The Yankees announced this afternoon they’ve agreed to terms with 11 of their 12 arbitration-eligible players. Among them is All-Star outfielder Joey Gallo, whom Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports (Twitter link) settled for $10.275MM.
That’s right in line with the $10.2MM projection of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. Gallo will avoid a hearing during his final trip through the process, as he’s slated to hit free agency at the end of the season. The 28-year-old bounced back from a rough showing in the 2020 shortened campaign to hit .223/.379/.490 through last season’s first few months in Texas. Upon being dealt to the Yankees, however, he slumped to a .160/.303/.404 mark.
If he can regain his first-half form in the Bronx, Gallo would line up as one of the top players in next year’s free agent class. Teammate Aaron Judge will likely be even more coveted, though — if he makes it to the open market. Judge is going through arbitration for a final time this offseason, and the Yankees have maintained they’ll soon initiate extension talks with the three-time All-Star.
They’ll do so with some uncertainty about how much money Judge will make in 2022, however. He was the only of the Yankees’ arb-eligible players not to come to terms with the team today. Jon Heyman of the MLB Network reports (Twitter link) that Judge filed for a $21MM salary while the team offered him $17MM. (Swartz’s $17.1MM projection came in much closer to the team’s filing figure than to the player’s). They didn’t close that gap, and it seems they could be headed for a hearing to determine his ultimate price point.
If Judge and the Yankees agree on a long-term deal in the coming weeks, that’ll prove moot. If they don’t, the 29-year-old’s salary for the upcoming season will likely be chosen by an arbitrator. If it goes to a hearing, the third-party would unilaterally set Judge’s salary at either his desired $21MM or the team’s offered $17MM, not at any sort of midpoint. The Yankees and Judge’s camp could continue to kick around a possible settlement until the hearing begins if they so desire.
I’d pay money just to see this guy hit the other way.
Nah, I’ll take the .870 OPS
Oh stop with the ops.. and all the other bs. The guy was horrendous with the Yankees. He’ll break the record for strike outs, run into a home run every once in a while, but some of you will take that “ops”. Good for you.
Stop with OPS? So disregard an incredibly important stat? Ignorance is bliss or something? Getting on base pretty valuable, ya know?
Wow. I’ve read a metric ton of nonsensically stupid drivel on here but this takes the cake.
As a girl?
@DonnyElementary- sounds kinky
Among the most unwatchable hitters in MLB
Sad when .220 is considered a bounce back.
Sad when in 2021 fans still think you can judge a player based on one stat.
The non-agreement with Judge feels almost like a negotiating tactic related to a potential longer-term deal. Also, feels like Judge should be worth more than $17MM. He puts up 5 WAR seasons even if he only plays 120 games.
He probably is worth more, but arbitration is about precedent, and that $17mm is inline with wha similar players got in arbitration. I’m not a fan of the arbitration system, but it is better than the alternatives.
@Superstar, yes, you’re correct. Judge’s agent knows that and recognizes the Yankees would like to avoid arbitration while also trying to sign him to a longer deal, so he’s putting a higher number out there hoping there’s a longer-term deal in place before the hearing, but also perhaps forcing the Yankees to accept, or at least negotiate, toward a higher number while avoiding an arbitration hearing that can lead to some singed feelings.
Yeah, once again, what the Yankees view as leverage is a very dangerous game. They’re wasting time and waiting to propose their offer to Judge, which is supposed to be by the end of the week. That gives roughly two weeks to make a deal.
I think the Yankees feel that will put a bit more pressure on Judge to sign. But he’s not stupid. He knows he can wait until FA, and he believes he will get at least what the Yankees offer him, because they are no longer the Yankees of old, offering the most amount of money.
I think the only way the Yankees will understand they aren’t doing things right is when they finish fourth. But, then I realize, Hal still won’t care.
He was just on record saying winning is “a” goal, not the goal. He said he has other goals to be concerned with, like answering to the banks & money lenders he partners with. Yuck.
Anyone involved in sports that doesn’t want to win is an embarrassment……
Agreed. He has said himself he’s a business guy, not a baseball guy. I don’t think finishing forth will even bother him because they probably expect to finish for fourth. They can see that the other teams in their division have improved markedly while they have only improved slightly. Unless he is religious and is praying for divine Intervention lol
Yankee management should take a course in PR or something.
Levine, Hal, Trost have all said many things that paint an ugly picture.
Hal actually does spend quite a bit compared to some owners so he should highlight that more.
Unfortunately, his spending lately has been too often wasted.
Yeah that corporate speak of repaying stadium bonds and answering to other shareholders was a huge turn-off, even if it is true. The dude is totally out-of-touch and unrelatable to the average fan. Just hire a PR spokesperson.
So true. A real turnoff. I feel so sorry for him he must need money badly maybe we should take up a donation drive
All of that is true but Judge would also be taking on the risk, a rather substantial one with his history, whereby if he gets injured this year (even for some reasonable part of it), it will drastically affect the direction and numbers for his free agency deal.
@Clipper, I believe both sides picked their numbers for positioning purposes as they try to negotiate a long-term deal, but perhaps even more so from Judge’s agent side. Pick a number about 25% higher than arbitration will likely pay, forcing the Yankees into a hearing they don’t want!
Judge says he wants to be a Yankee for the next ten years: a Yankee for life. Of course he’ll say that. What I hear is he’s asking for a ten year contract! If so, pass. I suspect the two sides will come to an agreement in the next couple weeks. If not, expect this will be Judge’s final season as a Yankee. Just my two cents.
Yeah.
I get it: Hal’s a party pooper. However, he has given Cash a pretty big budget. I don’t necessarily see us as a 4th place team either.
For a change, we actually have good pitching. & – hey – that doesn’t happen all the time with the Yanks. Ya know? We will certainly bring the leather too. Hopefully the bottom third of the lineup holds up, but the top half will score a lot of runs, man.
Would love some rotation stability. Would love to see another bat added. Yet, I actually think we may not do anything else for now. & the more I actually take the time & really look at the decisions/roster the more it grows on me.
But I can be a turbo-pollyana at times.
So there is that, Clip.
To say you have good pitching is a gross overstatement. Take Cole out of your staff and it would be one of the worst in baseball. So that just tells you how fragile the pitching is.
Take any team’s ace out & they are worse. So that’s a weird “point.”
Yanks were second in the AL in starting pitching ERA. We were 6th in MLB in overall ERA. Our pen goes 6+ deep. The only “loss” was Kluber who will be replaced by Sevy.
To say we don’t is just gross jealousy.
@BlueJ. The Yankees staff ranked second in the AL and 4th in MLB last year.
Considering the Yankees offense was mediocre in 2021, @Ducky, and that they won 92 games, it shouldn’t take much of a rocket scientist to realize they must have had good pitching.
I’m not sure why what numbers you are looking at. According to FG, they were #5 in starting ERA. Am I looking at something different?
It’s narrative, @Rob.
I see it here on MLBTR in the articles about the Yankees. The staff continually alludes to our “need for pitching.” Anyone who says that didn’t watch us play much last season. I think people are just used to us – indeed – needing arms. So it just gets said/repeated/posted.
Completely wrong however.
Ducky, I see what you’re saying, & I didn’t mean to imply the Yanks are going to finish fourth – although I see exactly why my comment inferred that. I meant that’s the only thing that may actually wake Hal up from his coma….
I do think it’ll be a battle similar to last year in the ALE; one in which the Yankees can win, or be in a serious battle do 3rd in the last week in September. It depends on injuries, hot streaks, individual performances, & a bunch of other obvious common-sense variables…
All things equals, I think it’s going to be a battle for #3 with the Sawx.
That might.
However: 3 WC spots. At this point, I feel the East will claim all 3. So. We may – indeed – finish 4th, squeak into a WC spot, make Hal a few extra ducats & term it all a success. That is entirely realistic, man.
I am not feeling the Ray’s this year, though. They’ll be good no doubt. But I think they will be part of the general scrum this season.
One thing: it’s great we play in the East. Best division in baseball. Bar none. At least we get to watch good teams way more often than anybody else.
@LordD99- thank you. Yes, I think I am worth more than $17 million. I’ll take a contract extension for $180 million over 6 years, and be alright with the $17 million for this year, even though I only play in 120 games.
I would gladly do that deal and call it a day. I’m not sure His Honor would though. I think he should and I think he risks more than anyone in all of this.
Judge will be looking for at least 7 years and over $200M to sign an extension with NY. Otherwise he’ll go to free agency and hope there is a 2023 version of the Texas Rangers out there prepared to throw stupid money around. It only takes one team.
Yes I agree. I’m guessing on the order of 7/224 or something like that. I could live with that but it isn’t a very good decision by the Yanks to do so.
There have been comps of Harper, Betts and Stanton signing thru their age 37 seasons, which is what a 7 year deal would mean. But in those prior cases, you were getting many years of play in their 20s to account for that. Judge’s contract would start when he is 31. Wouldn’t be prudent.
@Dorothy_Mantooth- I could always go home to San Jose, and play for the Giants, they might give me the 7 years? Nah, I would rather take the 6 years, and a team option and retire as a Yankee. I will never leave unless I’m traded. Ok, $210 million for 6 years and a club option for a 7th year. $35 million a year sounds perfect!
@Dorothy_Mantooth- why again is it always about me? This article’s about Mr. Joey Gallo. I’m not looking for “stupid money” either. Everyone on this team knows I’m really the Captain. Captain Judge99- is just looking as the face of this franchise to retire as a Yankee, that’s all!!!
@Dorothy_Mantooth- why do I really get the feeling you want you’re Red Sox to sign me as a free agent? As if it was ever going to get that far. It’s not. Never going to happen.
Yankees have been watching Tampa play as good or better than them for some time now. Boston already got a Tampa disciple to run their team. I can see Cashman finally realizing that long term contracts after 6 years in the league are a fools errand. Unless its short extension, say bye, bye to Judge.
@stymeedone- the Yankees are not saying goodbye to me because I’m not going anywhere! Six years are fine, no reason for a seventh year unless it’s a club option. I might want to retire after six years? Not sure yet…
How the standards have fallen. The writer said Gallo’bounced back’ to hit .226. And don’t tell me batting average doesn’t matter. It’s very rare to score runs without hitting the ball.
It’s not that standards have fallen, the game has just changed. OBP is important. An OBP of .330 based on hits is better than an OBP of .330 based on walks. But there just aren’t that many .300 hitters these days. Too many K’s, not enough emphasis on putting the ball in play… so in that sense, aesthetic standards have dropped perhaps, but the value is the same.
I agree. Saying batting average doesn’t matter is certainly misleading or plain ignorance. Of course it does. But using it alone is just like using any other stat alone – so, it must be taken in context to know it’s true value.
As Cosmo illustrates cogently, OBP is probably the most important, because getting on base is what the hitter’s ultimate goal is, and half of OPS, the general, overall metric used to (generally) determine a hitter’s effectiveness.
@Cosmo and Clipper, yup. Picking a single stat will undervalue the totality of Gallo’s contributions. He’s a good player with long stretches of ugly ABs. With that in mind, I’m having a martini before every Gallo AB so expect I will be checking into Trembling Hills rehab by October.
Yankee fans seem to really struggle to look at glove first players in the correct context.
& make no mistake. We have a whole lot of glove first players now; Kiner-Falefa, Rizzo, Gallo, Higashioka, Rortvedt… & what are we doing with 4th OF?
I know it’s not easy for me either. But some of the young scofflaws on the board got me looking at Gallo as a “glove first player.” He *is* an elite fielder. Who happens to have a career OPS over .800 & is a lock for 40 jacks in The Stadium. In that light – if you can find it – he’s a pretty good player.
Very different Yankee lineup from our usual, man.
@ Ducky – I can appreciate that pitching and defense wins championships but somewhere you have to get some run support. The Yankee pitching staff is going to need 4 runs a game on average.
The holes in the lineup from catcher, second, short, center and left isn’t going to help you get those 4 runs a game.
Oh, I understand what you’re saying.
Sure do, @Pernell.
I am not worried about second. We just need one of DJ or Gleyber to rebound. That strikes me as a fairly safe wager.
& I don’t mind the shape of Gallo’s production. He is a big LH power bat & I hated when we didn’t have him. I understand if you can’t overcome some of his offensive stats. Doesn’t bother me though.
Found this the other day:
Gary Sanchez 2022: 383 AB 23 HR
Kyle Higashioka career: 387 AB 20 HR
Higgy can give us something.
& CF…well…I guess we’re hoping Hicks can play some games. This is the tough one for me right now. In theory, Hicks would be fine. So hard to count on him though.
I guess I don’t see quite as few holes.
Yeah, Ducky, you’ve really changed my thinking in that way….Baez too – Looking at his hitting as a glove-first player he’s a very good glove-first hitter.
Gallo is excellent on the Yankees, just what we need, in fact, IF the rest of the roster is structured correctly. See, the way I’ve come to view the Gallo problem is: Gallo isn’t the problem – Cashman’s roster construction & Hal’s “step over a dollar to save a penny” finances are the problems.
Gallo is exactly what he was supposed to be. We just needed more than what he could be because it doesn’t exist where it’s supposed to, which isn’t Gallo’s fault.
That said, Joey Gallo, can you please level your swing ten degrees and it will save you about 30 strikeouts per year? You’re a 6’20” monster who can hit the ball in the seats regardless of your launch angle, bro. More contact= more home runs, as long as they aren’t grounders.
While it’s not a stacked Bomber team, it’s far from a weak lineup. And if needed, I’m sure it will get addressed at the trade deadline if not much sooner.
I think you have the measure of it, @FSF.
In particular, addressing it at the deadline. Cash had a nice one last summer. & perhaps we have some of the answers just laying around on our own roster.
One example: isn’t it time to see if Florial can make enough contact to be that LH power/speed bat he is supposed to be? How much more “development” can he possibly need yet? I would rather give him a shot than Tim Locastro, uh?
@Ducky I get the feeling that Higgy is nothing but an adequate backup. He subs in and hits three homers in a game. Great! But we’ve seen him play prolonged stretches and can’t hit a lick. His bat is going to get exposed with any regular playing time.
FSF, the Yankees have not been big spenders at the deadline in recent years. I’m hoping that changes in 2022 since they’ll be over the luxury tax threshold already. Last year they were trying to stay under. No such need or excuse this year. The Braves were the latest team to show that some key midseason acquisitions–and ones that basically only required money–can make a significant difference.
Yeah.
He seems like a BUC to me as well. I looked at B-Ref & Savant. The only offensive stat that I found promising was the one I posted.
Decent chance his OPS doesn’t break .600. It will be ugly at the plate in general. He’ll hit some home runs though. Not much else to get excited about.
Ducky,
Don’t understand why the Yankees didn’t try Gallo in CF last year when it would have helped the team and maybe taken the pressure of his lack hitting. In my opinion, Gallo is a 7th or 8th place hitter on a true contender.
We really need a 4th outfielder! What do you think of signing Michael Conforto as our left fielder and using Gallo and Hicks in CF?
Nor do I, Mick.
As a matter of fact, I thought we had traded for him to specifically play CF. He had played some in Texas. Instead we went with Judge.
I am a bit higher than that on him. Think he’s fine 6th or 7th. My guess is he is going to be slotted in the 6 spot. & 40 home runs is pretty good production from there.
But that’s one of the big reasons why I was hoping for Contreras. He would bat 6th, sliding Gallo down, thus giving us some real thunder in the bottom of the order.
I keep hoping. & waiting.
I agree with you both. Gallo is a plus defender in CF so there’s no reason not to put him there. Move the oft-injured Hicks to 4th injured.
Regardless of OBP, the facts are that Gallo sucked for NY last year. He only hit .160 after joining them while playing in a hitter friendly division and hitter friendly hime stadium. I’m actually surprised that NY did not DFA him, but it looks like the Yankees don’t care about the CBT this season so I guess it makes sense to bring him back for his defense and his potential to hit 40+ HRs. At least they got rid of Sanchez so they won’t have 4 players who will approach 200 K’s this season.
I’ll indulge in your poor trollling and ramblings. A 226 at-bat, second-half sample size be damned. They absolutely do care about the CBT. IKF wouldn’t be the starting SS otherwise. I’d bet Bloom would do a Gallo-JBJ plus cash deal in a heartbeat.
Hey, that’s approximately $50,000 per strikeout! Great allocation of resources, Cash!!
Gross
There’s gotta be an Umberto’s joke here somewhere
If Gallo can have a bounce back season for the Yankees it would really help a lot to remedy their offensive woes and unimpressive offseason thus far.Just don’t know what to expect from him.
According to the article, last year was a bounce back for Gallo.
I don’t think they really care if they sign judge ,if they don’t sign him they’ll just move on and just sign some inferior player to make up for it. Steinbrenner said himself he’s a business guy not a baseball guy
Yahoo reported that all Yankee players in arbitration have come to an agreement except for Your Honor.
Maybe it’s all persepective. Gallo is a Gold Glove CF that can hit 30+ HR’s. He had a 4.7 WAR in 2021 despite the K’s and low BA.
Gallo is the prime example of why WAR is a joke and a meaningless stat. This guy is awful at the plate and strikes out around 40% of his ABs. Walks have become way too important to the mathletes who put together these evaluation equations.
This guy is making $10+ million to hit and drive in runs, not walk. I wish the Yanks had never traded for this stiff
He was pretty good for the rangers last year but fell off a cliff for New York. He probably earned most of that in Texas.
I wouldn’t say WAR is meaningless but it shouldn’t be used as the sole way to determine a player’s value. Batting average isn’t everything but if you are hitting under 230 I really don’t care how much you walk because you are not putting the ball in play when there are runners on the bags. Admittedly Gallo is a drag when he steps up to the plate and it’s so hard to watch. He’s decent in the outfield though.
Dusty, would you rather have a player K with runners on? (Obviously not). Drawing a walk with runners on moves the line AND adds a base runner. It’s INCREDIBLY valuable. I’ll take a .220 BA with a .370 OBP with power any day.
WAR is a meaningless stat? Ok. It’s incomplete, needs context. But calling it meaningless just shows your ignorance. But whatever, have fun dismissing the professional work of experts in favor of your own assumptions.
If Hal is the businessman he proposes to be, then he knows that you make money when folks pay to see the team. Aaron Judge is the type of player that puts fans in the stands and in front of their screens watching ballgames. Judge is a business investment as much or moreso than a baseball investment. All rise..
No disagreement there. The only concern being how often will he be able to stay off the IL to put fans in the seats and have people tune in for games, especially as he ages deep into his 30s.
Exactly, Let’s see first how long he could stay healthy this year, or even if he gets to play more than half the games due to the Covid issues
If Hal is a businessperson he knows that folks pay to see the team when it’s competitive and winning.
A businessperson also knows that when the competition is putting out a better product for less investment, then perhaps it’s time to hold those that build the product responsible……unless he’s not just a businessperson and is a party to building the product.
You would think so, yet he’s sanctioning this product anyway. Maybe he’s not a very good business person, after all he inherited his fortune
@Dr2022;
I spent my career in a technical field. MLB is now a very technical sport.
I watched people that knew the business decide that they could learn the technology on the fly, and they would oversee, participate and approve what the technical areas were doing. That never worked. It’s like trying to reconfigure a house that’s built on a foundation that can’t support it. That’s where “workarounds” come in – so no one knows from one day to the next how to do their job.
–
The Dodgers were talked about in another article tonight. The Dodgers businesspeople hired a Baseball Ops guy that understood the technology – he’d successfully built departments, systems and processes for years. They gave him the budget he needed and let him hire and delegate to people as he saw fit. They managed the money and the business areas – which is what they know how to do.
Hal and Cashman will never catch up to the Rays, Jays, and Red Sox technically. They’ll always be playing from behind. And in a few years fans will realize that the Orioles have implemented and debugged a strong technical structure and processes that are also leaving the Yankees in the dust.
How much insecurity do you have about Yankee success that you would be so delusional to rant and rave with such unsupported basis? This is the team that has gone to by far the most playoffs of just about any team over how many ever years you want to count them over. But why let facts get in the way of your insecure hatred.
I agree. That’s why Hal needs to hire GM who knows what he is doing.
Well said, Dr. I agree with you & FSF.
@FSF It’s par for the course for this RS ball-gargler who is in constant struggle with his allegiance to KC.
@FSF Do you play just to win playoff games or win Championship? Regardless of playoffs how Champions do they have in the last 2 decades? Samuel not nearly as delusional as you.
You’re also delusional if you think a championship is that easy or predictable. The vast majority of champions over the past two decades were not the favorites to win even entering the playoffs let alone as the season began. That’s the nature of expanding the playoff pool and baseball being what it is. It isn’t like football or basketball where the better teams walk all over the weaker seeds. That you don’t get that says everything I need to know about your baseball “knowledge”.
@Samuel- I really hope to catch up you with you one day, Sammy!
@skip 2;
We have to look at the trend.
The Yankees haven’t been to a WS in 12 years. More and more FO’s are understanding how to build a playoff team and stay within their budget. Those in the smaller markets realize that they have to take steps back at times, but the can create contention windows.
The Yankees just throw money at players; giving them long-term contracts while knowing that almost all will not be worth the money the last few years of the contracts, but so what…they can afford it. They’ll just bully the other franchises. Meanwhile, other teams are rotating around building contention windows, and more and more those teams peak and outplay the Yankees. in the playoffs. Next step – the remaining franchises realize MLB is a playoff sport, the object is to get there a few times then add what they need to go further in the playoffs. Each year more and more teams do that. Then they stack up against a Yankees team that have a lot of name players, but quite a few are on the downside, while the no-name teams players are younger and on the upside. So they eat the Yankees up in the playoffs.
Hal and Cashman know the situation is unworkable, so they’re doing a sort of rebuild as they’re waiting out the bad contracts they have until a core of young players can come up from the minors. Every offseason the fans think they’re going to sign the biggest names as they used to. But they can’t afford to anymore. In the meantime they placate their fans buy taking on guys like Donaldson and Gallo and Rizzo that are all established names, but clearly on the downside and not worth the money they’re being paid (LaMahieu is another guy they overpaid – he had a few very good years, they gave him more money, now he’s reverting back to his mean – yet another overpaid player. You look at the trades they make – what did they get back for Voit? Gio and Sanchez? Any productive players with affordable contracts that have upside to their games? Of course not. Because other team s recognize the value of the Yankee payers they acquired.
It’s the Yankee fans that are delusional.
He’s a Royals fan. Fyi.
@Samuel you couldn’t have said it any better and I also couldn’t agree with you more! How can they not see that it’s not working? Doing pretty much the same same thing over and over and excepting different results SMH
That dude’s…intellectually challenged. Shall we say, @skip2.
He picked the Orioles to finish ahead of us last year. Meaning: probably the flat-out stupidest take I have ever seen. Anywhere.
Fyi.
FSF
This is the team that consistently out spends just about any team over how many ever years you want to count them over, so they should go to the playoffs more than others. Is that good enough for you? Just making the playoffs?
Are you even reading the comments? Obviously the playoffs are never enough for the Yankee fanbase. But the nature of the game is that it is VERY fickle, and that’s putting it lightly.
The majority of years in which the Yanks were run out of the playoffs, one measly hit, one measly play (for the entire series not every game) could have/would have made the difference in them moving onward. And it’s certainly not just for the Yankees. That’s how fragile the games and outcomes are in baseball. That I need to be explaining all this to people here again and again is pretty sad.
@Duck yes it might be a stupid take to pick the Orioles over the Yanks. But it might be even stupider to pick the Yanks to win it every?
I have to laugh at the comments here from posters saying the Yankees are successful because they reach the playoffs each year. That was ironic because in the NHL, the Maple Leafs of Toronto last won the cup in 1967, but they spent the highest payroll every year, make the playoffs almost every single year and are bounced like the Yankees in the first rounds and barely squeeze in through the expanded playoffs. Remove wild-card teams from the playoffs and the Yankees would miss the playoffs more times than they made them. Would the same fans for the Yankees call the Maple Leafs a successful team. All the fans in Toronto see them as perennial losers that reach the playoffs and then go home to the golf course every year.
1967 is a lot longer ago than 2009.
I see no similarity. Get back to us in…say 40 years or so to see if the comp is valid.
Gallo racks up strikeouts like Tony Gwynn got hits. Literally.
Crave,
Gallo’s been a full-time starter for 5 seasons and he’s reached the 100-hit mark once. Pretty incredible.
If Hal wants to save some money, the first thing he should take away is the weight room. Chiseled bodies look great, but those taught muscles can be a bit brittle for baseball players.
A weight room that Gary Sanchez clearly never used in his tenure in pinstripes.
Thank goodness I’ll never see Sanchez in Yankee pinstripes again. The problem with him and Torres is that they are two players who took their Yankee/MLB status for granted and thought they had “made it” after each of their first good/great years, probably because they were highly touted prospects as well.
They never seem to think that playing hard was all that necessary and thought they could just do the same thing again and again and not adjust or try harder and just get by on their perceived talents. I for one wouldn’t mind seeing Torres go either if they can find even a decent return.
Torres has been ripping the ball in ST at least. And, he’s done about average on defense. Couple of boneheaded base running errors, which hopefully Boone chastises him for, instead of hugging him. But, overall, Torres looks like his hitting is where it needs to be right now – thankfully.
Rizzo – I get it, high OBP – but him leading off is one shining example of just how stupid Booner is. You don’t bat a slow 1Bman at leadoff regardless of how much he gets on base.
I seriously think HalCashBooner are insurgents sent by the Sawx to take down Yankees Nation from the inside. Prove me wrong…
As long as Torres in on the Yanks, I’m obviously hopeful he can rake. But even in his best year, take the Orioles out of the equation, and his OPS would be like a 100 points less. He just doesn’t have any history of actually having been that good of a hitter and his defense certainly leaves much to be desire regardless of where he plays. And from the get go, he picked up Cano’s bad habit of trying to look cool making plays in the field rather than actually focus on making sure the play gets made.
FSF: Yeah, that is a really good point about the O’s too. He destroyed them. Without that series he would’ve been much worse. As you say, as long as he’s here, hopefully he will turn it around. If not, hopefully they will trade him before his only worth is a lottery ticket
@Clipper- Oh where have you gone, Mr. Joe Girardi? Yes, my boy Rizzo is not a leadoff hitter. I think I could do it a few times if I’m asked though? Lolololololol!!!
Bro.
Say a lot of things about Phat Sancho. I get it. One way or another: I get it. But that dude is very strong. You can’t rip baseballs that hard if you’re not.
Fent – I feel like Girardi kept him in line.
When Boone arrived Sanchez got lazy.
We did so much wrong with his development it’s an absolute embarrassment. Moving from Joe G to Le Booner was just one more of them.
That’s probably true but the guy has had a bad and entitled attitude since he entered the minor leagues. There were several incidences/suspensions with him before his first MLB appearance that you almost never hear about with any other player. It just indicates the mentality he has about baseball. It isn’t about team or winning, it’s only about where his place in it is. At least that’s the way it’s always appeared to me.
I agree ducky. I’ve often thought that Sanchez has had so many coaches and so many different changes over the years with them ,for hitting ,for catching, framing, positioning, for who knows what else, he probably got totally confused and didn’t know what he was doing anymore. Maybe if they just would’ve accepted
Him for what he was, a guy who hit a lot of home runs ,not very high batting average, and not great defensive catcher ,he would have become the best that he could be ,instead of what he is now ,a shell of his former self.
There is also a chance that Sanchez just isn’t as good as we thought he could be and just got exposed by the league
See, that’s a great example of why I am glad Gary is gone. For his sake.
When Gary was a teenager, he was benched for a few games because the Yanks were unhappy with his game prep. Tell ya. My son is a senior in high school. At this point, he is doing the bare minimum to maintain his GPA. He’s a good kid. Yet still a kid.
Same as Sanchez was. & the incident was a one-off. But the narrative has now taken on a life of it’s own. Like; “he doesn’t hustle” which arose from the game we rushed him back from a groin strain. Which he re-aggravated during the game. Obviously, he moved slow.
Tell ya though: took a pretty tough dude to catch half a game with a grade 1 groin strain.
Glad he gets a re-set. I live in Minneapolis. Kid was great in ’16 & ’17 until we started jerking his development all over the place. When I see him play out here, damn right I’ll cheer for him.
We screwed Gary up, man. Which sucks. We could use a decent C at the moment.
& that’s a part of it too, @Gonzalez. His debut was just so loud. I sometimes wonder if he would have been better off if his initial call-up had been more like Judge’s. May have quieted the expectations.
I’ve questioned his work ethic and attitude to be frank. Sometimes it’s just on the player. We can’t always blame coaching ya know ? We can’t act like the Yankees are the only team that has busts
Too much came so soon and he sadly didn’t build off of it. He probably felt like he was a finished product
I don’t.
He put in tons of extra work with Swanson transitioning his stance. He also – as an All Star & Silver Slugger winner – spent his winter’s in the Dominican working on his swing. Doesn’t strike me as “lazy” at all.
When he came up he hit well. He threw well. He framed well. He blocked poorly. We should have just taken that & left him alone. Posada was no wizard back there either.
However – we started tinkering in ’18 & he got worse at everything every year.
If there was that much tinkering he could have just went back to doing what he did when he came up but he didn’t. It’s such a mystery but it’s time to move on. Sanchez has been a mega disappointment to say the least
Well said.
Once Yankee fans start piling on a player, he can’t catch a break.
I’ll root for him too. I hope he shuts some mouths in New York this year.
Joseph, it wasn’t his call to go back to what he did before. He was following orders. The Yankees are big ones for screwing around with players. They did the same to Sonny Gray. If a player doesn’t go along, they lay the “difficult player” tag on him.
Sonny Gray’s complaints did not jive at all with the actual data of his pitches. He was basically talking out of his rear in complaining about how many sliders the team wanted him to throw or didn’t.
In 2017, his last partial season with Oakland, he threw 54.8% fastballs, 13.7% sliders and no cutters. From August when he joined the Yankees until the end of the season, he threw 55.5% fastballs, 19.6% sliders, and no cutters. In 2018, he threw only 35.1% fastballs, far less then ever before in his career, 17.0% sliders, and 20.4% cutters, a pitch he hardly ever used before.
I don’t know if he confused a slider with a cutter or Fangraphs did, but he definitely changed his pitch selection drastically as a Yankee.
@Joe That’s not how the Yankees work. They have an evolving process for better or for worse.. Either you’re on board or you’re out. Sonny Gray sucked while wearing pinstripes being told to increase his spin rate. He became serviceable instantly once he was gone. I wish Gary well and hope he was just a bad fit and less malleable than the Yankees thought.
@FinkPloyd
This was from an NY Post article that I was remembering when I posted that:
“According to Brooks Baseball, Gray threw 11.2 percent sliders in 2016, his last full season with Oakland, before throwing 15.3 percent in 2017 (split between the A’s and Yankees) and 15.9 percent in 2018, all with the Yanks. Fangraphs shows Gray’s slider percentages as 12.0, 16.1 and 17.0 between 2016 and 2018. However, both web sites show Gray’s slider numbers in the 16 percent range in 2015 with Oakland (16.7, 15.9).”
Because off speed pitches can be categorized differently, I’m not exactly sure what the problem was, but he obviously threw the slider plenty even before being a Yankee. And none of that would explain why he was so dominant on the road in 2018 but couldn’t even pitch like a Rookie League pitcher in Yankee Stadium. Except, maybe, the guy just can’t pitch under bright lights. Which is probably why he was much more effective in nobody cares about these MLB cities like Oakland and Cincinnati.
@Ducky- watch my main man Gary hit at least 30 homers for the Twinkies next season. He’ll move up in the batting order, and play some dh and catch some. The Sanchise won’t be lazy, like these damn kids! He will be back and once again: Gary will be scary!
He will hit around 30 as long as he’s healthy but if he’s bad at everything else what good is the 30 home runs ? Plus his health has been a major issue in recent years
@Joesph Gonzalez- yeah but keep in mind as mostly as a dh he can concentrate on hitting more. If you move him up in the lineup he will see more fastballs. It remains to be seen if he’ll ever hit for a better average? Gary has to stop pulling everything, since his power is already there.
I agree. That was my point.
@Craven – I too used to poke fun at Sanchez’s physique but he was actually in great shape last season. Sanchez has one of those ‘Baby fat’ faces and wears a baggy uniform that makes him look dumpy on TV but if you see him in person, he was much thinner and much more toned the man you would imagine. Unfortunately, that didn’t lead to better production at the plate or better defense behind it. He’s now the Twins enigma to figure out. Watch him rebound in a huge way this season while the Yankees fans complain about their catching depth.
Nah! I’ve stated that he may go on to rake elsewhere but he was never going to figure it out in New York. That’s why I’ve never remotely second guessed sending Sonny Gray packing. It was the right decision.
@Dorothy _Mantooth- hey if it was ever up to me the Sanchise and Gio would still be here. Truth me told I miss them everyday. Trevor Story could be playing shortstop until Oswald Peraza was ready, then we could have moved Story to centerfield or 2nd base next season. We all hated to see him sign with you’re Red Sox. Smh.
Gallo is absolutely one of the worst everyday hitters I’ve ever seen. He somehow had a ops under 810 despite all of those walks and home runs !!! He’s so bad that last season could legit have been his career year. He is a legit example of why “WAR” is a joke stat. I bet those ridiculous defensive metrics bloat it too
Understand it better. There’s a reason why the owners during lockout negotiations proposed using Fangraph’s WAR to determine pre- free agency player salaries.
I can’t stand war because it makes plenty of mediocre players seem better than they really are. Jason he heard is a prime example
Heywards W.A.R has been horrendous since joining the cubs. He had a career year with the cards which he will never come close to replicating. Horrible contract.
It feels like you might be underestimating the 38 HRs and GG.
I’m seeing a lot of that.
Joey Gallo can play all the OF positions, 1B and 3B. That’s what makes him so valuable.
GarryHarris – And all the strikeouts and inability to hit for even a poor average is what negates that fielding value. He is better suited as a late inning defensive replacement.
The guy represents the problems with Baseball that MLB doesn’t want to acknowledge because they prefer HRs over actual action on the field.
The guy complains that the shift is taking hits away from him. As a professional hitter, in a game that is all about adjustments, you have to make adjustments yourself. If the defense is always on the right side of the field, work on hitting the opposite direction or at least work on bunting to the empty section of the field so that you’ll get more hits. I’m not trying to say it’s easy to make the change but he’s supposed to be a professional hitter in the top baseball league in the world. If he can’t make adjustments, maybe he doesn’t deserve to be here. Eventually, the defense won’t want to give him easy base hits and adjust their positioning.
Better yet, hit it over the short porch and you don’t need to worry about any “shifts”.
Gallo can’t make the adjustments because he’s a meathead. He just swings from his heels every AB. Same for most of the players in MLB these days.
Everybody wants to hit a booming HR once every few days instead of making contact and moving runners around the bases. I’m really hoping some young players come along in the mold of Wade Boggs, Rod Carew, etc, that gets the game back to a balanced, exciting product like it used to be.
Pitchers are really good. Almost every pen has several guys hitting high 90s or triple digits. Balls hit in play are hit right into a shift, especially for left-handed hitters. Hitting the ball over the shift/wall is a strategy. I agree, it is harder on the eyes than we would like, but it isn’t just guys swing from heels. It’s lots of things that contribute to the outcome.
Hitting the ball over the shift is Gallo’s ONLY strategy. Very predictable. His occasional HR is not an advantage. He is nothing more than a Dave Kingman with a better glove.
@baseballclassic – Nick Madrigal might be the young player you are looking for. The White Sox were dumb enough to trade him to the Cubs because he didn’t fit today’s WAR and other advanced metrics profile but this kid is a true singles and doubles hitter to all fields. If he continues to develop and stay healthy for a full season, he could be a guy who wins multiple batting titles but the metrics still won’t ‘reward’ him because he doesn’t hit for power. Give me a Madrigal any day of the week vs. someone who hits .210-.230 but ends up with the same or slightly higher WAR. They are much more exciting players to watch as they can actually hit like a professional.
@Dorothy_Mantooth
Yes, I really like Nick and at least in his first year of MLB, he’s shown a lot of promise. He has got a nice K% and sure the ISO isn’t there but not everyone can be a slugger. I think two things that would improve his game is to increase the BB% and the SB, as he has decent speed. If he does that, he could be a decent leadoff hitter for the Cubs.
How about they avoid Gallo period?
@GoYanks- no we’re just not going to do that. How bout showing some support instead? Last season was Joey’s lst year in the pinstripes! Smh
I think that the Yankees will re-sign Judge seven years $210 million. Of course, I thought that the Atlanta ball club would re-sign Freeman for 6 years and $165 million with none deferred. (Years 1 to 5 at $29 million, with year 6 at $20 million, and an opt out available between years 5 and 6).
And I am just now a Joey Gallo fan. Not saying he is getting paid too much, just I would sooner have, say Chris Taylor or Trent Grisham, than Gallo.
A healthy Gallo playing 150 games of elite defense and 40 hr is fine. He’s just too inconsistent to hit in the top half of a good lineup and I am not giving him a 9 figure contract.
P.s. if hicks is unproductive I would just stick Gallo in CF for the season and forgetaboutit.
Hey Mr. Gallo can always stay, just as long as I get my $35 million a year! I don’t really care.
I know a lot of people don’t care for Gallo. I’m desperately hoping the Rangers are going to bring him back next season. He’s great for the locker room. Banning the shift is only going to help him bring that average up (albeit probably not a significant amount) and he’s got a top rate glove. Not to mention he genuinely loved being a Texas Ranger and we don’t get many guys like that to be honest.
Joey Gallo, jerry Callo, no difference he could be called Chris Davis II
Arguably Gallo’s best season is the one where he hit .199
Huh?
It was a “My Cousin Vinny” reference. And considering Joey’s name, pretty apropos.
Ah
Folks, we’re all disgusted as Yankee fans with Gallo’s performance last year. But let’s remember that he had his worst run as a hitter in his career during that time. Coming to NY, especially in midseason, can’t necessarily be an easy adjustment for everyone, especially coming from a place like Arlington, TX. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
That fund of misinformation Jon Heyman is now reporting that the Yankees are working on an extension for Gallo.
Happily, it’s Heyman. However, if he’s right for a change, it would be profoundly stupid to do that before they’ve had a full season to see if Gallo can hack it in pinstripes. And even if he can get the walks and home runs back to his Texas pace, is it wise to add another long-term contract to a high-strikeout player? At least wait and see if his game is productive in the context of the Bronx.
But it is Heyman.
Well…to be honest, I would have no problem extending Gallo. I thoroughly understand why some folks would not.
But: he is a helpful player. I am fine turning LF over to him. However, as it is Heyman (as you aptly note & even more aptly re-note) you & I are wasting internet ink.
He’s a helpful player, but other potentially helpful players have had some difficulty once the fair-minded fans in the Bronx turned on them. A certain catcher comes to mind.
I think we both understand the value of a plus fielder with speed who gets on base and hits for power. But you need only survey this comments thread to verify the commonplace hatred of strikeouts — and Joey is going to provide them aplenty.
It could get ugly.
Damn.
Good catch. I get it. A point I’d not considered. As someone who cannot fathom wanting to play elsewhere….well, that had sort of remained ignored. Ya know?
Also: there is something about all that that I strongly dislike.
Me too.