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Joey Gallo Destined to be Demoted by Texas Rangers?

By Josh Sippie

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Joey Gallo is a special talent and he wasted no time showcasing it in the Major Leagues. The young Texas Rangers‘ prospect went 3-4 with a home run and four RBIs in his first ever game in the Show. Filling in for Adrian Beltre isn’t the easiest task in the world, but if you’re going to do it, that’s the way to start. It helps that Adrian Beltre is in the midst of a fairly average season.

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But the problem for Joey Gallo remains exactly that: Adrian Beltre. The renowned third baseman is signed through the 2016 season and with the Rangers starting to push upwards toward success, losing Beltre doesn’t seem like a possibility.

So where does that leave Joey Gallo? He can play outfield too, but where exactly would he fit there? Delino DeShields, Leonys Martin and Shin-Soo Choo are all having good years, the two corner outfielders especially. He can’t move to Designated Hitter because that is owned by the Prince who is quite literally slugging his own socks off as I type. You can’t move Prince to first because Mitch Moreland is having a great year as well. Josh Hamilton is due back too so that limits the outfield prospect even more.

At 21 years of age, Joey Gallo is exceeding expectations. And yet, the Rangers surely don’t want to have to send him back down if he continues to hit this well. With a player this young, if he’s going to succeed in the Majors, you might as well allow him all the resources in the world to let him succeed because he’s only going to get better and learn to love the team more.

That may not be an option though.

The Rangers really only have two choices for Joey Gallo. Seeing as how it’s unlikely that they’ll trade away anyone in the way of the powerful lefty, especially Adrian Beltre, the outfield appears the most likely spot for him to land. Of all the outfielders, Leonys Martin is having the worst year, so one option may be to shift DeShields to center and let Joey Gallo take a corner outfield spot. But then where does that leave Josh Hamilton?

When Adrian Beltre returns, third base is his. When Josh Hamilton returns, a corner outfield spot is his. That leaves Joey Gallo with the prospect of unseating Choo or DeShields, both of whom are having really good years. Another possible solution is to make him a journeyman and rotate his positioning around depending on who needs a break. It could build up his versatility but it may hurt his ability to really get his feet underneath him.

The easiest organizational option is to send him back to Triple-A, where he’s already raked. It’s not the worst situation to be in, having a surplus of players, but it can lead to positions of frustration where fully capable players can’t get the playing time they rightfully think they deserve.

Joey Gallo needs to be playing every day (as the Dallas News points out) and once the Texas Rangers get healthy, that’s just not going to happen. However, it won’t really be a demotion. He’ll always be the first call should an opening arise.

Next: What's up with Colby Lewis?

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