MLB Insider: Yankees' Joey Gallo Is 'Untradeable'

Considering the Yankees are off to one of their best starts in franchise history, producing the best record in Major League Baseball through 71 games, New York might not need to be active at this summer's trade deadline.

Then again, there are always opportunities to get better, even if it's addition by subtraction.

Joey Gallo was one of the blockbuster acquisitions for this club at last year's deadline, a slugging outfielder poised to wreak havoc with the short porch in the Bronx. It took four prospects from the Yankees to get him (along with lefty Joely Rodríguez, who was later traded to the Mets). 

Since then, however, Gallo has struggled mightily with his new team, garnering more boos from the Yankee Stadium crowd than cheers. He's hitting .168/.296/.379 over 117 games with New York, striking out 168 times with just 22 home runs.

Even if the Yankees wanted to move on from Gallo before the August 2 deadline, they might not have any takers. Jon Heyman of the New York Post wrote this week that a rival executive called Gallo "untradeable."

Heyman singled out the San Diego Padres as a club that could be interested in adding Gallo, injecting a left-handed bat to their lineup for the stretch run.

"They’ve tried for Joey Gallo in the past, but no team is likely to offer much at the moment," Heyman added.

Gallo is in the final year of his contract, so any trade would be a rental. Even if his value is low, New York wouldn't give him up for nothing. He still has potential to to produce good power numbers like he did earlier in his career in Texas. Plus, he's a quality outfielder, a change-of-scenery candidate.

It'll come down to how many teams inquire with the Yankees about Gallo over the next several weeks and whether they offer enough to get a deal done. New York could always fill Gallo's spot in the outfield externally or promote an outfielder like Tim Locastro, Estevan Florial or Miguel Andújar (who recently requested a trade due to his lack of playing time) from Triple-A.

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