanecek, the goalie who was their starter for stretches with Ilya Samsonov injured. Vanecek makes about $716k for this year before becoming a restricted free agent. Prior reports indicated that it would have taken a lot more than a second-round pick to direct the Kraken to take some other player. But they essentially do that here by getting their pick back. Vanecek is a young goalie who can be a solid backup to Samsonov.

Vanecek, 25, debuted in 2020-21, posting a .908 save percentage with a 2.69 GAA and two shutouts in 37 games.

The Kraken had everything given to them as an expansion team but GM Ron Francis has completely fumbled the bag. This is not the most extreme example but it is certainly an example. This trade on its own is fine, especially after the team sign Philipp Grubauer in free agency. However, another option for the Kraken to select from Washington was defenseman Brenden Dillon. The Caps just traded Dillon to the Jets for two second-round picks. So, the Kraken lost out on a second-rounder just by not evaluating the market properly. That is inexcusable.

The Houston Astros have acquired RHP Yimi Garcia from the Miami Marlins in exchange for OF Bryan De La Cruz and RHP Austin Pruitt.

The Astros already have acquired Kendall Graveman and Rafael Montero, and now they add Garcia to their bullpen. The right-handed reliever has been very effective in years past but has just been about league average in 2021. However, if not for rough outings on July 4th and June 2nd, Garcia would have a 1.80 ERA. That is a lot closer to where he was in 2020, when Garcia allowed just one run over 15 innings of work. His value could have increased as a result of him having 15 saves as the closer of the Marlins. He has a weak .482 xSLG against and a 4.63 xERA.

Garcia, 30, has a 3.47 ERA with 35 strikeouts and a 1.211 WHIP in 36.1 innings for Miami this year. In his MLB career for the Marlins and Los Angeles Dodgers, Garcia has a 3.41 ERA with 220 strikeouts and a 1.024 WHIP in 211 innings.

The Marlins have made two big trades today and they won both of them. Getting Jesus Luzardo for Starling Marte was a steal. Now, they get a fine outfield prospect for Garcia. De La Cruz has never been much more than a decent OBP player in the minors but he has exploded in AAA this year. He is on pace for career bests in the toughest league he has ever played in. Pruitt is just an add-on. The former Rays starter and reliever was recently DFA’d by Houston.

De La Cruz, 24, has hit 12 home runs with a .362 OBP and an .880 OPS in 293 Plate Appearances for AAA Sugar Land this year. In his minor league career he has hit 28 home runs with 37 stolen bases, a .346 OBP, and a .737 OPS in 2045 Plate Appearances.

Pruitt, 31, has allowed two runs with a strikeout in 2.2 innings for Houston this year. In his MLB career for the Astros and Tampa Bay Rays, Pruitt has a 4.89 ERA with 148 strikeouts and a 1.359 WHIP in 202.1 innings pitched.