Joey Gallo

White Sox Release Joey Gallo Ahead Of Move To Pitching

By Nick Deeds | March 16, 2025 at 12:51pm CDT

12:51pm: Gallo announced on social media in the aftermath of his release that he plans to convert to pitching going forward. The news shines additional light on Chicago’s decision to release Gallo, who can now search for a fresh minor league deal with a team interested in seeing what he can do on the mound. While Gallo has no professional experience on the mound, he did pitch in high school (even throwing a no-hitter) and has long had among the most impressive throwing arms in the game among position players, which was key to him earning two Gold Gloves in right field.

11:40am: The White Sox have granted Joey Gallo his unconditional release, as relayed by MLB.com’s Scott Merkin. Gallo had been in camp with the club on a minor league deal but will now head back into free agency to try and land a job with another club before Opening Day.

Gallo, 31, is coming off a difficult season with the Nationals where he hit just .161/.277/.336 (76 wRC+) in 260 trips to the plate. It’s the latest chapter in what’s been a very up-and-down career for the slugger, who was a first-round pick by the Rangers in 2012 and was a two-time All-Star across his seven years in Dallas, in 2019 and 2021. In that three season stretch, Gallo hit .209/.351/.477 with a wRC+ of 121. He crushed 70 home runs in just 280 games over those three years, but also struck out at a massive 35.6% clip.

That combination of nearly unmatched power and deep strikeout woes has contributed to a roller-coaster career where Gallo has been at times among the most impactful hitters in the sport and at times well below average. All of that has averaged out to a relatively middling .194/.319/.456 (107 wRC+) line across ten seasons in the majors, and while that’s still decent production overall Gallo hasn’t quite lived up to even that line in recent years. Despite a decent 103 wRC+ with the Twins in 2023, Gallo’s overall slash line over the past three years is just .166/.286/.379 with a well-below average wRC+ of 88. He’s struck out more than 40% of the time during that stretch, and his most productive season in Minnesota actually saw him punch out in a massive 42.8% of his trips to the plate.

Earlier in his career, Gallo helped to make up for his uneven offensive production with strong outfield defense. A two-time Gold Glove award winner in right field during his days with the Rangers who could even be counted on in center if necessary, Gallo’s fallen from grace defensively and now fits best as a roughly average defensive first baseman. Unfortunately, Gallo’s more limited defensive profile in recent years makes him a more difficult fit for a contending club in a bench role, while his offensive peaks and valleys make him difficult to bet on as a full-time starter.

Those concerns all culminated in the White Sox deciding to part ways with the slugger. While getting released by a club that lost the most games in MLB history last year is an ominous sign, it’s worth pointing out that Chicago actually has a relatively deep group of potential options at first base and in the outfield. Andrew Vaughn and Luis Robert Jr. figure to be everyday players at first base and in center field, while Mike Tauchman and Andrew Benintendi figure to capture the lion’s share of the playing time in the outfield corners.

Tauchman, Benintendi, and Gallo are all left-handed bats, so Gallo’s best opportunity for playing time in Chicago would’ve likely been spelling Vaughn at first base with Michael A. Taylor and Austin Slater both better suited for outfield roles. While Benintendi is out due to a hand fracture at the moment, he has yet to be explicitly ruled out for Opening Day and may be able to return fairly early in the season, making carrying a player like Gallo as a fill-in option less sensible.

Even so, however, it could be difficult for Gallo to find a major league gig with less than two weeks until the season begins. As much as injuries have opened up holes in various clubs’ lineups and rotations throughout the spring, there aren’t many obvious vacancies at first base around the league at the moment. Perhaps a club like the Padres, Pirates, or Marlins could use some additional depth at the position, but even those clubs have internal options they appear to be mostly comfortable with headed into Opening Day. With that said, teams certainly value depth and it’s not hard to imagine Gallo catching on with another club who has a less crowded first base and outfield mix on a fresh minor league deal, even if it doesn’t come with an immediate path to big league playing time.

White Sox Sign Joey Gallo To Minor League Deal

By Anthony Franco | February 13, 2025 at 7:35pm CDT

The White Sox announced the signing of Joey Gallo to a minor league contract. The Boras Corporation client will be in camp as a non-roster invitee.

Gallo is looking to rebound from the worst season of his career. The two-time All-Star inked a $5MM free agent deal with the Nationals last January. He appeared in 76 games and hit .161/.277/.336 with 10 homers across 260 plate appearances. Gallo struck out in 39.2% of his plate appearances, the second-highest rate among hitters with 200+ trips to the dish. While the whiffs are nothing new, that came with a personal-low 12.3% walk rate and slugging percentage.

It was the third straight season in which Gallo has had a tough time offensively. His bat has dropped sharply since the Yankees acquired him from the Rangers in a big deadline trade in 2021. Gallo had hit .211/.336/.497 over parts of seven seasons in Texas. Since leaving Arlington, he owns a .165/.289/.384 slash in more than 1200 trips to the plate between four teams.

Gallo won consecutive Gold Gloves in the outfield in 2020-21. His sprint speed and defensive grades have dropped since then, though he’s still capable of playing right field. Washington used him mostly at first base last season. He logged nearly 500 innings there while starting just seven games in the outfield.

Chicago is likely to give Andrew Vaughn another chance to take a step forward at first base. Right field is wide open. Mike Tauchman and Austin Slater are probably lined up for a platoon there. Gallo, Dominic Fletcher and former highly-regarded prospect Oscar Colás could compete for reps in camp.

Nationals Decline Their Side Of Joey Gallo’s Mutual Option

By Mark Polishuk | November 3, 2024 at 4:01pm CDT

The Nationals announced that they declined their end of Joey Gallo’s $8MM mutual option for the 2025 season. Gallo will instead receive a $2.5MM buyout as he heads into free agency for the third consecutive winter. Last offseason, Gallo signed a one-year deal with Washington worth $5MM in guaranteed money, broken down as a $2.5MM salary and then at least $2.5MM via the buyout.

The rebuilding Nats have made a habit of signing veterans to short-term deals and then looking to flip them at the trade deadline, though multiple injuries and Gallo’s overall struggles scuttled any trade value. Gallo hit only .161/.277/.336 with 10 home runs over 260 plate appearances, translating to a 76 wRC+ and a below-replacement value of -0.2 fWAR.

Gallo’s 12.3% walk rate and 13.1% barrel rate were still solid in comparison to the rest of the league, if well below his career averages (14.6BB%, 19.6% barrel rate). His 39.2% strikeout rate was slightly higher than his career average, yet the third aspect of Gallo’s “three true outcomes” approach failed him greatly. Gallo’s .175 Isolated Power number was his lowest in any full season.

On the health front, Gallo missed about three weeks due to an AC sprain in his left shoulder, and then over two months due to a hamstring strain. It might be fair to chalk up Gallo’s shaky production to these injuries, though his overall performance has been very up-and-down over the last five seasons, evening out to almost a perfectly average 99 wRC+ in his last 1844 plate appearances.

This inconsistency has led to Gallo playing for five different teams in the last four years, going from the Rangers to the Yankees to the Dodgers in trades, and then to free agent deals with the Twins and Nationals. He might have to settle for a minor league contract in the wake of his rough 2024 campaign, though Gallo should still draw some attention based on his past track record. Gallo is a veteran of 10 MLB seasons but is still only just a few weeks away from his 31st birthday.

Gallo primarily served as the left-handed side of the Nationals’ first base platoon, with a few appearances in both corner outfield slots and at DH. It was no surprise that Washington would be passing on Gallo’s mutual option, as it is widely assume that the Nats will be looking for a big upgrade at first base this winter. This could manifest itself as a full-time regular, or perhaps another left-handed bat to split time with Juan Yepez.

Nationals Preparing To Be Deadline Sellers

By Steve Adams | July 9, 2024 at 10:42am CDT

The Nationals have been on the periphery of the postseason picture for much of the season but are preparing to approach the trade deadline as a seller, per Ken Rosenthal, Katie Woo and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. Washington will be open to offers both on potential free agents and players signed/controlled for only one additional season, per the report. The Nats’ group of impending free agents include outfielder Jesse Winker, lefty Patrick Corbin, righty reliever Dylan Floro, struggling slugger Joey Gallo and the currently injured Trevor Williams. Of even more interest will be outfielder Lane Thomas, setup man Hunter Harvey and closer Kyle Finnegan, each of whom is controlled through the 2025 season via arbitration.

The vibe in D.C. is high at the moment following the debut of top-ranked prospect James Wood and the All-Star selection of shortstop CJ Abrams. But Washington has dropped 11 of its past 15 games to fall seven under .500. At 16.5 games back in the NL East, there’s no hope of surging back to the front of the division, and in the Wild Card chase, the Nats are 5.5 games back of the third spot with six teams to pass in order to get into the fray.

The Nationals are already three years into a rebuilding process that kicked off in 2021 with trades of Max Scherzer, Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber (among many others) and continued into the summer of 2022 with the deadline blockbuster that shipped Juan Soto to San Diego in exchange for a package of five young players headlined by Abrams, Wood and current staff leader MacKenzie Gore. Selling off some short-term pieces at this year’s deadline isn’t a sign that said plan has faltered or a setback necessarily; for much of the season, the Nats appeared ahead of schedule but are now settling into the type of position most expected them to occupy heading into the 2024 campaign.

Among Washington’s slate of rental players, Winker stands as the most productive healthy option. He’s back in vintage form after a pair of seasons ruined by knee and neck injuries that both required surgery in the 2022-23 offseason. In 337 trips to the plate, the former Reds, Brewers and Mariners outfielder is hitting .268/.382/.436 with ten home runs and a career-high 12 steals. Winker’s 13.6% walk rate is more than five percentage points ahead of the league average, and he’s striking out at a manageable 22.3% clip.

Winker has long had platoon issues, but the Nats have given him 80 plate appearances against southpaws this season and he’s held his own, hitting .250/.344/.363. It should be noted that his small-sample production against lefties is aided by a bulky .358 average on balls in play and comes in spite of a huge 29% strikeout rate (10 points higher than his mark against righties). Winker probably can’t be expected to continue his output against lefties, but he’s punishing righties just as he always has when healthy: .275/.397/.465 with nine of his 10 home runs and six of his 17 doubles. Winker signed a minor league deal with a $2MM base salary, making him an ultra-affordable option for any team seeking a quality left-handed bat to add to its DH/outfield mix.

Floro, 33, is in the midst of a nice rebound season. He’s on a one-year, $2.25MM deal and has produced 43 2/3 innings of 2.06 ERA ball. His 20.5% strikeout rate is a couple percentage points shy of average, but his 6.4% walk rate is a couple points better than par. Floro sports a strong 50.4% grounder rate as well. However, he’s yet to allow even one home run this season, and it’s not sustainable for any pitcher to see every single one of his fly-balls stay in the park. Metrics like SIERA (3.50) and xFIP (3.45), which normalize homer-to-flyball rate, view Floro as a solid arm but not the dominant force his raw ERA might suggest. He should still draw plenty of interest as an affordable veteran with some track record.

Corbin’s $35MM salary is going to nullify any trade interest unless the Nats are willing to pay down almost the entire sum. The first season of his six-year, $140MM contract with the Nats went beautifully, as Corbin helped lead a deep rotation and stepped up as a key postseason arm en route to Washington’s Cinderella World Series run. He’s posted a 5.60 ERA since, including a 5.49 mark in 100 frames this year.

That said, the veteran has been pitching well of late. Corbin sports a 4.53 ERA dating back to Memorial Day weekend and has delivered a 3.81 ERA in 28 1/3 frames over his past five starts. A team just looking for some veteran innings in the five spot could look at Corbin as a cheap solution if the Nats eat most or all of the remaining salary.

If healthy, Williams might stand as the clearest and most coveted rental piece the Nats have to offer. He made 11 starts, and though he was averaging just five frames per appearances, Williams logged a pristine 2.22 ERA with a solid 21% strikeout rate and 7.1% walk rate. As with Floro, he’s been extremely fortunate with home runs (just two in 56 2/3 frames), and a solid but unspectacular K-BB profile points to some ERA regression if that home run trend doesn’t continue. But Williams is in the second season of a two-year, $13MM contract and would be an affordable rotation option. He’s been out since early June with a strained muscle in his forearm.

Also on the injured list is Gallo, who was struggling at career-worst levels prior to a hamstring strain. He’s hitting .164/.285/.321 with a glaring 43% strikeout rate and five homers in 165 plate appearances. Between that line and Gallo’s injury, it’s hard to envision any trade value even if he’s healthy enough to return before July 30. He’s more a DFA candidate than a trade candidate.

Looking to the Nationals’ more controllable pieces, Thomas and the bullpen duo of Finnegan and Harvey will draw wide-reaching interest. A deal for Thomas could be difficult to line up, depending on how the Nats price him. At last year’s deadline, Washington was valuing Thomas as an everyday outfielder, whereas many other clubs were viewing him more as a potential platoon piece.

That perception from other clubs won’t be different in 2024. Thomas has never hit righties much but is slashing a dismal .208/.262/.343 against them in 2024. Conversely, he’s always hit well against southpaws and is even better than his career line in 2024, hitting .338/.407/.563. Thomas is an absolute menace to southpaw pitchers, and he’s perhaps deceptively fast. Statcast ranks him in the 94th percentile of MLB players in average sprint speed, and Thomas has already swiped 21 bags — though he’s also been caught seven times. He’s making $5.45MM this season and will be owed one more raise in arbitration this winter before hitting free agency post-2025.

Both Finnegan and Harvey are on track for free agency in the 2025-26 offseason as well. Finnegan has saved 23 games and posted a tidy 2.17 ERA in 37 1/3 frames. He’s averaged a hefty 97.4 mph on his heater while recording a 26.5% strikeout rate, 8.2% walk rate and 42.7% ground-ball rate. After a rough start in terms of his command, Finnegan has reined in the walks, yielding only a 5.8% rate over his past 32 innings.

Harvey was arguably even more appealing for much of the season, though a recent rough patch could have altered that. His $2.325MM salary is less than half Finnegan’s $5.1MM mark, he throws even harder, and his strikeout/walk/ground-ball rates were the better of the two for the bulk of the current campaign.

Some recent struggles have ballooned Harvey’s ERA to 4.40 — more than two runs higher than the 2.08 mark he carried into the month of June. He’s been tagged for 14 runs in his past 12 2/3 innings. In that time, he’s walked 9.1% of his opponents (more than double his rate over the first two months) and been tagged for a grisly 2.13 homers per nine frames. For a pitcher with a lengthy injury history — Harvey still has just 166 2/3 career innings despite debuting in 2019 — that could be a particular concern among bullpen-needy clubs. But the affordable salary, extra year of control, 98.1 mph average heater and K-BB profile should all generate interest.

One other name to consider is journeyman righty Derek Law, who’s posted a 3.35 ERA in 53 2/3 innings of relief already and is controllable through 2025. Law has fanned 21.2% of opponents against a 6.2% walk rate but has been wildly inconsistent dating back to his 2016 debut campaign. He’s earning $1.5MM this season and could be a sensible middle-innings arm for a team looking at low-cost means of deepening the ’pen.

NL East Notes: Dombrowski, Phillies, Gallo, Minter

By Mark Polishuk | June 15, 2024 at 8:51am CDT

Three unnamed teams have offered catching help to the Phillies since the news broke earlier this week about J.T. Realmuto’s knee surgery, as president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told The Athletic’s Matt Gelb. While Philadelphia is expected to look for some kind of short-term depth in Realmuto’s absence, Dombrowski didn’t sound too enamored by the options available thus far, noting that the three clubs approached the Phillies about the available catchers: “That’s usually probably not a good sign, that they’re trying to get rid of them. Rather than the opposite way where you’re pursuing them.” Since Realmuto is slated to miss roughly a month, Dombrowski seems content to “take a look at our young guys” like backup catcher Rafael Marchan in the interim, so the Phils don’t necessarily feel much pressure to make a trade.

Philadelphia’s outstanding 47-22 record also provides a bit more breathing room, as the Phillies have the National League’s best record and look like a lock to return to the playoffs. Dombrowski naturally expected his team to be good, but admitted that a .681 win percentage even exceeded his expectations, especially considering that the Phils have been without Trea Turner for the majority of the season. Turner’s impending return is an upgrade on its own, and in terms of other possible trade deadline additions, Dombrowski said it’s “way, way, way, way, way too early” to start accessing how the market might take shape. Dombrowski cited bullpen depth as one possible area to explore, and doesn’t seem to think the Phillies will pursue a “we’re going to trade three top prospects” type of blockbuster trade. The PBO is also cognizant of how adding and subtracting from the roster might impact team chemistry, as obviously Dombrowski doesn’t want to disrupt what has been a winning formula for the Phillies to date.

Nationals Place Joey Gallo On 10-Day Injured List

By Mark Polishuk | April 27, 2024 at 11:53am CDT

The Nationals have placed Joey Gallo on the 10-day injured list, as the first baseman/outfielder is dealing with an AC sprain in his left shoulder. Outfielder Alex Call was promoted from Triple-A to take Gallo’s spot on the active roster. (The Talk Nats blog reported earlier today that Call was headed to the majors, but the corresponding move wasn’t known at the time.)

Gallo signed a one-year, $5MM free agent deal over the offseason, and has worked mostly as Washington’s everyday first baseman with a few appearances as a corner outfielder and DH. Gallo had seen more work in the outfield since Lane Thomas went to the 10-day IL earlier this week, but with Gallo, Thomas, and Victor Robles all now out of action, Call figures to get a good chunk of playing time in the interim.

No matter Gallo’s position, the offensive production hasn’t been there. The veteran has struggled to a .122/.286/.311 slash line over 91 plate appearances, with three homers and a Major League-leading 43 strikeouts. This 47.3% strikeout rate is high even by Gallo’s career standards, and while his 16.5% walk rate is very strong, Gallo simply isn’t making enough contact. The rebuilding Nationals were hoping Gallo would hit well enough to be a trade chip at the deadline, yet for now, Gallo will first have to focus just on getting healthy before he can look to turn things around at the plate.

Nationals Designate Israel Pineda

By Mark Polishuk | January 27, 2024 at 12:20pm CDT

The Nationals announced that catcher Israel Pineda has been designated for assignment. The move opens up a 40-man roster spot for Joey Gallo, whose one-year, $5MM contract with D.C. is now official.

Pineda was a member of the Nationals’ 2016 international signing class, and he has spent his entire career in the organization. Still only 23 years old, Pineda has hit .231/.291/.374 over 1529 plate appearances in the minor leagues, though he hit quite well at Double-A in 2022 and earned his first MLB call-up that September when Keibert Ruiz went on the injured list.

After appearing in his first four big league games, Pineda didn’t make it back to the Show in 2023 due in large part to injuries. A fractured ring finger and an oblique strain limited Pineda to just 41 total games, and he had only a .496 OPS over 153 PA split over three minor league levels. This rough year made Pineda expendable on Washington’s 40-man, though there might be a chance he simply clears waivers and remains in the minors as a depth option.

Ruiz and Riley Adams have the catching situation covered at the MLB level for the Nats, leaving Drew Millas (with 11 games) as the only other backstop in the organization with any Major League experience. If Pineda isn’t brought back, the Nationals figure to be in the market for some veteran depth to bring into Spring Training on a minors deal.

Nationals Sign Joey Gallo

By Darragh McDonald | January 27, 2024 at 12:19pm CDT

TODAY: The signing has officially been announced. The deal also contains a mutual option for the 2025 season.

JANUARY 23: The Nationals and first baseman/outfielder Joey Gallo have agreed to a one-year deal, reports Andrew Golden of The Washington Post (X links). The deal for the Boras Corporation client, which is pending a physical, is for $5MM with another $1MM available in performance bonuses.

Gallo, 30, has been the poster boy for the “three true outcomes” in a major league career that’s almost a decade old at this point. Having debuted with the Rangers in 2015, he has played in 863 games, with 198 home runs to his name in that time. He has struck out in 37.9% of his plate appearances, which is much higher than par. For reference, the league average in 2023 was 22.7%. But he’s also drawn walks in 14.8% of his career plate appearances, well beyond the 2023 league average of 8.6%.

It’s an unusual combination but one that still allows Gallo to be a productive offensive contributor when taken all together. Though his career batting line .197/.323/.466 has him below the Mendoza line, the walks and the homers still help him translate that into a wRC+ of 109. He signed a one-year, $11MM deal with the Twins for 2023 and batted .197/.323/.466 for a wRC+ of 104, hitting 21 home runs while striking out in 42.8% of his plate appearances.

It’s perhaps worth highlighting that the tenability of this oddly-shaped performance has declined over the years. Gallo had his best run with the Rangers from 2017 to 2019, slashing .217/.336/.533 in that time for a wRC+ of 120. He hit a rough patch in 2020 but then bounced back with a strong showing early in 2021, enough for him to be traded to the Yankees alongside Joely Rodríguez. But Gallo’s production fell off again after the deal and didn’t rebound in 2022, with the Yanks flipping him to the Dodgers midseason. He finished that season with a line of .160/.280/.357 and wRC+ of 86 before putting together a decent campaign with the Twins last year.

Despite the huge pop in his bat, the up-and-down nature of his past few seasons would make him a risky bet for a contending club. But for the Nationals, it’s a sensible fit for a number of reasons. Last month, it was reported that the club was looking to add some left-handed power to its lineup. That was a logical target with their outfield mix consisting of Lane Thomas, Stone Garrett, Joey Meneses, Victor Robles, Jacob Young and Alex Call, all of whom hit from the right side.

Beyond that, the club isn’t likely to be in contention this year, having been aggressively rebuilding in recent seasons. Last offseason, they gave modest one-year deals to bounceback candidates like Corey Dickerson, Dominic Smith and Jeimer Candelario. The first two of those didn’t work out but Candelario played well enough to be flipped to the Cubs for a couple of prospects.

The Nats can insert Gallo into the middle of their lineup and hope that he is producing enough to follow a similar trajectory to Candelario last year. If he is having another rough campaign like he did in 2022, he can simply be released like Dickerson was.

The fit also makes sense with the prospects in the system. Outfielders James Wood and Dylan Crews are two of the most highly-rated prospects in the league, and each could plausibly be nearing a major league debut. Wood spent most of last year in Double-A and will likely begin the upcoming season in Triple-A. Crews was just drafted last summer but managed to join Wood in Double-A by the end of the year. Robert Hassell isn’t as highly rated as those two but is another notable outfield prospect who finished last year at Double-A.

With those prospects potentially pushing for major league at-bats by the summer, Gallo can be seen as a placeholder. If he is mashing, he can be traded for prospects. If not, he can be released. In either case, he would yield second half playing time to someone in that group. If each of the prospects are struggling and aren’t justifying a promotion, perhaps Gallo could stay in Washington through the end of the year, as Smith did in 2023.

Gallo is also considered a solid defender, which is a plus. His outfield glovework has led to career tallies of 42 Defensive Runs Saved, four Outs Above Average and a grade of 15.0 from Ultimate Zone Rating. His work at first base isn’t graded as strongly, but he’s passable there as well, with over 1,000 career innings at that spot. Meneses is currently slated to get the bulk of the playing time at first base but the club doesn’t have a strict designated hitter, giving them some ability to rotate players around based on health and matchups.

Possible Left-Handed Power Targets For Nationals

By Anthony Franco | January 8, 2024 at 6:56pm CDT

The Nationals haven’t made many notable acquisitions this offseason. They signed middle reliever Dylan Floro and former top prospect Nick Senzel to affordable one-year pacts and plucked infielder Nasim Nuñez from the Marlins in the Rule 5 draft. It’s not all that surprising that a still-rebuilding Washington team coming off a 71-91 showing hasn’t been aggressive, but GM Mike Rizzo had suggested at the Winter Meetings the team was open to a multi-year free agent pickup “in the right situation” (link via Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com).

With all of $4.25MM in free agent spending committed to Floro and Senzel, there should still be financial room at Rizzo’s disposal. That doesn’t guarantee they’ll hand out any kind of significant deal, particularly with a lack of great options in the middle tiers of free agency. Yet it’d be a surprise if the Nationals were finished with their offseason activity. One area where some kind of addition seems likely: a left-handed bat.

Both the Talk Nats blog and MLB.com’s Jessica Camerato suggested in late December that Washington was looking to bring in left-handed power. The Nats’ best lefty or switch-hitting bats — CJ Abrams, Keibert Ruiz, Luis García and Jake Alu — all have middling pop. Only the Guardians had a lower ISO (slugging minus batting average) against right-handed pitching in 2023. Acquiring a lefty power source makes plenty of sense.

It’s hard to see Washington spending at the level it’d take to land Cody Bellinger. Even though he’s young enough to be a veteran cornerstone for a team that could more realistically seek to compete by 2025, the Nationals have a pair of top center field prospects in James Wood and Dylan Crews. They’re also still faced with the MASN rights uncertainty and on the hook for significant money to Patrick Corbin, Stephen Strasburg and Max Scherzer’s deferrals in the short term. It’s probably not the right time for a top-of-the-market splash.

We’ll look a few tiers down. Where might that search lead Rizzo and company?

Free Agency

Brandon Belt: Belt, even going into his age-36 season, should command the loftiest guarantee of the players in this group. He’s coming off a very strong offensive showing for the Blue Jays. He hit 19 homers and walked more than 15% of the time he stepped to the plate, leading to a .254/.369/.490 line through 404 plate appearances. Favorable matchups played a role in that strong rate production; Toronto limited him to 39 PA’s against left-handed pitching. Washington could deploy him similarly at designated hitter and/or first base, where only Joey Meneses (coming off a league average offensive showing) stands in the way.
Joc Pederson: The Blue Jays are the only club publicly tied to Pederson this winter. He’s coming off a middling season in which he hit .235/.348/.416 with 15 homers through 425 plate appearances for the Giants. That’s not huge power production at first glance, but Pederson has five 20+ homer seasons on his résumé (four with at least 25 longballs). He made hard contact — an exit velocity of at least 95 MPH — on more than half his batted balls last season, a top 15 rate in the majors. Pederson is a limited player. He’s best served as a DH and is mostly limited to facing right-handed pitching. He still has life in the bat, though, even if last year’s results were underwhelming.
Eddie Rosario: There hasn’t been any public chatter on Rosario since the Braves declined a $9MM option at the start of the offseason. He should command a one-year deal at a salary that’s not too far below that rate. Rosario is coming off a reasonably effective year. He hit 21 homers with a .255/.305/.450 line in 516 trips to the plate. That was the fourth time in his career that he surpassed 20 longballs. Rosario is mostly limited to left field but rated reasonably well with the glove last year. His performance varies wildly within seasons, but he tends to produce roughly league average numbers by the end.
Joey Gallo: Gallo hit 21 homers in just 332 plate appearances a season ago. The flaw in his game, huge swing-and-miss rates, has only magnified in recent seasons. Gallo hasn’t hit above the Mendoza line since 2019. He’s hitting .168 with a .290 on-base percentage in 742 plate appearances over the last two campaigns. There are a lot of uncompetitive at-bats. Few players fit the profile of a “left-handed power bat” quite like Gallo, though.

Trade Possibilities

It’s tougher to identify great fits on the trade market in the absence of many clear rebuilding teams. The Nationals could theoretically take a bigger swing at a player with an extended control window (e.g. Alec Burleson, Jesús Sánchez). That’s not an easy task to pull off, particularly since Washington is probably reluctant to part with significant prospect talent. There are a few veteran bats who’d make some sense as speculative trade candidates for a lesser return.

Josh Bell: Bell had a productive stint over his year and a half in Washington from 2021-22. He hit .278/.363/.483 in just over 1000 plate appearances before being included in the Juan Soto trade. Bell has changed uniforms twice more since that deadline blockbuster, signing with the Guardians before being flipped to the Marlins last summer. The switch-hitting first baseman struggled in Cleveland (.233/.318/.383) but generally turned things around in South Florida (.270/.338/.480). That reasonably strong finish wasn’t enough for Bell to forego a $16.5MM player option for the upcoming season. It stands to reason the Fish would be happy to get out from under the bulk of that deal if the Nationals were interested in a reunion.
Seth Brown: A’s GM David Forst indicated at the beginning of the offseason that he didn’t expect to trade Brown. That’s presumably more about Oakland feeling that other teams won’t meet their ask than an indication they wouldn’t consider offers on a 31-year-old platoon player. Brown is a career .237/.305/.471 hitter against right-handed pitching. He can play first base or the corner outfield and is under arbitration control for three seasons. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz forecasts him for a $2.4MM salary.
Mike Yastrzemski: Yastrzemski is projected for a $7.3MM salary in his second-to-last arbitration season. He hit 15 homers in 381 plate appearances a year ago, running a .233/.330/.445 line overall. The Giants aren’t likely to urgently shop Yastrzemski, but the singing of Jung Hoo Lee pushes him from center field to the corner opposite Michael Conforto. Trading Mitch Haniger paved the way for a Lee, Conforto, Yastrzemski outfield supplemented by righty-hitting Austin Slater, but the Giants also have Luis Matos, Wade Meckler and Heliot Ramos as options on the grass.

Minor League Deal Candidates

Each of these players has turned in above-average offense from the left side in their careers. None hit free agency under great circumstances. Choi had an injury-plagued 2023 campaign that kept him to 39 games without much production. The other four players were either non-tendered or elected free agency after an outright.

Meadows has missed most of the past two seasons attending to anxiety; it is unclear if he’ll be in position to return next year. Ford and Vogelbach are largely limited to DH, while Walsh hasn’t been the same since he was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome in 2022. None of these players are likely to be Washington’s top acquisition, but they’d be viable depth targets if the Nats wanted a second lefty bat on a minor league or low-cost MLB pact.

Twins Notes: Kirilloff, Gallo, Buxton, Taylor, Stewart

By Mark Polishuk | September 9, 2023 at 9:21am CDT

The Twins activated Alex Kirilloff from the 10-day injured list Friday, and the first baseman marked his return by going 1-for-4 in Minnesota’s 5-2 victory over the Mets. In the corresponding move, the Twins placed Joey Gallo on the 10-day IL due to a left foot contusion, with Gallo’s placement retroactive to September 6.

Kirilloff was playing in his first MLB game since July 29, as a right shoulder strain forced the former top prospect to the sidelines. Since recovery from wrist surgery already delayed Kirilloff’s season debut until May 6, he has played in only 70 games this season, though Kirilloff has hit a solid .270/.355/.439 over 262 plate appearances. A hefty .353 BABIP has certainly aided that production, but it still represents a very nice step forward for Kirilloff after wrist problems hampered his first two seasons in the majors.

Now back on the active roster, Kirilloff figures to resume his role as Minnesota’s primary first baseman, with Donovan Solano stepping in to spell Kirilloff against left-handed pitching. Gallo was also a significant part of the first base mix, but he’ll now miss some time after fouling a ball off his foot, manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters (including Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star Tribune).

Signed to a one-year, $11MM free agent contract last winter, Gallo has to some extent rebounded from his rough 2022 season, as his .177/.301/.440 slash line and 21 homers in 332 PA does translate to an above-average 103 wRC+. However, most of Gallo’s production came in April, and he has been in a pronounced slump for the rest of the season. Gallo’s ability to play first base and all three outfield positions has made him a useful asset for a Minnesota team that has been hit with multiple injuries over the course of 2023, but it remains to be seen if Gallo will be part of a postseason roster, should the Twins hold on to win the AL Central.

Byron Buxton’s status is also an x-factor at this point, as the former All-Star hasn’t played since appearing in a minor league rehab game on September 1. Buxton was playing in his first game as an outfielder in over a year, as recurring knee problems resulted in arthroscopic surgery late in the 2022 season, and the Twins’ decision to use Buxton exclusively as a designated hitter this season. With Buxton currently on the IL due to a hamstring injury, the Twins were trying to ease Buxton back into fielding duty, only to be set back by this latest case of patella tendinitis.

Baldelli didn’t have any new update on when Buxton might be able to play again, at either the minor league or MLB levels. There’s something of a holding pattern situation until Buxton is healthy, but as Baldelli noted, “that doesn’t mean he’s not going to play for us. We’re anticipating him working his way back and taking the field for us.”

In other Twins injury news, Michael A. Taylor and Nick Gordon each took part in a live batting practice session against Brock Stewart, as all three players continue to make some progress in their rehab work. Gordon still isn’t expected back until closer to the end of the regular season, but Taylor might be back in relatively short order, after being placed on the IL last Sunday due to a right hamstring strain.

In addition to the live BP session, Taylor also said he did some baserunning work on Friday. Taylor has hit a career-high 20 homers and has been one of baseball’s best defensive center fielders, putting him in line for his second career Gold Glove and giving Minnesota some much-needed relief up the middle with Buxton relegated to DH work.

Stewart last pitched in the majors in 2019 before resurfacing with the Twins this year, and he returned in grand fashion by posting an 0.70 ERA over 25 2/3 relief innings. Unfortunately, Stewart’s season was cut short by elbow soreness in late June, which has now led to a lengthy stint on the 60-day injured list. Stewart is likely to need some minor league rehab work given the longer layoff, but he should be able to get back before the regular season is over.

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