New York Yankees: Joey Gallo needs to go at MLB trade deadline

I’m sorry, but Joey Gallo’s at-bats stress me out. Like a lot. Believe me, it is not only because of his slash line this season with the New York Yankees of .161/.285/.343, which is horrible, but the guy is a guaranteed out when he steps in the batter’s box.

So why is Gallo not in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre? Well, that is beyond me, probably because the New York Yankees gave the Texas Rangers four players (Josh Smith, Glenn Otto, Ezequiel Duran, and Trevor Hauver) for Joey.

It is time for the New York Yankees to give up on Joey Gallo, and hopefully, with Andrew Benintendi, he loses his starting job in the lineup.

Gallo has gone hitless in way too many games and struck out more than one can count. He is swinging at it .161 with 12 home runs, 24 RBI, 103 strikeouts in 230 at-bats, and 40 walks throughout 80 games. Those are numbers that scream the truth to the Yankees. Yet, he continues to be in the lineup because I bet Brian Cashman wants him there. Aaron Boone knows that putting Gallo in the lineup is just a mistake. After last year’s trade deadline acquisition, Cashman doesn’t want to look like a fool.

But, it is time to designate Joey for the assignment or find a trade for him. There is no need to hold Gallo, not even on the bench. The Yankees are stacked for players that can help even more this team … even before the Benintendi trade.

The first one that comes to mind is Miguel Andujar, who earlier this season batted a respectable .268 in 12 games with the Yankees. Instead, they are forcing Andujar to request a trade. The once highly seen prospect squanders his talent in Triple-A with a batting .297/.343/.489 with a .832 OPS and ten home runs in 56 games for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Another player that has spent his Yankee days on the bench while Gallo takes a spot in the lineup is Marwin Gonzalez, who has been great as of late. In June, Gonzalez went 11-for-35 (.314), with two homers, four doubles, two walks, and a .951 OPS.

“He’s been great. He has those stretches where maybe he doesn’t play for a week, then he’s playing four or five in a row. Anywhere you put him on the field, you feel good about him. I feel like he’s played a really strong shortstop for us when we’ve plugged him in there. He’s really good in the corner outfield positions. You trust him out there. And he’s really starting to swing the bat well for us.” – Aaron Boone on Marwin Gonzalez.

The outfield has been messed up because of Gallo. Judge basically is the team center fielder while Gallo has been switching from right and left field. So it should be a pretty easy fix if Joey is gone —Benintendi in left, Hicks in center, and Judge in right. What the heck, even Giancarlo Staton is a better candidate to take right field, even though he just hit the injured list (again). However, Cashman continues to make excuses for Gallo.

Remember this: The Yankees are paying $10.275 million for a .161 hitter.

Not even his outstanding work in the outfield is an excuse to keep this guy. He continues to be booed by Yankee fans all over the country.

My question is, why did the Yankees keep Gallo in the trade with the Royals? I would have sent Gallo as a gift to Kansas City, especially after his latest opportunity as a pinch hitter against Edwin Diaz. Spoiler alert … he struck out.

I don’t want to think the New York Yankees want to keep Joey Gallo after giving fans constant heart attacks. The team is doing great without him; let’s just move on.