AL Notes: Gallo, Rays, Angels

Rangers slugger Joey Gallo has been “available” since last summer’s trade deadline, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes. It’s unknown what it would cost to pry Gallo out of Texas, though Rosenthal notes that he’s popular among teams that value some combination of home runs, walks, athleticism and tools. The 27-year-old Gallo had a terrible year at the plate during the shortened 2020 season, in which he hit .181/.301/.378 with 10 home runs in 226 plate appearances, but he did earn a Gold Glove for his work in right field. Gallo’s also not far removed from a premier showing at the plate in 2019, and he comes with two affordable years of team control.

Now the latest on two other American League teams…

• The Rays are among the teams with interest in free-agent right-hander Ryne Stanek, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. Stanek began his career with the Rays, who chose him 29th overall in the 2013 draft, and had his best seasons with the club. He was a regular opener with the Rays from 2018-19, during which he pitched to a 3.17 ERA/3.64 FIP and averaged better than 10 strikeouts per nine across 122 innings, but has fallen off of late. Stanek had difficulty in Miami, which acquired him from the Rays before the 2019 trade deadline, and the Marlins non-tendered him as a result. However, the 29-year-old hasn’t had trouble garnering interest from other teams this winter.
• Rays righty Brent Honeywell was given a fourth option because of the substantial amount of time he has missed on account of injuries, general manager Erik Neander told Topkin and other reporters. The 25-year-old Honeywell was once an elite pitching prospect, but he hasn’t thrown a professional inning since 2017 – which he divided between Double-A and Triple-A – because of health issues. Since then, Honeywell has undergone four elbow surgeries, most recently an arthroscopic procedure. The good news is that Honeywell seems as if he’ll return in 2021.
• The Angels have made a couple of additions to new general manager Perry Minasian’s front office. The team’s hiring Brewers vice president/assistant to the GM Ray Montgomery and Dodgers international crosschecker Brian Parker, per reports from Joel Sherman of the New York Post and Jim Callis of MLB.com. It’s unclear which roles the two will take on as part of the Angels’ staff.
• More on the Angels, who are unsurprisingly looking for help in their rotation. Manager Joe Maddon told MLB Network Radio on Friday that “we do need to attract probably two starting pitchers to come to us.” Maddon expects there to be an increase in six-man rotations throughout the league next year; if the Angels go that route – which is something Maddon expects to do (via Maria Torres of the LA Times) – it could benefit Shohei Ohtani, who’s returning from injury and who was part of a six-man staff in Japan before immigrating to the majors prior to the 2018 campaign. Ohtani, Dylan Bundy, Andrew Heaney and Griffin Canning should amass plenty of starts for the Angels in 2021, though the rest of their rotation doesn’t appear etched in stone.