‘Superstar’ talent Gallo welcomed
As Aaron Boone raved about the Yankees’ latest big-name acquisition, the manager took pains to stress that Joey Gallo will serve as a cure to — rather than a promoter of — this team’s lack of athleticism.
“Hopefully people are talking about what a tremendous allaround player we’re getting,’’ Boone said before the Yankees lost to the Rays, 14-0, Thursday at Tropicana Field. “A guy that runs the bases, has some speed [and] that’s a really good defender in the outfield. And obviously the tremendous patience and power that he has.”
Lefty reliever Joely Rodriguez was also brought over from Texas.
Gallo and Rodriguez, who are expected to join the Yankees on Friday night in Miami for the team’s series opener against the Marlins, came aboard, along with their full salaries paid by the Rangers, in return for four minor leaguers: infielders Ezequiel Duran, Trevor Hauver and Josh Smith and right-hander Glenn Otto.
Gerrit Cole called Gallo a “superstar-level talent … part of the reason why I’m here is Hal [Steinbrenner] always goes for it and so does Brian [Cashman].”
Boone scoffed at the idea that the arrival of the high-strikeout, low-batting average Gallo would make the Yankees’ lineup more one-dimensional.
“I’m not concerned we’re adding a guy that gets on base 38 percent of the time this year, hits the ball over the fence and over the last month or two has started to take off again,’’ the manager said. “He’s a great player. Nobody’s perfect. No player is perfect. It’s hard to argue we’re not a lot better team by adding Joey Gallo.”
Gallo leads the American League with 74 walks, ranks second with 125 strikeouts and has 25 homers to tie him with Seattle’s Mitch Haniger for fifth.
Boone acknowledged, “We’re gonna have nights when we punch out double digits,” but added, “If our guys do what they’re capable of, they’ll be on base a ton, which will lead to us scoring a
lot of runs.” OVE UP
Though Boone and Gallo spoke briefly Wednesday night, the manager said he wanted to speak more at length with Gallo before committing to his role. Nevertheless, Boone acknowledged that a sensible fit for Gallo would be as the everyday left fielder, and he added Gallo could hit as high as second in the Yankees’ lineup.
As for the 29-year-old Rodriguez, who owns a 5.93 ERA this season while limiting lefty hitters to a .176/.282/.206 slash line in 39 plate appearances, Boone said: “A lot of our left-handed pitchers are guys that in some cases are better at getting righties out. So this is a guy that’s been really good at left on left. He’s a tough matchup for lefties with us bringing over a guy like [Clay] Holmes, who’s been a guy who’s really tough on righties. Maybe these guys can complement each other a little bit and hopefully take advantage of some situations we can put them in.”