Ex-Yankees OF Joey Gallo: Minnesota Is ‘More My Vibe’
With another chapter underway, Joey Gallo is feeling comfortable in his new surroundings.
The former Yankees outfielder is looking to turn his career around after signing a one-year, $11 million contract with the Twins over the offseason. Minnesota is Gallo’s fourth team; he began his career with Texas before being traded to New York in July 2021. The Yankees then traded Gallo to the Dodgers last August after the once-feared slugger hit just .159/.291/.368 with 25 home runs and 46 RBI for New York.
Gallo’s Three True Outcomes style had enough balance to make him an All-Star with the Rangers, but his strikeouts far outweighed his power and ability to get on-base in the Bronx. Yankees fans were harsh on the 29-year-old, and Gallo admitted that his confidence suffered.
He publicly anticipated a trade prior to last year’s deadline.
Now, however, Gallo is in a city that better suits him.
“The Minnesota market is different than the New York market. The Texas market is different than the New York market,” Gallo told The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. “I always just wanted to play baseball, have fun, hang out with the boys. That’s my goal, just to play baseball and win games. I don’t really like it being more than that.
“I guess this is more my vibe, you know what I mean?”
Gallo made similar comments after the Yankees traded him to the Dodgers, even though Los Angeles is no small market.
“It's pretty nice to be by the beach and have some waves and some sand and people walking around in flip-flops and whatnot,” he told reporters last August. “It's definitely a little bit more laid-back environment.”
However, Gallo was only slightly more productive with L.A. He slashed .162/.277/.393 with seven homers and 23 RBI in 44 games for the Dodgers after hitting .159/.282/.339 with 12 longballs and 24 RBI over 82 games for the Yankees in 2022.
The Twins are hoping Gallo can provide significantly more production, like when he slashed .253/.389/.598 over 70 games during his 2019 All-Star campaign, or when he had consecutive 40-homer seasons from 2017-2018. All of that happened in Texas.
But The Athletic detailed some adjustments that the Twins believe will help Gallo offensively – and why it was hard for him to fix his mechanics in the middle of the season while wearing pinstripes.
Gallo will get a chance to show his new look – at the plate and in Twins gear – to the Yankees and their fans early on this season if he stays healthy. Minnesota plays four games at Yankee Stadium from April 13-16.
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