The Yankees shook up the MLB trade deadline period on Wednesday night by acquiring All-Star outfielder Andrew Benintendi from the Royals in exchange for three minor league pitchers.
With Benintendi all but assured of joining the Yankees lineup as an everyday player, his arrival would seem to suggest that slumping slugger Joey Gallo's disappointing run in the Bronx could soon be coming to an end.
According to Audacy MLB insider Jon Heyman, the Yankees are indeed "shopping" Gallo ahead of next week's deadline, and at least two clubs -- the Padres and Gallo's former team, the Rangers -- are interested, though the Yankees are yet to receive an offer of the caliber of prospect they apparently are seeking.
As well, San Diego and Texas are also in the mix for Nationals slugger Juan Soto, per Heyman, and thus are waiting on the outcome of the frenzied sweepstakes for the prized slugger before potentially moving for a lesser player such as Gallo.
Gallo, 28, has seemingly seen his role as an everyday player diminish in recent days, being left out of the starting lineup in three of the past four games -- this coming even with the Yankees being down a regular due to Giancarlo Stanton hitting the IL owing to Achilles tendinitis. Stanton had been seeing increased playing time in right field as the Yankees began shying away from Gallo.
Gallo is slated to hit free agency in the offseason, when he will turn 29. He arrived in the Bronx prior to last year's trade deadline but never hit his stride, and those struggles have seemingly carried over into this season. In 138 games as a Yankee through Wednesday, Gallo was batting .160 with 25 home runs, 46 RBIs, an 86 OPS-plus, 77 walks and 191 strikeouts. Gallo has always been a low-average strikeout king (career .201 hitter), but an uptick in his whiff rate combined with a dip in his walk rate have conspired to sink his average in pinstripes well below the Mendoza Line.
Prior to Wednesday's game against the Mets, manager Aaron Boone said Gallo was likely to return to the lineup on Thursday against the Royals, but he conceded the lefty slugger had faced a "tough road" since joining the Yankees, and that he "hasn't found that traction."
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