Forgotten former Yankees prospect from Joey Gallo trade is morphing into an All-Star

The one saving grace of the Joey Gallo trade was that, in hindsight, what the New York Yankees had given up to get him hadn't amounted to very much. Gallo, as we all know, wilted immediately under the Big Apple's bright spotlight. In what has become a Brian Cashman special, rather than giving up a blue-chip prospect or two for the then-slugging outfielder's services, the general manager rounded up four mid-level farmhands to ship down to Texas.

The then-prospects going back were infielder Josh Smith (No. 14 in the Yankees system), infielder Ezeqiuel Duran (No. 15), infielder/outfielder Trevor Hauver (No. 23), and right-handed pitcher Glenn Otto (No. 28).

Smith has become a useful utility man, but struggled to ascend to take over second base following the trade that sent Marcus Semien to the Mets this past winter, and has been on the IL with meningitis. Hauver still has not made his big league debut and toils in Triple-A for the Rangers. Otto owns a career 5.62 ERA and hasn't pitched in the majors since 2023.

Duran, on the other hand, has been the wild card. Buried behind Oswald Peraza, New York deemed him expendable, which was a decision that looked poor when he flashed in 2023. However, that was short-lived, and as the Rangers marched to a World Series title he was on the outside looking in, left off the playoff roster.

In the two years that followed, Duran would play 169 games, batting just .237/.278/.309 with three homers and producing a total of 0.2 fWAR. More or less, he was the definition of a replacement-level player. However, in 2026, the 27-year-old is making a strong case to be included in this year's All-Star Game.

Joey Gallo trade looks much worse for the Yankees as Ezequiel Duran could be an All-Star

As of June 7, Duran was first or second among all American League second basemen in every significant offensive category, ranging from batting average to on-base percentage and slugging percentage. In the days since, he hasn't slowed down at all.

Duran is slashing .290/.342/.445 with four homers and five steals over 61 games played through June 12. His "primary" position has been second base, but when Corey Seager missed 19 games on the IL, he shifted over to shortstop, where he has posted five defensive runs saved and three outs above average over just 161 innings.

In total, he's played 22 games at second, 20 at short, 13 in left field, seven in right field, and one at first base. When asked what his favorite position was in a recent interview, he said, "in the lineup."

Duran has earned the nickname "The Solution" in part because he played three different positions in the same game in the Dominican Winter League.

"Last year in the Dominican for Winter Ball, I was playing too many positions in one game,” Duran said, per Kennedi Landry of MLB.com. “I started at short, then the next inning at third, next inning in the outfield. One of my teammates, he just said, ‘You are the solution. They say you can play everywhere.’ I just forgot about it. When I got here [for the regular season], I was getting practice at catcher. So I said, ‘OK, I’m the solution.’”

These days, he's a solution the Yankees would have loved to have. His ability would have solved shortstop, which has become a problem now that Anthony Volpe has returned to action. He could have been an answer at third, too. Or, he could have helped out in the outfield with Aaron Judge out. Heck, even his spring training reps at catcher might've been of use to the Yankees had they held on to him.

The moral of the story here is that these multi-prospect packages Cashman favors have a high potential to end poorly when they are for non-stars. We can say all we want that Duran, who was only in High-A and hadn't really established himself as a prospect at the time of the deal, wasn't a huge loss at the time. However, when combined with Smith, Hauver, and Otto, the package gave Texas several bites at the apple.

So while Gallo flailed in the Bronx, the Rangers needed only one of the four to hit. It seems like they've gotten just that in Duran, and by golly, could he have solved a lot of problems for New York if he were on the roster today.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow