Phillies trade rumors: Team looking at Rangers 3B Joey Gallo

New Phillies trade rumors suggest another upgrade to the bench

After acquiring infielder Asdrubal Cabrera from the New York Mets the latest Phillies trade rumors connect the team to a big power bat.

Dallas Morning News reporter Evan Grant, who broke the Cole Hamels trade to Chicago, says the Phillies and Indians are among the teams to inquire about third baseman Joey Gallo.

Formerly a major prospect in the Rangers organization Gallo rarely gets on base unless he’s rounding them. A career-.197 hitter Gallo is coming off a 41 home run season for Texas and has 25 this season.

Gallo wouldn’t replace a red-hot Maikel Franco at third if he were to be acquired but could replace Trevor Plouffe on the Phillies bench. Plouffe, a nine-year veteran, is hitting .250 in seven games and had a 16th inning walk-off home run after coming up from Lehigh Valley.

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At 24-years-old Gallo is under team control through the 2022 season and doesn’t hit his first year of arbitration until after this season. He’d be an instant power upgrade on the bench that now lists as Scott Kingery, Roman Quinn, Andrew Knapp, Plouffe, and Jesmuel Valentin.

None of those players profiles as a power bat like Gallo, who could be the younger Matt Stairs of this bench. His price shouldn’t be too high, and he could come in a package with a reliever such as Jake Diekman or closer Keone Kela to boost the bullpen.

We’ll see if the organization has another move up their sleeve, but for now they’ve done a good job solidifying the middle infield and boosting the bench by having Kingery in that role.