With the trade deadline getting closer, the rumors of bringing back Joey Gallo seem to be getting more frequent. 

He has been a total bust in New York, despised by fans and pretty much ignored by his manager. Gallo rarely gets into the lineup and is left on the bench in crucial pinch-hit situations. 

He’s batting .159 with a .282 on-base percentage. He’s struck out 106 times in 273 plate appearances. He hasn’t played the greatest defense either. Gallo is lost in New York and New York is trying to lose him quickly.

Should the Rangers take him back? Remember, the reason they traded him in the first place was because he turned down a long-term extension. Now, he will be lucky to get a whole lot more than major league minimum. Right now, you could find any player on any roster better than Joey Gallo.

As a Ranger, he was a real enigma. He hit 40 home runs twice but that’s about all he was doing. Striking out or homering. He was so one-dimensional he wasn’t really all that valuable.

Then, in 2019, he added walking to his resume, and he became an offensive asset. And, he found a position in right field he could excel out defensively. In fact, he was off to what could have been an MVP-worthy start in 2019, named to the All-Star Game roster even, before injury wiped him out for the season.

His highly anticipated return in 2020 hit a brick wall when he freaked out about hitting in the new ballpark. He convinced himself it couldn’t be done. He proved it, too. His remarkable 2019 numbers of .253/.389/.986 (AVG/OBP/OPS) dropped to .181/.301/.679. He rebounded in 2021 but was traded at the deadline when he turned down the Rangers offer.

He has been a train wreck since then. Gallo’s biggest problem is in his head. 

Three of the four players the Rangers got for Gallo have made it to the Rangers. Glenn Otto, Josh Smith, and yesterday’s batting hero Ezequiel Duran, whose three-run RBI double in the top of the ninth was the game winner.

Is Gallo someone the Rangers should bring back? Or should they gladly take the haul they got for him already and move on and let him be somebody else’s problem?

Because right after Gallo escapes New York, the next place he has to escape is his mind. 

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