Joey Gallo currently plays for the bottom-feeding Texas Rangers, who boast the third-worst record in Major League Baseball and are currently in sell mode. Three of the teams that are reportedly in pursuit of him — the New York Yankees, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays — are teams with winning records, playoff aspirations and very talented cores. On the surface, it would seem like Gallo would want to be traded to one of the many contending teams that have him in their targets.
But it's important to remember that baseball players are humans, too, even if they have superhuman power, and life is more about winning and losing. A trade can be a tough process to go through, with dozens of rumors constantly floating around, and Gallo is finding that to be the case as we speak.
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"What makes it tough is like everywhere I go, someone mentions it," Gallo explained before the Rangers' win on Tuesday night (via MLB.com's Kennedi Landry). "I'm driving to the field today, I stopped [at the gate] and the guy mentioned it. The chiropractor that I went to, he mentioned it. The guy who makes my suits mentioned it. It's hard to forget when everybody mentions it. It's really not that tough. I’ve been through it before.
"I just wake up every day and check my phone and see what team I'm playing for that day. Hopefully it’s the Texas Rangers."
It's no secret that Gallo has expressed that he likes being in Texas, similarly to how fellow trade candidate Kyle Gibson feels about playing for the Rangers. But sometimes, players' feelings are put to the side when business decisions need to be made, and the same can go for fan feelings. And should Gallo wake up one morning, turn off his alarm and see that he's no longer a Texas Ranger, he wants to make sure that everyone in the Rangers community knows how grateful he has been for his experience.
"This year I'm a little more prepared for. Last year I wasn't really ready for it but I went through it and I understand it's part of the business and that's how it goes in baseball, unfortunately," Gallo told reporter Emily Jones. "Obviously, I'd love to stay here but it's not up to me at the end of the day. I just want to say thank you to the Rangers — if this is my last time — thank you to the Rangers fans. You guys have been great for me. I love you guys."
If Tuesday night was one of Gallo's last games in a Rangers uniform, he sure made a good show of what he can provide for a potential suitor. The two things his game has been defined by — his home run power and his top-tier fielding — were both on display (via MLB Film Room).
The trade deadline is Friday, June 30 at 3:00 p.m. CT.
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