The Yankees are finally about to let Joey Gallo go, and we’re hearing he’s looking forward to a fresh start outside of New York.
His future was sealed late Wednesday night when the Yankees acquired Andrew Benintendi, a.321 hitters, and All-Star this season, from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for three pitching prospects.
The agreement was reached five days before the trade deadline on Tuesday, just a few minutes after the Yankees’ 3-2 loss to the Mets at Citi Field in a Subway Series game that marked Gallo’s third benching in four games.
Gallo, according to the source, was hoping to sign with the San Diego Padres. A.J. Preller, the general manager of the San Diego Padres, was a Texas Rangers executive when Gallo was a young player in the organization and attempted to trade for him last summer before the Yankees landed him for four prospects.
Gallo appears to believe that as a member of the small-market Padres, he can once again become one of the game’s top power hitters.
With Benintendi possibly joining the Yankees‘ active roster for Thursday’s game against his former team — the Royals are in town for a four-game series — Gallo could be designated for assignment to make room on the roster.
Gallo will almost certainly be off the Yankees’ roster by Tuesday, as they no longer see him as a defensive replacement. Benintendi, like Gallo, was a Gold Glove winner last season.
Gallo was recently quoted as saying he wants to stay in New York, but our source claims that is not the case. Regardless, the Yankees have realized that Gallo will never play for them.
Gallo, 28, has hit.161 with 12 home runs, 24 RBI, 103 strikeouts in 230 at-bats, and a .629 OPS in 80 games this season. He batted .160 for the Yankees last year after being traded in July 2021, with 13 home runs and 22 RBI in 58 games.
Gallo has admitted that dealing with media criticism and constant fan abuse has been difficult due to his chronic struggles.
Gallo’s final straw came in the eighth inning of Tuesday night’s 6-3 Subway Series loss when he struck out pinch-hitting against Mets closer Edwin Diaz.
Boone explained that he didn’t start Gallo on Wednesday because he didn’t think “it was fair to just roll him out there for the (Max) Scherzer start.” For the second night in a row, the Yankees started Aaron Hicks in left, Aaron Judge in the center, and Matt Carpenter in right.
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