Yeah, it's too early - far, far, too, too early - to start blasting that distressed whale sound over the p.a. system. Three games. A weekend. It's not even Easter yet.
Still, I've started channeling John Mayberry - the original, not the son - when Joey Gallo strides to the plate.
Mayberry, of course, was a 1970s Royals star who finished his career with the 5th place 1982 Yankees, well beyond his sell-by date. He hit .208 with just 8 HRs. I called him "Maybe Not." He became one of the first Yanks I actually rooted against. I'm not proud of this, but it's true. I fucking rooted against the guy. I became a traitor to the Yankees, an insurrectionist, a back-stabber, a double-dealer, a ne'er-do-well. What prompted such treachery?
a) In my mind, he was still a Royal.
b) At 33, he was clearly done.
c) If he did happen to whack a HR, it simply meant another month of enduring him.
I just wanted the pain to end. Eventually, the GM - Cedric Tallis, it was - replaced him with Bye Bye Balboni, (whom they then traded for the great Duane Dewey and Mike Armstrong), and so did the Yankees of the early 1980s become the infamous "worst team money can buy."
And don't think it cannot happen again.
Listen: It's too early to root for Gallo's replacement. A mountain of shit must happen before Brian Cashman pulls the plug on last summer's big ticket acquisition - (and, by extension, perhaps pull the plug on his time as GM.) For starters, the Yanks have no outfielder in the wings, unless Estevan Florial is ready. (He's 5 for 16 with 2 HRs at Scranton.) After Anthony Rizzo, they have no big LH bat, and Aaron Hicks hasn't looked promising.
This weekend, Gallo looked certifiably Tartabullish. He went 1 for 10 with four K's and three walks. (In his lone hit, he tried to stretch a single into a double and was thrown out by 10 feet.) Gallo botched three plays in LF, and fanned so quickly last night in the bottom of the ninth, flailing at a Boston lefty, that he could single-handedly inspire the return of LOOGY's.
At some point, Gallo will blast a HR or two. Seriously, he can't be this bad. In fact, he did lash a few balls into the over-shift - where they were easily swallowed up. He has at least a month to prove himself as a legitimate deterrent to pitching around Judge and Giancarlo. It's too early to think about his replacement.
Still... I cannot lie: When I see him, I think "Maybe Not."
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And, in the "I Can't Believe He Said That" category, Boooooone had this to say in today's Daily Murdoch:
"Aaron Boone thinks Joey Gallo off to ‘a good start’ despite poor numbers"
“I would suggest he’s off to, at-bat-wise, a good start...Controlling the zone, getting on base, he smoked a couple balls. Tonight I thought had some really good at-bats where he just missed the ball...Look at what he’s doing. And I think we’re seeing a lot of good at-bats and a guy that, for me, has a lot more [plate] coverage right now.”
He actually said all this.
I think someone has lost his mind. Or his eyesight.
Last night, on the TV, somebody said Gallo could be great if baseball eliminates the overshift.
So, that's all that's holding him back: A rule change.
Every time Gallo comes up to the plate with runners on, I know we're fucked. And whenever they have a close up of him with the eye stretching spasms and facial tics, it makes me twitch as well. The same way yawning is contagious, so are nervous tremors and Tourette Syndrome-like body movements. I find myself reaching for a bottle of XO cognac or the pipe. For that reason alone, I demand he be traded.
And don't worry about your Benedict Arnold moments, Duque as we all have them. The latest one was Andrew Heaney. Every time on the mound, I felt myself wishing him the same fate as one of Kim Jong Un's political rivals.
Aaron Boone is the human version of corporate AI.
Gallo is that bad. Like Tex at the end of his career but without the wonderful memories.
All I can say is that these Yankees will be lucky to win 80 games and not finish last. At least the Red Sox fans had a worse weekend than we did.
Fuck.
IMHO, Gallo is a stiff. If we keep running him out there, yes he’ll hit some HR’s for us, but he certainly can’t be counted on for any type of consistent production. At some point, the team will need to address his performance. Internally, the most accessible options would be Florial or Gardner, either far from ideal, and possibly even worse options than Gallo. Given his mediocre IF skills, perhaps some though should be given to moving Torres to LF. Meanwhile, it’s difficult for me to watch him flail and fail.
As far as the execrable Boone, this is more of the same gaslighting bullshit he’s been dishing out for the last 3 years.I keep expecting one of the reporters to call him out on this, but of course they never do. The prospect of having to listen to this callow ass kisser for 3 more years is nauseating.
Hope we can at least split the 4 with Toronto.
Wasn't Miggy being semi-groomed as a left fielder? It would be a possible improvement, and rescue him from the purgatory of his current career.
Florial is off to a good start and can slot into center, pushing zombie Hicks to left and Gallo to the… Padres?
@DickAllen...I guess Boone is the modern day version of Casey Stengel. It's Boone Speak...sort of like turning lemons into lemonade...just kill me now...
I don't think he gets resigned or shouldn't. I'm afraid that if Judge leaves, Cashman will resign Gallo because there won't be much available. I'm pretty sure Gallo will ask for something around 23-25 a year for at least 7-8 years. I wouldn't pay him 15 a year. He's just a 1 dimensional hitter.
Guys, Gallo batting .100. His lifetime BA is .200, so he should be going on a tear any day now.
Comparing Casey to Boooone is like comparing a Bentley to a Ford Pinto.
And we can only hope the Pinto gets hit in the ass and explodes.
I dug into Joey Gallo's career numbers last year when we traded for him and I was very worried.
First, Gallo's career batting line is .206/.333/.487 (.819 OPS). That is not an elite offensive player, no matter how much the pundits tell us he's an All Star bat. That's an OK bat. About 14% better than league average by adjusted OPS.
Second, since 2020, Gallo has hit .193/.337/.431 (.768 OPS) in 855 PA. He's trending in the wrong direction. And that's not a small sample size. Tell me what exactly is special about a .431 SLG?
Third, in his career, Gallo has hit .141/..302/.340 (.642 OPS) in "high leverage" situations, according to FanGraphs. That does not seem ideal.
Last night, when he trotted to the plate against Jake Diekman, I was shouting at the tv for Boone to pinch hit because obviously he had no chance vs. a power-throwing lefty. Then I realized there was no one on the bench but Marwin Gonzalez. Tremendous roster construction, Brian.
I have this terrible sinking feeling that Cashman is going to try to extend Gallo for three reasons: 1) he can take Judge's spot in RF in 2023; 2) he'll be cheaper now given his recent struggles; and 3) the shift ban is coming in 2023 and maybe Gallo can get his BA all the way up to .220.
Why did we get Gallo in the first place? Gardy's bat is better than Gallo's. And I can't imagine Gardy blowing every ball hit in his direction.
That said, I still don't know why they brought back Boone or Cashman, either
Gallo will get his homers. There's lots of weak pitching out there and that's the Yankee bread and butter. But three-true-outcomes-offense (or is it two?) ALWAYS collapses in the playoffs, because playoff teams have the best pitchers and the best pitchers make very few mistakes.
I have to agree with Unknown, I'd rather see 'Old Gardy' at the plate with a game on the line, than the king of the two-true-outcome-offense, Gallo.
But then, I never wanted Gallo on this team, any more than I wanted Boone or Cashman.
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