There is no doubt that Joey Gallo is one of the top prospects in baseball, and he showed just what he's capable of last season after making a big splash of an MLB debut with the Rangers.
But after the honeymoon wore off, he quickly began to tail off as pitchers quickly figured out holes in his big, violent swing and his tendency to strike out in bunches.
So far, so good this season as Gallo's strikeouts are down dramatically even though it's a relatively small sample size of time at Triple-A Round Rock.
But what exactly is Gallo's future with the Rangers? If you ask Jon Daniels, he'll still tell you the plan is for him to be a Ranger for a long time and they still want to make him a third baseman — his most natural position. But have things changed now that the Rangers have officially locked up Adrian Beltre on the hot corner through the 2018 season? I'm thinking yeah, they have.
The Rangers will either have to move Gallo to another position (most logically first base after Mitch Moreland hits free agency this coming winter) or trade him, and boy could they trade him for something big — think Sonny Gray or Chris Sale.
The more things start to shake out, the more it seems unlikely that Gallo will ever play a significant role in a Rangers uniform other than bringing back a huge haul like a frontline pitcher. Time will tell. But he's some pretty serious trade ammo.
