UPDATE (2:32 p.m.): ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports “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.” Read more about that here.
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NEW YORK — Joey Gallo is ready for the next chapter of his life. He’s so ready. He’s been counting down the days. According to reports, Tuesday’s the day. The Yankees plan to break ties before 6 p.m., baseball’s trade deadline. By then, it’s a virtual guarantee that Gallo will be dealt or designated for assignment.
When it happens, Gallo will be free of New York, free of Yankees fans, free of fan abuse that’s hurt more than people realize. Wherever Gallo ends up, he’ll forget about falling way short of expectations late last year and all of this season after the Yankees traded four good prospects to the Texas Rangers for an All-Star slugger and Gold Glove outfielder who once was the prototypical Three True Outcomes player.
Gallo’s lived up to the strikeouts part for the Yankees, but the homers and walks have been way down. He arrived as a career .211 hitter, then stooped to a more dreadful .159 in 140 games over parts of two seasons with the Yankees with 25 homers, 194 strikeouts and 77 walks in 501 plate appearances.
“We’ve talked over and over about this,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said before Monday night’s 7-2 thumping of the Seattle Mariners. “It’s been heavy. He’s carried that burden with him. You definitely sense there’s been some really tough moments. I think we’ve all felt for the person because of the way he’s carried himself … with class. He’s been accountable. He hasn’t run from anything. He’s worked his tail off. And he’s human. His teammates really care about him. I know it’s been a tough calendar year for him.”
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Before suiting up in Yankees pinstripes for probably the last time Monday, Gallo spent 10 minutes sharing with NJ Advance Media what this last year has been like.
Q: Are you ready for this trade deadline to be over?
Gallo: I am. We’ll see what happens. I’m waiting to hear. My parents are waiting to hear. They’re going to have to come to New York and clean my apartment out, get all the furniture moved out.
Q: Have you been living in Manhattan?
Gallo: Yeah.
Q: What’s it been like for you when Yankees fans notice you on the streets? Are they rough on you away from the ballpark, too?
Gallo: I don’t go out in the streets.
Q: That’s sad.
Gallo: Yeah. I really don’t want to show my face too much around here.
Q: Do you spend a lot of time fretting over struggling so much? Is it as simple as — you never got really hot for the Yankees? You always hit home runs in bunches in Texas. We just saw Aaron Judge hit 11 homers in 12 games. You did the same thing last year before the trade. You had other home run binges for Texas, but never got really hot for the Yankees.
Gallo: I never was able to go off like that. It’s just weird. In Texas I was playing every day, so it was a little easier to get on a streak. It’s a little tougher not playing every day trying to get that streak going, as well.
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Q: Is there anything that you learned about yourself during your time with the Yankees?
Gallo: I went through a lot of adversity and I really had to question myself a lot. My confidence suffered. I would say I hit rock bottom for the big leagues. So for me, I just was trying to remember to be a good teammate, play the game the right way, play the game hard and not do something stupid that I’d regret. I learned a lot about myself, I guess. Baseball is a tough game. But it definitely made me stronger because not many people have gone through what I’ve gone through.
Q: Isiah Kiner-Falefa told me Rangers fans accepted you as a low average, big-strikeout guy who hit a lot of homers. It’s different in New York.
Gallo: Coming here, I knew it was going to be really tough. It took a while for people to understand the player I am in Texas. Early on, I was the No. 1 prospect, but I struck out a lot. I was a strange player. But Rangers fans started to understand, ‘OK, this guy strikes out, but he hits homers, he plays good defense, he’s a good person.’ Rangers fans came to understand that. Here in New York, if you don’t get enough hits, it doesn’t matter what else you’re doing. They’re going to tear you apart. I’ve been a Three True Outcomes player my whole life. It’s not like I hit .300 my whole life. I’ve been a .200 hitter my whole life and I hit .160 here. So I knew New York was going to be a tough time and a tough place to play, especially the player that I am.
Q: Yankees fans were tough on Gary Sanchez for years. You saw that last year some, right? You got it much worse, though.
Gallo: Yeah. A change of scenery helps sometimes.
Q: Other contenders reportedly are interested. I’m guessing you’d love to go somewhere where you’ll get a fresh start for a club that could end up in the playoffs. Fresh start, new city, new fans.
Gallo: Yeah, I think feel like people are a little sick of me here, so I don’t really know what else I can do at this point here. I haven’t played well, so I think it’ll help me to move on.
Q: Do you think Yankees fans were too tough on you?
Gallo: I don’t know how they usually are, but I don’t know how much tougher they can get. Pretty much every team we play, players from that team reached out to me to say, ‘Hey, bro, keep your head up. Don’t listen to them.’
Q: Who are some of the players that approached you?
Gallo: I don’t want to say names. Kansas City guys reached out to me over the weekend. A bunch of guys. It makes me feel like a piece of s**t, honestly. I remember playing here with the Rangers, watching [Yankees] get booed off the field and thinking, ‘Holy s**t! I feel bad for that guy.’ Now it’s me. I do appreciate people reaching out, but it makes me feel like I’m a problem.
Q: Well, you’re handled this tough time with a lot of class. People look at your paycheck, batting average and strikeouts, and sometimes they forget there is a human side to this. Your manager and teammates certainly speak highly of you.
Gallo: I’m actually really going to miss this team, miss these guys. It’s going to be really tough to leave these guys. We’ve had a lot of fun. We’re a really close group. But moving on is part of the business. I’m ready.
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Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com.