Joey Gallo is headed to the Los Angeles Dodgers, which comes as a big relief for him.
Gallo and Joely Rodriguez were acquired by the New York Yankees at last year’s trade deadline for four prospects. Gallo had spent his entire career with Texas, whose fans he said understood that he was a low-average, big-power, high-strikeout player. But with the Yankees, Gallo’s average dropped even more, and so did his power.
Gallo batted .159 with a .660 OPS in 140 games with the Yankees spread over two seasons.
He conducted an interview with NJ.com that was published on Tuesday. In the interview, Gallo expressed just how much his struggles and his negative treatment from Yankees fans weighed on him.
The 28-year-old said he tried to avoid going out so he wouldn’t see Yankees fans.
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.
That’s really tough. Even if he wasn’t performing and Yankees fans were unhappy with him, hearing someone admit like that how depressed they were is not easy.
You can read the entire interview here.
Gallo is a career .201 hitter with a career .801 OPS. He has averaged 39 home runs per 162 games during his MLB career. You can understand why the Yankees might have felt Gallo would mash at Yankee Stadium, but things did not work out for him there.
Given how miserable he was in New York and how poorly things were going, the trade to the Dodgers was best for all parties.
