Joey Gallo Adds Without Subtracting, But What About His Teammates

The addition of Joey Gallo as a lefty power bat in the Yankees lineup is good, but where’s the help coming from the rest of the team?

Pending a physical, Joey Gallo will soon be wearing the Yankee’s pinstripes.

The deal on the table sends Joey Gallo and Joely Rodríguez to the Bronx in exchange for a four-player prospect package. Once finalized, the expectation is that Texas will receive infielders Ezequiel Duran, Josh Smith, Trevor Hauver, and right-handed pitcher Glenn Otto in return.

None of the Yankee’s prospects are considered top-level, and depending on which Tweet is accurate (Mark Feisand or Jim Bowden), the Rangers will pay most or all of Gallo’s remaining salary for this year.

Either way, this is a sweet deal for the Yankees, and aside from the strikeouts adding to an already strikeout prone lineup, the name itself – Joey Gallo – seems to be made for the Bronx.

Joey Gallo – Enough With The Euphoria

But that’s where the euphoria stops.

Because unless the rest of the Yankees team that ranks next to last in runs scored in the major leagues comes to life, Joey Gallo will not make a difference to this Yankee’s team no matter what feats he achieves.

Giancarlo Stanton cannot continue to bat .250 with a strikeout one in every three at-bats (98-295) while grounding into 13 double plays.

Gleyber Torres has to be better than .248, 6 HR, 37 RBI, DJ LeMahieu is not being paid the big bucks to bat .267 with only 22 extra-base hits in more than 400 plate appearances, and Gary Sanchez‘s paltry .217 BA and only 37 RBI over 78 games is not acceptable.

And bless his heart, Brett Gardner shouldn’t even be playing anymore.

Joey Gallo is a streak hitter, and if you look at his splits for this season, provided by Baseball-Reference , that becomes easily apparent:

Joey Gallo Accents, Not Cures The Yankees Problem

So in a sense, Joey Gallo complements, but doesn’t solve, an already existing problem the Yankees have as a streaky team filled with streaky position players.

This season, only Gio Urshela and Aaron Judge come to play every day, putting up consistent at-bats with corresponding productive numbers.

All others, you get what you get on any given day, and the same was true when Luke Voit and Clint Frazier (both on the IL) were in the lineup.

Joey Gallo, Judge, Urshela, and Who else?

So to the point, Joey Gallo is a fine acquisition for the Yankees, and it’ll be fun to watch him attack the short porch at Yankee Stadium – but if The Team isn’t there with him – say goodnight on the Yankees season, even if they squeak into the playoffs.

Pitching aside, and hopefully, Brian Cashman is working to find help there before tomorrow’s 4 pm deadline as well, the Yankees are a team built on the three-run home run to win games.

Except for flirting with Greg Allen, Tim Locastro, and a player they already have in Tyler Wade, a Yankees team built on athleticism and speed will likely never be the front office’s overall strategy.

With Aaron Boone‘s hand-tied from above to not play Giancarlo Stanton in the field (what else can it be?), this further complicates the day-to-day Yankee’s lineup with Stanton automatically relegated to the DH spot.

We see the daily comments from readers hoping that Hal Steinbrenner has the kahunas to move Cashman upstairs to bring in a more 21st Century type general manager. Still, more and more, it’s apparent Steinbrenner is even more stuck in the past than Cashman.

So, this is the state of the New York Yankees after the acquisition of Joey Gallo.

Gallo improves the team, no doubt, but he is not enough to carry this Yankee’s team any further than they would have gone without him.

Call it a win for the Yankees because they gave up nothing to get him but beyond that…

Here’s What Readers Are Saying…

Chris Buckingham Anthony Rizzo

Kevin Mccue Sold out the farm. Alcantara amazing prospect

Gordon Lomax Rizzo will help. Cashman is necessarily distracted by the need to add another starting pitcher. Another team will grab him first.

Emil E. Hernandez Well It’s All About Motivation and Dedication…

Peter Rygiel Jr. Can he pitch? Thank goodness for that .211 BA.

Dan Young All power hitters besides, DJ and Greg Allen .. great job cash

Chris Mcdeed He may have hit the odd home run but that is a weakness with a batting ave lower than most unless he learns to deliver safe hits apart from HR’s He will be another expensive waste of CASH????

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