Giovanny Gallegos Elects Free Agency

Right-hander Giovanny Gallegos went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment by the Cardinals and has elected free agency, reports Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He’s now free to sign with any club.

Gallegos, who’ll turn 33 in a couple weeks, has been a mainstay in the St. Louis bullpen since 2019. Acquired in the trade that sent Luke Voit to the Yankees, he jumped almost immediately into a high-leverage role with the Cards during his first full season with St. Louis, ultimately logging 74 innings of 2.31 ERA ball with 19 holds, a save, a huge 33.3% strikeout rate and a tidy 5.7% walk rate.

For five seasons, Gallegos was a fixture in the Cardinals’ leverage mix — and a highly effective one at that. From 2019-23, he pitched 283 1/3 innings while working to a 3.14 ERA, fanning 30.7% of his opponents, issuing walks at just a 6.3% clip and yielding only 1.05 homers per nine frames. Along the way, he piled up 76 holds and 43 saves.

Some cracks in the armor began to show last season, however. After posting strikeout rates north of 30% in four consecutive seasons, Gallegos dipped to 25.8% — still a strong mark but a notable downturn. He continued to limit free passes at a high level, but his 93.7 mph average fastball was down from the 94.4 mph he’d averaged across the two prior seasons. Gallegos still sported gaudy swinging-strike and chase rates of 17.5% and 36.8%, respectively, both of which checked in well above the league averages. However, after yielding only 13 home runs total from 2020-22 (a span of 154 1/3 innings), he surrendered 11 long balls in just 55 innings. His 1.85 HR/9 was a career-worst mark by a wide margin. He finished the year on the injured list due to inflammation in his rotator cuff.

Things have deteriorated even further in 2024. Gallegos missed significant time with a shoulder impingement and has seen his fastball plummet to an average of 92.2 mph. He’s been tagged for an untenable 2.61 homers per nine frames (six homers in 20 2/3 innings). His swinging-strike rate went into a free-fall, checking in at 12%, while his chase rate is down to 29.8%. This year’s 22.6% strikeout rate is scarcely better than league-average, and Gallegos’ 10.6% walk rate is both a career-worst and well north of the current 8.2% league average.

Because Gallegos is in the second season of a two-year, $11MM contract, it was a foregone conclusion that he’d go unclaimed on waivers. And, because of that contract, the Cardinals are now on the hook for the remainder of this season’s $5.5MM salary (and the $500K buyout on his 2026 club option). A new team would only owe Gallegos the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the MLB roster or injured list. That sum would be subtracted from the amount the Cardinals owe him, but St. Louis is on the hook for the significant majority of Gallegos’ contract regardless.

With his diminished velocity, deteriorated command, dwindling swing-and-miss skills and recent shoulder troubles, Gallegos is something of a long shot to regain his form in 2024. If he does latch on with a new club and generate improved results with lesser stuff, he’d be postseason-eligible so long as he’s in a new team’s organization (but not necessarily on the 40-man roster) before Sept. 1.