At long last, Joey Gallo and his Yankees nightmare is over.
According to several reports, the Dodgers have acquired the former All-Star. The Yankees will get minor league pitcher Clayton Beeter in return.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are in agreement on a deal to acquire outfielder Joey Gallo from the New York Yankees, a source tells ESPN, confirming @ragazzoreport. The trade, the source says, is pending a medical review and should be completed soon.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 2, 2022
There are many ways to describe Gallo’s exit stage left from the Bronx. A sigh of relief. Disappointing. Wondering just what could have been. If you’ve read NJ Advance Media’s interview with Gallo, it could even be viewed as heartbreaking.
“I really don’t want to show my face too much around here,” Gallo said of his brief and forgettable Yankees tenure. He batted an abysmal .159 in 140 games in pinstripes, striking out 194 times in 501 plate appearances. Somewhere in between, he slugged 25 home runs with 46 RBI.
Gallo goes from one good team to another and can try and reset his career with the Dodgers. Dave Roberts is similar to Aaron Boone and speaks softly while letting his team do their work on the field. Hitting coach Brant Brown also has experience working with a similar all-or-nothing player in Cody Bellinger. His philosophy matches Gallo’s profile better than Yankees hitting coach Dillon Lawson’s aggressive “hit strikes hard” approach.
It also helps that the Dodgers don’t need Gallo to be a savior. They hold a comfortable 12 game lead in the NL West over the second-place Padres and Gallo is, more or less, a depth piece until Chris Taylor is healthy again.
Yet, will a change of scenery be enough for Gallo with how much his failure in New York has clearly worn on him? Remember, there have been plenty of former Yankees who left because they “couldn’t handle New York,” but not many are hitters who were otherwise in their prime. Most are pitchers whose careers continued after they left the Big Apple.
Position players are a different story. Even Danny Tartabull managed a 24-home run season a year after proving too streaky for New York and being traded in 1995.
Maybe it was that simple and Gallo, despite growing up a Yankees fan, just couldn’t play in New York. Perhaps he really can’t change his approach at the plate and do more than just wait for a perfect mistake. It would be sad if this is indeed the end for Gallo, still just 28 years old.
Hopefully, things work out better with the Dodgers.
