Why don't we revisit the Yankees-Rangers Joey Gallo trade for all the baby haters?

Everyone loves dunking on the New York Yankees. Can't blame anybody, either! They've been an easy punching bag to unload on after owning the sports world for a good while about two decades ago. They're an easy target when things go wrong.

One of the crowd's favorite topics of conversation to bring the Yankees down is the Joey Gallo trade from 2021. New York sent four prospects to the Texas Rangers for the worst full season of baseball you could ever imagine.

Across his 140 games with the Bombers, Gallo hit .159/.291/.368 with 65 runs scored, 25 homers and 46 RBI. His .660 OPS and 84 OPS+ were disastrously below his career averages of .789 and 109. It was agonizing to watch and he made zero adjustments along the way.

On top of that being the low-hanging fruit to criticize, fans took aim at the prospect package that went to Texas: Ezequiel Duran, Glenn Otto, Josh Smith and Trevor Hauver. For a second there, when Duran was lighting it up for the Rangers, there was another opportunity to roast the Yankees.

But just as everybody else provides updates on this trade nobody should care about, we'll do the same. How does this look to you now?

Let's revisit the Yankees-Rangers Joey Gallo trade once again

• Joey Gallo: traded for now-top prospect Clayton Beeter (No. 16). Beeter has struggled at Triple-A this season, but appeared in the Futures Game this year because of his incedible rebound at Double-A. Gallo has now had two failed stints with the Dodgers and Twins since.
• Glenn Otto: designated for assignment and picked up by the Padres.
• Josh Smith: currently on the Rangers roster, but is hitting .195 with a .588 OPS and 68 OPS+ in 150 career games.
• Trevor Hauver: he'll be 25 in a couple of months and still hasn't reached Triple-A. It seems he peaked during his days with the Yankees at Single-A, but there's still time. Either way, wouldn't have been in New York's plans.
• Ezequiel Duran: the lone "regrettable" piece that was traded. Once upon a time, it looked really bad the Yankees moved him, given their need for younger, capable infielders who could make solid contact. But Duran's fallen off a bit, watching his average and OPS plummet from .314 and .902 on July 1 to .277 and .775. Still good ... but his 170 games have featured a .262 average, 729 OPS and 99 OPS+. Not sure that can be categorized as a huge miss at this point in time.

The Yankees certainly have their own problems to fix, but the Rangers are in the midst of a collapse, with Duran's disappearing act playing a role. Smith is doing nothing at the major league level. Hauver isn't even close. Otto is gone.

It's one thing to have ammo when trashing the Yankees. It's weak to beat the dead horse about something that really wasn't anything close to a grave mistake.