Give Joey Gallo a Chance

[Riverbrian]

I will be giving him a chance. I will give him my support. Hope he knocks the cover off the ball. 

This support will be 100% but it does have opt-outs that I can use every 30 days. 

 

[JD-TWINS]

Just information:

       Gallo career stats         Gordon 2022 stats

OBP.       .325.                                   .316

Slg %.     .469                                  .427

OPS.        .794                                  .743

OPS,+        109.                                  113

SO/100PA  40.                                   24

BB/100PA   15                                    5

HIT/100PA.  17.                                   25

Hopefully, Kirilof is ready to go this year……a new thought thought to maximize Defense if he’s not………instead of playing Gallo at 1B, which was my assumption based on experience  - with Gordon in left, how about Gallo in LF 110 games & Larnach for maybe 50 & Gordon at 1B??? New twist…….good range at 1B……….shouldn’t be any more of a stretch than Arraez, right?

[Brock Beauchamp]

Point: Give Joey Gallo a Chance

Counterpoint: no

[specialiststeve]

Yikes! Not sure what else to say. 

I was one of the masses that were pissed when we heard of the pick up. Getting a player that Plays very good defense and hits home runs but KILLS our team in every other way... WOW.

Given our logjam in the OF with Lefthanded bats.. Makes ZERO sense... 

Signing him for a 2-3 million dollar deal with 8 million in incentives ... fine... but throwing 11 million at a player that is a bench player "IF" he makes the team... YIKES!! 

 

 

[mnfireman]

TD is a bunch of GM-wannabes who think they know everything about Player A, B or C. They do not. Especially if numbers can used to prove that their opinion is wrong. Gallo is who he is. He is going to strike out, he is going to walk and he is going to hit HR's. He is also going to play above average defense and fans are going to not like him. 3 true outcomes suck and I do not think they are good for the game, but here we are.

He has a reasonable 1 year contract and the team can release him and walk away at any time. I do not see a losing side to this contract. 

[theBOMisthebomb]

58 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Point: Give Joey Gallo a Chance

Counterpoint: no

As the late, great John Lennon said,

Give Peace a Chance

Two, one-two-three-four!

Ev'rybody's talking 'bout

Bagism, Shagism, Dragism, Madism, Ragism, Tagism

This-ism, that-ism, is-m, is-m, is-m

All we are saying is give peace (and Joey Gallo) a chance

[Danchat]

2 minutes ago, mnfireman said:

TD is a bunch of idiots who think they know everything about Player A, B or C. They do not. Especially if numbers can used to prove that their opinion is wrong. Gallo is who he is. He is going to strike out, he is going to walk and he is going to hit HR's. He is also going to play above average defense and fans are going to not like him. 3 true outcomes suck and I do not think they are good for the game, but here we are.

He has a reasonable 1 year contract and the team can release him and walk away at any time. I do not see a losing side to this contract. 

They can release him, but will they? I could easily see them stay stubborn while he's struggling at the plate. Our front office has shown they will stick with the guys they've paid well past their major struggles.

[USAFChief]

7 hours ago, sun said:

Baseball players have a saying, "A walk is as good as a hit." In no way does a BB hurt the team. That's a fundamental truth of baseball & something that every fan should be able to live with like it or not. I can't imagine holding a batter responsible for taking 4 balls. Chasing pitches out of the zone is how games are lost. A BB results from the pitcher's mistakes & not the batter's mistakes.

Point of order: a walk ISN'T as good as a hit.

A single is worth approximately 1.3 times as much as a walk by modern analytics.  And of course doubles, triples and HRs are also hits and worth way more than a walk.

Walks are great, and OBP is important, but viewing it in a vacuum misses important information. OBP primarily built on batting average is "worth" more than OBP built on walks. Hitting also translates better against good pitching (the kind you're likely to meet in the postseason) than walking. Good pitching limits walks, almost by definition. 

 

As for Gallo.... He'll play, there's no need for me to "give him a chance." 

But...yuck.

[bigtrain]

He plays. More than can be said for some guys, initials BB.

[IndianaTwin]

1 hour ago, Danchat said:

They can release him, but will they? I could easily see them stay stubborn while he's struggling at the plate. Our front office has shown they will stick with the guys they've paid well past their major struggles.

Phone call from Addison Reed on Line 1.

Not saying they’ve dropped every under-performer, but Joe Smith and Tyler Duffey come to mind as well. When they feel like they have a viable alternative and don’t see a future, they’ve been willing to do so. 

And to anticipate a “what about Pagan” comment from someone, I think they’ll have a much shorter leash on him this year than last year. Difference being that this is his last year of control. Throughout last year there was always the possibility of an off-season turnaround. 

To bring this back to Gallo, I think if he stinks and other guys have come through, they’ll try to trade him for a lottery pick or go ahead and dump him. 

[IndianaTwin]

I think one of the challenges Gallo has faced on TD is that he’s not Carlos Correa. By that, I mean that he signed when many on TD were in a “Correa or Bust” mindset. So when Gallo signed early, many expressed their angst that we weren’t going to get C4, and that angst both spiraled in general and translated to a frustration about Gallo and his style of play in particular  

I think there are similar dynamics at play in many folks’ perception of Farmer. Even though it was early, people interpreted the Farmer trade as a sign they didn’t think we could get C4 and that the FO was settling for Farmer as a bridge to Lewis. In reality, in the context of their overall plan and the roster they’ve developed, I think it was a shrewd move to trade Urshela for Farmer, but I don’t think the FO has gotten much credit for that move either.

And even Vazquez. I haven’t seen anyone complain about that signing, but neither has there been much celebration about getting the second-best catcher on the market. We were too concerned about not yet having signed a top-flight shortstop  

I get it. I didn’t particularly enjoy watching Gallo as a member of opposing teams, but I do enjoy winning, and I think he can help the Twins do that.
 

I’ll also repeat a statement I’ve made elsewhere, which is that I just find it more enjoyable to go through life expecting the best rather than expecting the worst. I think the former is what the OP is encouraging us to do. 

[sun]

6 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Point of order: a walk ISN'T as good as a hit.

A single is worth approximately 1.3 times as much as a walk by modern analytics.  And of course doubles, triples and HRs are also hits and worth way more than a walk.

Walks are great, and OBP is important, but viewing it in a vacuum misses important information. OBP primarily built on batting average is "worth" more than OBP built on walks. Hitting also translates better against good pitching (the kind you're likely to meet in the postseason) than walking. Good pitching limits walks, almost by definition. 

 

As for Gallo.... He'll play, there's no need for me to "give him a chance." 

But...yuck.

I respect your opinion. However, a walk is as good as a hit when ranking the priorities of a batter. The first priority of a batter is to reach base safely by any means possible by not making an out. The second priority is to advance a runner so they can score. Only then is the next priority to get a hit with the increased values for a double, triple etc... The reason why a hit isn't the 1st priority of a batter is because 70% of balls that are hit are outs, and making an out is to be avoided at all costs. Every at bat can only be either an out or reach base safely. That shows that to reach base safely is the priority.

Whether a batter reaches base safely by a past ball, a BB or a fielding error or a hit doesn't require a value judgment. It only requires having a proper sense of priority. 

I'm not talking about a sac. fly or sac. bunt situation which alters the priorities of the batter. Sure certain actions like hits are more valuable than walks, but those aren't to be mixed up with a batter's priorities of which the most important is to simply reach base safely by not making an out. 

Being intentionally walked is sign of respect and doesn't diminish the worth of the batter. It can walk in a run or put a potential run on base. 

 

[weitz41]

I was not and still am not a fan of this signing. BA, OBP, SLUG, K rate. I'm not going to tie my opinion to them. Another Left handed corner outfielder seems like a waste of a roster spot. One gets traded, ok I'm a little more on board. If he ends up playing a lot of 1b, because Kirilloff can't swing a bat, I'm a little more on board. and so on...

He is on the team so of course I'll be rooting for him to have a great year.

[JD-TWINS]

8 hours ago, specialiststeve said:

Yikes! Not sure what else to say. 

I was one of the masses that were pissed when we heard of the pick up. Getting a player that Plays very good defense and hits home runs but KILLS our team in every other way... WOW.

Given our logjam in the OF with Lefthanded bats.. Makes ZERO sense... 

Signing him for a 2-3 million dollar deal with 8 million in incentives ... fine... but throwing 11 million at a player that is a bench player "IF" he makes the team... YIKES!! 

 

 

Wow! That was my reaction when Gallo was signed. I had no hard feelings relative to our desire or ability to sign Correa……..I did think it limited our ability to sign a Starter or Reliever from FA market. I do believe hat not spending on a reliever at this point is due to budget & the fact that we are paying both Kepler & Gallo. Your point of some base of around 5 million with over half, 6 million, in some incentive goal structure……..makes way better sense!

Going into Spring Training with our potential mix of guys in OF & their health histories, Buxton - Larnach - Kepler - Kirilof ………it now seems to make a lot of sense for REAL depth to have both Kepler & Gallo around as well as Gordon.

If they trade Max or Joey at some point in July due to successes of others that’s fine. I can’t watch the AAA subs we were starting daily last year because our front line guys were hurt. Hopefully, Gallo will perform at a level that is distinguishably better than Jake Cave & Gilberto Celestino. Both with advanced metrics & the eye test!

[miracleb]

I'm not a "negative Gallo" guy....but 12M for a guy that Larnach would match numbers with...... is the trade off.  Could have been money spent elsewhere to boost the roster.

[Hunter McCall]

 

15 hours ago, Beast said:

I’m a fan of the move.

If you’re going to be scared of any sort of long-term big money commitment to external free agents (like many fans here seem to be), you have to take fliers like this one if you want to compete.

Especially if you’re going to burn your high draft picks with poor evaluations of guys like Sabato, Rooker, Gordon, Cavaco, etc.

You can’t have it both ways.  If it doesn’t work out, nothing is lost.  He’s not blocking anybody.  He’s not going to hold this team back from winning anything.  If the team stinks with him, they would’ve stunk without him.  But. There’s a slim chance he returns to form and helps the team win some games.

He’s also immediately one of the better defenders on the team with position flexibility.

Exactly! Low-risk, high-reward!

[Brock Beauchamp]

Sarcasm aside about Joey Gallo, he's a good upside play but on a roster that still doesn't need his offensive profile.

Trade Kepler and the Gallo deal gets a lot better. 

[Hunter McCall]

7 hours ago, IndianaTwin said:

I think one of the challenges Gallo has faced on TD is that he’s not Carlos Correa. By that, I mean that he signed when many on TD were in a “Correa or Bust” mindset. So when Gallo signed early, many expressed their angst that we weren’t going to get C4, and that angst both spiraled in general and translated to a frustration about Gallo and his style of play in particular  

I think there are similar dynamics at play in many folks’ perception of Farmer. Even though it was early, people interpreted the Farmer trade as a sign they didn’t think we could get C4 and that the FO was settling for Farmer as a bridge to Lewis. In reality, in the context of their overall plan and the roster they’ve developed, I think it was a shrewd move to trade Urshela for Farmer, but I don’t think the FO has gotten much credit for that move either.

And even Vazquez. I haven’t seen anyone complain about that signing, but neither has there been much celebration about getting the second-best catcher on the market. We were too concerned about not yet having signed a top-flight shortstop  

I get it. I didn’t particularly enjoy watching Gallo as a member of opposing teams, but I do enjoy winning, and I think he can help the Twins do that.
 

I’ll also repeat a statement I’ve made elsewhere, which is that I just find it more enjoyable to go through life expecting the best rather than expecting the worst. I think the former is what the OP is encouraging us to do. 

You hit the nail right on the head! That is what I am encouraging fans to do. Instead of hating Joey Gallo right off the bat, give him a chance to show his skill set. On paper it may not be what you have traditionally liked to see in the past, but it's a skill set that can help the Twins win baseball games! I believe in Joey Gallo, and the contract is a very easy contract to stomach for the Twins.

[Whitey333]

I am for giving Gallo a chance.  I mean what else can we do he's here.  However I think it is more likely to prove that spending 11 mil on an 8 year career BA of 199 is way over spend.  You talk about him having productive at bats.  What's productive about striking out 38% of the time.  Striking out is totally non productive.  It's a meaningless at bat except to pad a pitchers stats.  My guess is fans will be booing him like they did Sano by mid season.  Sure he will hit some home runs in streaks  but will flail away most of the time being overmatched by pitchers.  It may be just as wrong to continually knock Arraez for only winning the batting title.  You continually appear to knock him in your comparison to Gallo.  Shameful.  It's getting so tiring of people shoving the new analytical stats down our throats.  Baseball has been very boring the past few years.  Analytics being used in large part to make mediocre players appear to be good.  It's a travesty the way baseball is being destroyed from once was the grand old game.  MLB is just a shell of what it used to be.  And that she'll is cracking more and more.

[Old Twins Cap]

There are many, many outcomes in baseball that are worse than striking out.  Many.

Including pulling a hammy running out a DP ground ball.

Remember:  the worst outcome ever in my recent memory for a Twins AB was when Michael Cuddyer hit that ground ball in Toronto in 2011 (or whatever year that was) and Morneau took a knee to the head, altering his MVP trajectory, the entire Twins season that year, and the eventual future of both Morneau and the Twins.

That was the single most destructive AB in Twins' history.  Devastating!  If he had just struck out, our Twins' history would be completely different.

The one true judgment for Gallo, like Correa, like Buxton, like Baldelli, like the entire Twins organization, like every baseball team in MLB, is their Win-Loss record.

I am glad that the Rooster is here to help with that.

Go Twins!

[Nashvilletwin]

17 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Sarcasm aside about Joey Gallo, he's a good upside play but on a roster that still doesn't need his offensive profile.

Trade Kepler and the Gallo deal gets a lot better. 

Agree.  Trading Kepler is really the only way the Gallo signing makes any sense. Having Gallo play 1B (which I guess sounds more likely with Arraez gone and more Kiriloff injury rumours) is a complete waste of all this defensive talent everybody keeps extolling as a reason for the signing. It would have been better if we had just gone out and found an actual first basemen in that case. 

[roger]

Sure seem to be a lot of commenters with a burr under their saddles this morning.  Guess that includes Hunter.

My biggest concern from reading this are the comments about kirilloff's wrist.  Have been gone for a week, however, the last I read in the Strib was that he was swinging without any pain.  All was good.  Has that changed?

As for Gallo, don't know a lot about him.  Hate hitters who strike out a lot like Sano, but on the other hand a K is a hell of a lot better than a weak grounder into an inning ending double play.  Expect he doesn't do a lot of that.  On the other hand, wouldn't most of us be thrilled to walk into the office this morning and have our boss call us in and tell us if we make a one year commitment he will up our pay to $12M, or $11M whatever he is making.  This game really doesn't make a lot of sense any more.

[IndianaTwin]

This is an honest question, not a leading one.

Were there any free agent outfielders, who fit Gallo’s profile of being able to play all three outfield positions and first base, potentially have a ton of power, draw a ton of walks, willing to sign for $11M and bat right-handed? 

[chpettit19]

24 minutes ago, IndianaTwin said:

This is an honest question, not a leading one.

Were there any free agent outfielders, who fit Gallo’s profile of being able to play all three outfield positions and first base, potentially have a ton of power, draw a ton of walks, willing to sign for $11M and bat right-handed? 

Wil Myers and Adam Duvall are the 2 names that come to mind with a similar type profile as righties. Myers certainly not the same defender as Gallo, and doesn't play CF ever, while Duvall doesn't play 1B. Duvall 4 years older, Myers 3 years older. Myers a little better BA and not as much power, but still tons of Ks and BBs. Duvall a little better BA and good power, but no BBs and medium Ks. I think they'd be the best comps Gallo as righties as FAs this offseason. Myers signed for 7.5M in Cinci, Duvall for 7M in Boston.

[MGX]

Title of the article " Give Joey Gallo a chance"

To me this is MLB & no one should be given a starting role, they should earn it. Last season Gallo was awful, anyway you look at it. He should be used solely as a reserve until he earns more playing time. A player like Nick Gordon earned more playing time based on what he did last year. How about give Nick Gordon a chance to be a starter since he earned it.

 

 

[Fire Dan Gladden]

14 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Point: Give Joey Gallo a Chance

Counterpoint: no

That, ladies and gentlemen, is the fantastic level of analysis and depth we have come to know and love from our Twins Daily staff!  🙂 

[TCSquad]

22 hours ago, LastOnePicked said:

Well I think I can. I rooted for Tim Laudner, and I don't remember him hitting above .190. Lots of ways to contribute, and these Twins could use some power.

I rode an elevator with Tim Laudner once at Target Field. He made a comment ribbing the TC Squad to Anthony LaPanta, all in good fun. I then turned to one of the guys in the group and asked, "Anyone got change for a buck-ninety?" Only Laudner laughed, but he laughed loudly and said, "Ok, that was a good one."

[jmlease1]

1 hour ago, chpettit19 said:

Wil Myers and Adam Duvall are the 2 names that come to mind with a similar type profile as righties. Myers certainly not the same defender as Gallo, and doesn't play CF ever, while Duvall doesn't play 1B. Duvall 4 years older, Myers 3 years older. Myers a little better BA and not as much power, but still tons of Ks and BBs. Duvall a little better BA and good power, but no BBs and medium Ks. I think they'd be the best comps Gallo as righties as FAs this offseason. Myers signed for 7.5M in Cinci, Duvall for 7M in Boston.

I was definitely on the Wil Myers train. Thought he made sense as a RH bat who could play some corner OF/1B/DH.

I still question the wisdom of the Gallo signing, but I understand the need for OF depth after last year's disaster. If he clears the mendoza Line on his BA, he'll likely be a productive overall hitter for us with his power and patience. And he'll do well in the field. he just can't bat .160 like he has for the last 18 months...

BA is not the best stat for determining overall value, but it's weirdly a great indicator for how Gallo is going?

[MN_ExPat]

On 2/1/2023 at 1:01 PM, mikelink45 said:

As a consistent Gallo detractor I will say he has to earn my trust.  Just putting on a uniform does not endure me to him.  Pagan still wears our uniform and I want to get rid of him.  Sorry but Gallo has an 8 year lifetime batting average of 199.  I cannot root for that. 

I can understand and even empathize with that.  But... I would counter that despite that, and even because of that, you should root for him.  He's on our favorite team and I've never heard anything that would say he's not a decent human being.

If he does well, it only helps the team do better overall.  I understand why many Twins fans are super hesitant (if not outright hostile to the signing), but it doesn't hurt to hope (and pray ) that he succeeds here.  Baseball is hard, we don't need to make it harder .

[MN_ExPat]

On 2/1/2023 at 1:23 PM, theBOMisthebomb said:

Save the lecture, I do consider those factors. Actually, I use wOBA and wRC+...

Grumpy Cat says your argument is invalid. 

He said it... I'm just the messenger.  He threatened to cut me if I didn't pass it along.