According to reports, the Yankees have traded Joey Gallo to Dodgers, bringing an end to a disastrous Bronx experiment. At the 2021 trade deadline, Gallo was acquired by the Yankees, and now he will try to rebuild his career with the Dodgers. He batted in 140 games with the Yankees and struck out 194 times.
Pat Ragazzo broke the news first, claiming that pitching prospect Clayton Beeter will be heading to the Yankees. The transaction is subject to physical inspection.
Gallo’s departure was all but assured when the Yankees traded for Andrew Benintendi, whose contact ability is opposite of Gallo’s. His struggles in New York came after several years of success with the Texas Rangers. Gallo was an extremely productive player from 2017 until he was traded last year. During that time, he hit 138 home runs and slashed. By the park-adjusted wRC+ metric, he hit .214/.340/.507, which was 20% better than the league average hitter.
If the Dodgers can help him rediscover his old form, he will add another left-handed power threat to an already lethal lineup. Dodgers traded lefty bench bat Jake Lamb to Mariners to make room for Gallo.
His career has been similar to that of Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Cody Bellinger, who has struggled mightily over the last 2 years. Bellinger has kept his spot in the lineup thanks to his excellent defense.
Joey Gallo was willing to be traded by the Yankees
Gallo didn’t need Yankees fans to tell him he was struggling, but they did their best to assist. After the Benintendi trade, he was ready to leave the team.
Gallo told NJ.com’s Randy Miller prior to the trade that his time with the Yankees was his “rock bottom for the big leagues” and that he was ready to move on.
The Yankees‘ opponents reportedly reached out to offer encouragement on a regular basis, which may have had the opposite effect.
Those are not the words of someone who will be a Yankee on Wednesday, and a trade has now been completed. We’ll see if Gallo can recover through the Dodgers’ player development system.
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