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  • Minnesota Twins Sign Joey Gallo

    Theodore Tollefson

    By Theodore Tollefson

    Jeff Passan is reporting that the Twins have signed slugger Joey Gallo to a one-year deal for $11M.

    Image courtesy of © Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

    Twins Video

    MINNEAPOLIS – The Twins have signed outfielder Joey Gallo to a one-year, $11 million contract for the 2023 season, as Jeff Passan of ESPN reported.

    Gallo, 29, is a two-time American League all-star and Gold Glove winner. 2022 was Gallo’s worst to date as he posted a .160/.280/.357 triple slash and .638 OPS along with 19 home runs and 47 RBI in 126 games between the Yankees and Dodgers. 

    Gallo played 82 of his 126 games with the Yankees in 2022 before being traded on July 29, 2022, to the Dodgers, along with Joely Rodriguez for Trevor Hauver, Ezequiel Duran, Glenn Otto, and Josh Smith.

    Gallo is known for being one of the most frequent hitters, if not the most, to strike out at the plate. He is the definition of the three true outcome hitter which entails he will either strikeout, walk, or hit a home run anytime he is at the plate. Gallo had a strikeout percentage of 39.8% for 2022, his highest ever in a full season. 

    However, he also has 177 home runs in 2811 plate appearances, or better than one home run every 16 plate appearances. His career-high single-season home run total came in 2017 when he hit 41 with the Texas Rangers.  Also, despite his below-the-Mendoza line batting average, (career .199 hitter) he gets on-base; he’s posted a .325 OBP over his career.

    Now a member of the Twins, Gallo will likely be playing in the corner outfield positions, possibly sometime in center field with 56 career games at the position, and spend time as the designated hitter as well. He has also played at first base during his 8-year career. The addition of Gallo, another left-handed hitting outfielder, also places further emphasis on the future of Max Kepler as a Twin, as Gallo now becomes the seventh left-handed hitting outfielder on the Twins' 40-man roster. 

    Gallo has played 15 games at Target Field in his career and has posted a .263/.323/.632 triple slash with six home runs and 13 runs batted in 62 plate appearances. His .632 SLG percentage at Target Field is his highest in any Major League ballpark with a minimum of 40 plate appearances. 

    The deal comes four days after the Twins signed catcher Christian Vazquez to a three-year, $30 million contract, which was made official today.

    Minnesota born and raised, Theodore is a professional journalist with the Rochester Post Bulletin who uses his free time to write about the Twins for TD to give an old school perspective from a younger generation.
    Follow Theodore Tollefson on Twitter: TheodoreTollef1

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    chpettit19

    chpettit19 8,662

  • Community Leader

    • Posted

    2 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

    He's projected for 1.1 fWAR...........1`.1. Kepler is projected for 1.9. It isn't close. And, for 11 million dollars. And, unless Kepler is traded, they are blocking youth for a year for what? What is fixed long term (or even short term)?

    I don't care about projections. They're trash. I didn't say it was a good deal, or one they should've done. Simply pointed out that Gallo has had a better career than Kepler in the same number of years.

    They're not "blocking" the youth because the youth can't stay on the field. Larnach isn't blocked by anyone but himself and his inability to play for more than 2 months at a time. Same with Kirilloff. Wallner is incredibly unproven, and a terrible defender. If Gallo is the best player they're bringing in they shouldn't be bringing in outside guys. But we also need to stop acting like the young players on the Twins 40-man have earned starting spots on a major league team. They haven't. Hoping on the youth is no better than hoping on Gallo bouncing back. He's at least shown he's physically capable of being an elite major league hitter. I wouldn't want to bet on him getting back to his 2019 or 2021 self, but at least he had a 2019 and 2021 self while Larnach, Wallner, Kirilloff, and Gordon haven't even been close. And none are as good defensively as him.

    I don't like the move, but let's stop acting like these young guys are more than they are to this point. Gallo is a 2 time all star and gold glove winner in the last 3 full seasons. The youth can only hope to achieve those things.

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    Mike Sixel

    Mike Sixel 41,021

  • Old-Timey Member

    • Posted

    Just now, chpettit19 said:

    I don't care about projections. They're trash. I didn't say it was a good deal, or one they should've done. Simply pointed out that Gallo has had a better career than Kepler in the same number of years.

    They're not "blocking" the youth because the youth can't stay on the field. Larnach isn't blocked by anyone but himself and his inability to play for more than 2 months at a time. Same with Kirilloff. Wallner is incredibly unproven, and a terrible defender. If Gallo is the best player they're bringing in they shouldn't be bringing in outside guys. But we also need to stop acting like the young players on the Twins 40-man have earned starting spots on a major league team. They haven't. Hoping on the youth is no better than hoping on Gallo bouncing back. He's at least shown he's physically capable of being an elite major league hitter. I wouldn't want to bet on him getting back to his 2019 or 2021 self, but at least he had a 2019 and 2021 self while Larnach, Wallner, Kirilloff, and Gordon haven't even been close. And none are as good defensively as him.

    I don't like the move, but let's stop acting like these young guys are more than they are to this point. Gallo is a 2 time all star and gold glove winner in the last 3 full seasons. The youth can only hope to achieve those things.

    If they can't bring up the youth and have them produce, they can't win no matter how many Gallos they sign. At some point, you have to bite the bullet. Passing on all the great players or even next tier of players was that point for me. 

    He put up .6 WAR with his great defense last year.

    Projects aren't trash. Go look at how they actually do......

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    specialiststeve

    specialiststeve 450

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    24 minutes ago, High heat said:

    I actually really like this deal!!

     

    Joey Gallo along with Kepler are going to benefit heavily from the shift ban.  Very good defensive OF with Gallo in LF Kepler in RF and Buck in CF.

    You may actually want to look up his performance numbers... they are TERRIBLE. 

    If we are looking to be terrible... this is the right move. Yikes. 

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    farmerguychris

    farmerguychris 561

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    I've defended most of the moves this F.O. has made despite often being in the minority - but I don't understand $11M to yet another left handed corner outfielder who hits below .200.

    Whats the point - do they really not want Wallner to play that badly or perhaps is Larnach having a set back? 

    This makes no sense at all.  Even if we trade Kepler, now we have this guy who is also 'just a guy' but at a higher salary.  If were right handed I could at least understand that angle of it.

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    farmerguychris

    farmerguychris 561

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    11 minutes ago, LewFordLives said:

    Someone is also going to have to come off the 40 man. I can't think of anyone currently on the roster that I would value less than Gallo....not even Pagan.

    OK - I gotta say I'd prefer Gallo over Pagan.  Its not THAT bad, even if its awful.

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    puckstopper1

    puckstopper1 1,243

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    I don't know if can get a player that is a worse fit for what this team needs.

    I called Sano "big whiff".  It looks like Gallo inherits that title now.  40% K/AB last season and it was worse in LA.

    They could have added a couple of solid BP arms for that $11M they are paying this stiff.

    Somebody shoot me now please...

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    theBOMisthebomb

    theBOMisthebomb 2,010

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    Not a fan of this move. The career .199 BA and 262 strikeouts on average per 162 games are not pleasing stats. He's actually had 2 seasons of 200+ Ks. Most recently in 2021. ? ? Yuck. Supposedly he plays defense, though I'd rather have Kepler out there than Gallo. I also think I'd rather have just kept Sano, who at least has a flicker of a flame to change his destiny and become a well rounded ball player. Hopefully the FO are just going to flip Gallo, though who'd want him? 

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    Azviking101

    Azviking101 426

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    I have no issue giving someone like this a prove it deal. Here's my main problem here.

    Kepler is coming off a bad year, with the potential to have a really good year if the analytics are correct about the loss of the shift. Kepler also has a team option next year. Gallo has the chance to bounce back, but he's on a 1 year contract, so if he does he's going to get a massive contract next year from someone not named the Twins.

    Twins had the chance to have a potential huge trade package next year for Kepler or keep him for a season on the cheap and get massive production for little money. As a mid-market team, they have to make the most out of these things and this is a bad decision.

    Now there is a great chance neither happens, but the Twins didn't put themselves in position to benefit if that comes true. This just adds to my belief that Falvine duo is clueless.

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    chpettit19

    chpettit19 8,662

  • Community Leader

    • Posted

    7 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

    If they can't bring up the youth and have them produce, they can't win no matter how many Gallos they sign. At some point, you have to bite the bullet. Passing on all the great players or even next tier of players was that point for me. 

    He put up .6 WAR with his great defense last year.

    Projects aren't trash. Go look at how they actually do......

    They've tried biting the bullet for 2 years now and it hasn't worked. That's why they still have so many holes on the roster. Had Larnach stayed healthy and produced in 2021 there'd be no thought of Gallo. Or if Larnach had stayed healthy and produced in 2022 there'd be no thought of Gallo. But he didn't. Either year. How many years are we biting this bullet and seeing what Larnach can do to stay healthy and produce?

    Again, I don't like the deal and it doesn't at all make this offseason successful. Simply pointing out that Gallo is a multi-time all star and gold glove winner and people are acting like the Twins just signed one of us. He's not a problem solver. He's simply more depth. He better not be their last move. But he's better than plenty of guys on the 40-man so the team is better today than it was yesterday.

    Projections are trash. I've looked at them. The Twins aren't hopping on fangraphs and saying "well dang, Gallo is only projected for 1.2 WAR this year, waste of time."

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    JakeBru3

    JakeBru3 36

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    7 minutes ago, farmerguychris said:

    I've defended most of the moves this F.O. has made despite often being in the minority - but I don't understand $11M to yet another left handed corner outfielder who hits below .200.

    Whats the point - do they really not want Wallner to play that badly or perhaps is Larnach having a set back? 

    This makes no sense at all.  Even if we trade Kepler, now we have this guy who is also 'just a guy' but at a higher salary.  If were right handed I could at least understand that angle of it.

    Was a gold glove winning OF in '20 and '21! Can play all 3 OF spots so when Buck needs a day off can slide to CF. 

    A very good defender with a big bat on a one year deal for a team in need of veterans that have been there before...makes sense in my eyes. 

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    JakeBru3

    JakeBru3 36

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    4 minutes ago, theBOMisthebomb said:

    Not a fan of this move. The career .199 BA and 262 strikeouts on average per 162 games are not pleasing stats. He's actually had 2 seasons of 200+ Ks. Most recently in 2021. ? ? Yuck. Supposedly he plays defense, though I'd rather have Kepler out there than Gallo. I also think I'd rather have just kept Sano, who at least has a flicker of a flame to change his destiny and become a well rounded ball player. Hopefully the FO are just going to flip Gallo, though who'd want him? 

    Sano has flicker to become a well rounded player??

    Is his celieng a 2 time gold glove winner in the OF? Or could he be a 5 WAR type player? Because that's Gallo 1 season ago...

    It's a no risk high reward 1 year prove it deal.

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    JakeBru3

    JakeBru3 36

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    8 minutes ago, Azviking101 said:

    I have no issue giving someone like this a prove it deal. Here's my main problem here.

    Kepler is coming off a bad year, with the potential to have a really good year if the analytics are correct about the loss of the shift. Kepler also has a team option next year. Gallo has the chance to bounce back, but he's on a 1 year contract, so if he does he's going to get a massive contract next year from someone not named the Twins.

    Twins had the chance to have a potential huge trade package next year for Kepler or keep him for a season on the cheap and get massive production for little money. As a mid-market team, they have to make the most out of these things and this is a bad decision.

    Now there is a great chance neither happens, but the Twins didn't put themselves in position to benefit if that comes true. This just adds to my belief that Falvine duo is clueless.

    I believe if I'm not mistaken the issue with Kepler was more launch angle and hitting the ball on the ground vs. the shift completely. I had the same thought process as you until I read somewhere recently the issue was more launch angle with Kepler than shift. 

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    Charleo

    Charleo 18

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    This is the most useless signing I can remember from this FO....and there have been plenty.  We have 4-5 left-handed corner outfielders making pennies by comparison who would provide more value.  We should have just signed Sano for half that and told him to hit left-handed.  It would have made just as much sense and been a lot cheaper.  Guess I'll be saving money on MLBTV this summer.  Yuck.  

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    sweetmusicviola16

    sweetmusicviola16 760

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    8 minutes ago, JakeBru3 said:

    This is a joke right??

    Gallo is a gold glove winning OF that can play all 3 OF positions. He is a year removed from being a 5 WAR player...

    Yeah it's a joke. And so is signing Joey Gallo.  A 5 WAR player, who hits .199. And strikes out over 200 times a season. This is not going to turn this thing around. Makes it go deeper in a bad direction.

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    Azviking101

    Azviking101 426

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    1 minute ago, JakeBru3 said:

    I believe if I'm not mistaken the issue with Kepler was more launch angle and hitting the ball on the ground vs. the shift completely. I had the same thought process as you until I read somewhere recently the issue was more launch angle with Kepler than shift. 

    Yes and I do not believe Kepler will have a ton more production, but I do think those ground balls into the shift will start bleeding through, If he can get his OPS back up to .750 he will be a 5 WAR player. That could bring back a huge trade haul. Sadly, I don't believe the Falvine duo thought about this

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    chpettit19

    chpettit19 8,662

  • Community Leader

    • Posted

    2 minutes ago, JakeBru3 said:

    I believe if I'm not mistaken the issue with Kepler was more launch angle and hitting the ball on the ground vs. the shift completely. I had the same thought process as you until I read somewhere recently the issue was more launch angle with Kepler than shift. 

    Soft contact, leading to lots of pop ups to the outfield or grounders to second, is what the batted ball data says Kepler's problem is.

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