12:51pm: Gallo announced on social media in the aftermath of his release that he plans to convert to pitching going forward. The news shines additional light on Chicago’s decision to release Gallo, who can now search for a fresh minor league deal with a team interested in seeing what he can do on the mound. While Gallo has no professional experience on the mound, he did pitch in high school (even throwing a no-hitter) and has long had among the most impressive throwing arms in the game among position players, which was key to him earning two Gold Gloves in right field.
11:40am: The White Sox have granted Joey Gallo his unconditional release, as relayed by MLB.com’s Scott Merkin. Gallo had been in camp with the club on a minor league deal but will now head back into free agency to try and land a job with another club before Opening Day.
Gallo, 31, is coming off a difficult season with the Nationals where he hit just .161/.277/.336 (76 wRC+) in 260 trips to the plate. It’s the latest chapter in what’s been a very up-and-down career for the slugger, who was a first-round pick by the Rangers in 2012 and was a two-time All-Star across his seven years in Dallas, in 2019 and 2021. In that three season stretch, Gallo hit .209/.351/.477 with a wRC+ of 121. He crushed 70 home runs in just 280 games over those three years, but also struck out at a massive 35.6% clip.
That combination of nearly unmatched power and deep strikeout woes has contributed to a roller-coaster career where Gallo has been at times among the most impactful hitters in the sport and at times well below average. All of that has averaged out to a relatively middling .194/.319/.456 (107 wRC+) line across ten seasons in the majors, and while that’s still decent production overall Gallo hasn’t quite lived up to even that line in recent years. Despite a decent 103 wRC+ with the Twins in 2023, Gallo’s overall slash line over the past three years is just .166/.286/.379 with a well-below average wRC+ of 88. He’s struck out more than 40% of the time during that stretch, and his most productive season in Minnesota actually saw him punch out in a massive 42.8% of his trips to the plate.
Earlier in his career, Gallo helped to make up for his uneven offensive production with strong outfield defense. A two-time Gold Glove award winner in right field during his days with the Rangers who could even be counted on in center if necessary, Gallo’s fallen from grace defensively and now fits best as a roughly average defensive first baseman. Unfortunately, Gallo’s more limited defensive profile in recent years makes him a more difficult fit for a contending club in a bench role, while his offensive peaks and valleys make him difficult to bet on as a full-time starter.
Those concerns all culminated in the White Sox deciding to part ways with the slugger. While getting released by a club that lost the most games in MLB history last year is an ominous sign, it’s worth pointing out that Chicago actually has a relatively deep group of potential options at first base and in the outfield. Andrew Vaughn and Luis Robert Jr. figure to be everyday players at first base and in center field, while Mike Tauchman and Andrew Benintendi figure to capture the lion’s share of the playing time in the outfield corners.
Tauchman, Benintendi, and Gallo are all left-handed bats, so Gallo’s best opportunity for playing time in Chicago would’ve likely been spelling Vaughn at first base with Michael A. Taylor and Austin Slater both better suited for outfield roles. While Benintendi is out due to a hand fracture at the moment, he has yet to be explicitly ruled out for Opening Day and may be able to return fairly early in the season, making carrying a player like Gallo as a fill-in option less sensible.
Even so, however, it could be difficult for Gallo to find a major league gig with less than two weeks until the season begins. As much as injuries have opened up holes in various clubs’ lineups and rotations throughout the spring, there aren’t many obvious vacancies at first base around the league at the moment. Perhaps a club like the Padres, Pirates, or Marlins could use some additional depth at the position, but even those clubs have internal options they appear to be mostly comfortable with headed into Opening Day. With that said, teams certainly value depth and it’s not hard to imagine Gallo catching on with another club who has a less crowded first base and outfield mix on a fresh minor league deal, even if it doesn’t come with an immediate path to big league playing time.
Things are not looking good when the Chicago White Sox are cutting you…
Oh jk he asked for it
Yeah that would be the “writing on the wall” asked for it. He is now a decent defensive player (no longer elite), hasn’t hit over .177 since 2021 and struck out 11 times in 20 ABs in the spring. Make fun of the Sox if you want, but they probably have 7 OFs and 3 first basemen I’d rather have, and that includes Michael A Taylor (who can’t hit either still plays strong d) and Brandon Drury who was brutal last year but showing a pulse in spring.
Gallo shouldn’t keep getting jobs imo, but probably will.
It was a good Hail Mary attempt for some early season power, but he didn’t earn it. There should be no old/bad combos like Justin Anderson either in the bullpen when consistently poor. Be bad with upside on the roster in ’25 while main prospects develop in minors.
Yankees please!!! He can play gold defense in left field and strike out over 300 times.
Captain, wouldn’t you rather have Verdugo?
Dewey- at least Joey isn’t allergic to his batting gloves, seems like he’s allergic to the Yankee Stadium dimensions though.
“Rather have Verdugo”..Yes please. I would much rather have vertigo than Alex Verdugo. Both are highly annoying, but at least vertigo goes away at some point.
He’ll be fine. Que the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Pitching now? Perfect replacement for Gerrit Cole. Yes indeed! The Yankees need a ace that strikes out!
.194 Career hitter, smdh.
And yet he still got 7 paragraphs…
They won’t even let us talk about Jose Reyes and this guy gets 7 paragraphs
Well, after hearing he wants to convert to pitching I would suggest he already hits like one.
NOoooooo
AND… there goes a long career, ultimately destroyed by a penchant for strikeouts
wonder how he feels about not taking 5/85 from Texas?
Rangers got rid of him just in time. Cashman actually gave up some substantial players still with Texas now. Gallo, Montas, and Effross are some of the worst trades of the Cashman era. The trades not made, including Andujar and Frazier, are bad as well right now. Cashman should be gone, but he never will be fired.
MLB, why not talk about the moves that worked out well? Breslow’s first major move was trading Sale. How has that worked out so far?
how about not trading this guy … oh i forget whats his name ….some shortstop … derek something or other. he did absolutely nothing for the team, How about trading for that guy that rodriguez guy that played 3rd for years for them. how about trading a closer for half a season for the top prospect in baseball just to resign them at the end of the season and still make the playoffs during that down season. How about the trade of wells for clemens. How about acquiring a capable replacement for short when the captain retired in didi for basically nothing. Curtis granderson for basically what amounted to 2 relievers. Also drafting one of the best players currently in baseball when every team passed on him.
How many seasons did the team make the playoffs with what many consider horrible coachs for this century how many teams can you say are always in the top 10 if not top 5 to make the playoffs/world series. I cant remember the last time the yankees were below 10 in rankings to start the season. You can say its because of the dollars but look at the mets who spent very high and were at the bottom a lot.
Am i a cashman or even a yankees fan … no … but give him credit for what he has done as well over what almost 30 years with the team. Can you name a gm with more world series appearances / wins with the same team? Guarantee you if you were to let him go he wouldnt finish the day without probably 10-15 calls if not more about job offers.
It’s amazing he only has 4 sacrifice flies in his entire career.
Runners can’t tag up All when the catcher already has the ball from strike three
WOW that is surprising
Dang. Feels like an ignominious ending to his career that kinda never was…
Yeah but imagine the beast he will be in slow pitch softball leagues….?
Caveat bout 15yrs ago I had a guy from the Mets who played as high as AA but that was it., just washed out…… Went into the work force and started RL. @10 yrs later he found his way into my universe.
Dude was, well…. Unstoppable. We of the average man have no idea the skills even the worst of the MLB types have…
The thing with Gallo is that there’s all kinds of examples of players who are all stars at the double and triple A levels- hit close to or well over .300 with some pop, etc.-, but can’t figure it out in the majors- and Gallo got cut at the Triple-A level.
I think even in a soft ball league that takes itself seri0usly-ish, Gallo might struggle at this point. Mechanics? The Yips? Who knows.
@Trillionaire: You described the formerly “untouchable” Coby Mayo until proven otherwise.
Still made $38 million in his career. Pretty comfortable for a never was.
Cardinals should sign him. They need all the help they can get.
Does the use of the word “granted” vs ‘given” mean he asked to be released? Or is MLBTR being overly kind?
It was requested by Gallo but sometimes a team will inform you that you’re unlikely to break camp aka a forced resignation to help save face for a vet.
The MLB writer Merlin also used that term. Usually “granted,” means the player requested the release. Maybe he’s signing in Mexico or Korea.
Padres in 3, 2, 1… AJ Preller is at church right now (praying for forgiveness over the Eric Hosmer deal) and will call when he’s out.
I had a feeling something was up when boras signed a Guy to a minor league deal.
Never saw so many .100s on the back of baseball cards as a kid. Nu baseball is really something.
Makes us appreciate Dave Kingman so much more
Way back in 1977, Kingman was only player ever to play in all 4 divisions.
And hit a HR in each division
Bad wine never ages well.
Korea on line one…. Japan on line two….
LOL. maybe they should see if they can drag Adam Eaton out of retirement. Sell the damn team, Jerry.
Sounds like Gallo can be the successor to Chris Carter in Mexico.
Do the Nippon & KBO tour for a few years then call it a day.
Alexa, play ‘End of the Road’ by Boyz II Men.
He is the modern day Rob Deer. You look at his stats and wonder how he has been in the league for so long.
Moonshot dingers, lots of walks, and excellent defense.
He was a guy a GM could dream on.
Unfortunately for Gallo, he is in a league by himself. He’s even below the Mendoza line.
He has set a whole new standard of purification when it comes to hitting.
He makes Rob Deer and Dave Kingman look like modern day Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio and Tony Gwynn. Kingman had a career.236 BA and Deer .220 in comparison to Gallo’s .191
Just shows you how bad the game has changed.
Kingman was vilified for his HR or K only career plus his bad demeanor..lol.
Gallo Cy Young Incoming
I really dislike watching players like Joey Gallo even when they have modest success.
Gallo announced on his IG account that he intends to continue his career as a pitcher. The key word here is “intends”. It will take years for him to become an effective MLB pitcher if at all. Good luck with that, but Father Time says you don’t have enough runway.
Are you sure it wasn’t Joey Callow?
Under rated comment for those of us who are Joe Pesci fans!
He doesn’t have yute (or is it yout) on his side (and please don’t ask what’s a yute?}.
One thing is, you have to respect this kid because he never makes excuses. You don’t hear that he is a bad teammate or is lazy. Teams take chances of players like this because of their skill set and work ethic. His agent asked for the release because behind the scenes he has been “working” the teams for potential opportunities.
So I take that the White Sox likes locker-room guys, then, that explains the organization well.
I’m rooting for Joey Gallo the closer.
The white Sox said close the door, and he heard closer.
Reverse Ankiel.
A reverse ankiel is at least 3 weeks on the IL
Joey and sadness. Gallo can you go?
Keep chasing that dragon.
TJS incoming!
How bad do you gotta play to be fired by the white Sox?
Poor Joey, hopefully pitching pans out for him
Could he become a shohei ohtani???
It would be so weird seeing such a big guy taking up the entire mound
It doesn’t seem like he was being serious about pitching, it seemed more like a joke to me
I mean, a pitcher who can occasionally pinch hit and possibly hit it 450+ feet IS kind of interesting.
Good luck, Joey!
Michael Lorenzen did it better.
Gallo was a success story, by age 31 has earned 35m+
if he invested properly, he can vacation rest of his life. if he has not he can go pick up a skill and work like most all of us.
He may have reached full mlb pension another success
not many players can say their best year was a 4.5 WAR while batting .199
He’s actually the only player ever with at least 4.5 bWAR while batting below the mendoza line (not including pitchers).
Anyone who hits over 200 major league homeruns should never be deemed a failure.
That appears to the consensus among some former players whose biographies I’ve read.
This guy shows no aptitude to change his game for years now, and now resorts to pitching as a last ditch effort to salvage his once promising career. All the best.
Could’ve been an Adam Dunn. Instead, he’s done.
Gallo’s fastest throw last season was 98.3 MPH as a first baseman and was still averaging around 90 MPH in 2023 as an outfielder. Still has a decent arm, so it’ll be interesting to see if he can actually become a pitcher.
Tigers OF.
The Rangers don’t play in Dallas.
Let him pitch. If he doesn’t need the income, I hope someone takes a shot at the A level. He’d be pitching to guys 11-12 years younger, but it’d draw some fans and keep the dream temporarily alive. Good luck, Joey.
If he can post an ERA as low as his recent batting average, he’ll be a heck of a pitcher…
Remember when Gallo complained that the shift was costing him hits…good times.
Amazing how a player with over 200 Home Runs at the MLB Level can just lose the ability to hit all together. We’ll see if he makes it as a pitcher
Power Hitters like that live or get released by the sword. Don’t make adjustments to the league, it’s ko city.
“Ability to hit” regarding Gallo, is a loose term. It’s simply a case of him swinging from the heels and praying bat meets ball. His motto is ‘even a broken clock is right twice a day’.
A career avg of .194 over almost 3000 AB’s is beyond pathetic….even in this equally pathetic all-or-nothing era.
Seems like a guy the pirates would grab. On a minors deal, hey try it as a 2way.
If nothing else a minors deal some where to get reps… Or foreign I guess
Rangers, grab him and get him a personal hitting coach
Aging like a fine galloon jug of Gallo wine
Can he match Mason Miller? Im watching A’s VS Giants and Im sooooo sick of these stupid spring interviews. NOBODY CARES TO LISTEN TO THEM. I TRYING TO WATCH BASEBALL MORON. And then you have some WYT loser incel male whistling in the stands.
Now this is fun. He had a cannon from the grass and this is a bullpen game now.
Let’s see how this goes.
Thankfully the Sox finally ended his positional career. Striking out 50%+ of the time and hitting .194 for his career is embarrassing, even in today’s home run cut swing and miss era.
Good luck to him becoming a pitcher, glad we won’t have to see him hurt a bunch of flys while swinging the bat anymore.
Not only did he throw a no-hitter in high school, but he took Greg Maddux daughter to prom on the same day.
Joe gallo to sign as of with kbb or Japanese baseball