Joey Gallo is headed to the Los Angeles Dodgers, drawing to a close his Bronx nightmare.
The New York Yankees are set to trade the 28-year-old for Dodgers prospect Clayton Beeter.
"Joey Gallo to Dodgers for Beeter per sources pending medical" - Pat Ragazzo
It has been a foregone conclusion for a while. The Yankees’ acquisition of Andrew Benintendi from the Kansas City Royals all but confirmed that they were ready to pull the plug on Gallo.
Hopefully, Gallo can now start to find himself once again with a fresh start in new territory.
Gallo recently opened up about his struggles in New York and made a heartbreaking admission.
“I feel bad,” Gallo said. “It’s something I’m gonna have to really live with for the rest of my life. It’s going to be tough. I didn’t play well, I didn’t live up to expectations. And that’s a tough pill to swallow.”
Could Gallo have delivered if the relentless criticism took a break and allowed him some breathing space? That is now a rhetorical question.
A move to the Dodgers could turn out to be the best thing that has happened in Gallo’s career.
Not only does Gallo get to start afresh in LA, but he also moves to a team with everything in place to challenge for the World Series.
Could a career renaissance be on the horizon for Joey Gallo?
Let’s not forget why the Yankees went for Joey Gallo in the first place.
While at the Texas Rangers, Gallo was averaging .233 and had back-to-back 40-home run seasons (2017, 2018). With the exception of 2020, his slugging percentage had never dipped below .490. He earned two All-Star call-ups during that period.
However, things turned upside down since his move to New York a year ago. Gallo’s OPS dropped from .869 with the Rangers to .707 with the Yankees for the remainder of 2021. So far this year, it’s a meager .621 across 81 games.
Fan abuse toward him has been relentless, even brutal at times. No player deserves that, regardless of how they play.
Now, Gallo has the chance to put it all behind him. At the Dodgers, we could see a man reborn. A Joey Gallo renaissance sounds wonderful indeed.