Boone says Yankees ‘a lot better’ with Gallo
ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. » The Yankees have answered questions about how they would proceed heading into Friday’s trade deadline.
They are big-time buyers. All-Star slugger Joey Gallo’s trade to New York from the Texas Rangers was completed Thursday, giving the heavily right-handed Yankees a much-needed powerful lefty bat.
New York acquired Gallo, lefthander Joely Rodriguez and cash from the Rangers for minor league right-hander Glenn Otto and infielders Ezequiel Duran, Trevor Hauver and Josh Smith.
With switch-hitting center fielder Aaron Hicks hurt, second baseman Rougned Odor and outfielder Brett Gardner have been the only left-handed hitters to see substantial playing time.
“Sign me up for the guy that’s on base almost 40% of the time and has power and provides the kind of potential balance for our lineup,” Boone said before New York played Tampa Bay. “And on top of it, he’s a two-way player. This is a guy that really defends, can run and do all those things. It’s hard to argue that we’re not a lot better team adding Joey Gallo to us.”
Boone didn’t rule out the Yankees making additional moves.
The 27-year-old Gallo is hitting .223 with 25 homers, 55 RBIs and
a major league-leading 74 walks. While he has played right field for Texas, Boone envisions Gallo playing a lot in left for the Yankees, who have Aaron Judge as their regular right fielder.
Boone talked on the phone for about five minutes with Gallo, who will join the team during a weekend series at Miami that starts Friday night.
“We’re excited to add an AllStar,” Boone said. “I let him know how excited we are.”
Gallo is owed $2.2 million from his $6.2 million salary. He is eligible for arbitration next winter and can became a free agent after the 2022 season.
The two-time All-Star is a career .211 hitter in seven seasons, but launches a lot of longballs. He hit 41 home runs in 2017 and 40 in 2018.
“We’re going to have nights where we punch out double digits but if our guys do what they’re capable of, we’re going to be on a base a ton,” Boone said.
The Yankees began the day 8 ½ games behind Boston in the AL East and trailing Tampa Bay, Oakland and Seattle in the wild-card race for two spots.
Rodríguez, 29, is 1-3 with one save and a 5.93 ERA in 31 relief appearances this season, holding left-handed batters to a .176 average. He is 2-5 with a 5.05 ERA in 81 relief appearances over four seasons with Philadelphia (201617) and Texas (2020-21), and he was 3-7 with a 1.85 ERA over 90 relief appearances in 201819 for the Chunichi Dragons of Japan’s Central League.