Great Gallo Graph

The longer I collect cards the more and more I have gotten away from collecting high end cards and autographs of elite prospects.  For every highly regarded prospect that makes it to the Majors there are always a handful of guys who languish in the minors and fizzle out.  To further complicate matters, about 75% of all the prospects who make the Majors, but fail to live up to the lofty expectations bestowed upon them in the Minors.  

Do not get me wrong, there are plenty of super prospects who turn into super good players, but not good enough to maintain their hobby value.  For example, Steven Strasburg cards were all the rage a few summers ago.  At the end of the 2010 baseball card calendar it was impossible to find a Strasburg autograph for less than $100.  Today there are dozens of Strasburg autographs that sell for less than $100.  In fact, there are currently Buy It Now auctions for Strasburg autographs for less than $40.  That's a pretty drastic drop in five years.  

Which leads me to my latest card.....

Gallo is a great power hitting prospect in the Rangers minor league system.  He enters this year, his fourth as a professional, ranked as the 15th best prospect in baseball according to Baseball America.  In three minor league season Gallo has hit over 100 home runs and has been promoted all the way up to the Rangers minor league team in Double A.  I have talked two people who have seen Gallo play in person and both had nothing but great things to say about the power hitting third baseman.  

The Rangers prospect has some pretty pricey cards and I have generally steered clear of going out and trying to add his cards to my collection.  While I do believe that Gallo will hit for power in the Majors, I am not sure he is going to be a player who lives up to his card hype.  Nothing against Gallo, but few players do.

ZIPS projects Gallo to hit more than 30 home runs, but only hit .209 in the Majors with the Rangers.  Honestly, I do not think Gallo will get enough at bats this season to hit that many home runs.  Either which way, this card frequently sells for around $75-80 and it's really hard to believe that the card will maintain that value over the long run.  

So, how did I end up with a Gallo autograph?  I would never actually pay for this card, but I am willing to bet that Gallo will turn out better than a few other high end prospects with expensive autographs.  In this case, I am hoping that Gallo turns out better than Mark Appel and an Albert Almora.