Twins slugger relieved to no longer be with Yankees

Minnesota Twins outfielder/first baseman Joey Gallo wants it known he remains thrilled to be away from the New York Yankees. 

Gallo recently admitted to Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press he was in a "bad spot" after the Yankees shipped him to the Los Angeles Dodgers last summer. 

"Not just mentally — I was pretty defeated — but also, just, my swing was at a point where I just felt like it was tough to fix and it needed an overhaul," Gallo said. "You needed that three, four months to kind of revamp everything and kind of forget about the season and kind of move on." 

The Yankees acquired Gallo from the Texas Rangers before the 2021 summer trade deadline, but the 29-year-old never found the form with the Bronx Bombers that made him a two-time All-Star as a Ranger. He was batting a woeful .159 with 106 strikeouts in 233 at-bats in 2022 with the Yankees when they traded him, and he ultimately signed with the small-market Twins in December. 

In February, Gallo sounded downright relieved to no longer be playing home games in New York. ESPN stats show he began Friday leading all Minnesota players with 10 home runs, and he's third on the team with 22 RBI across 34 games. The 24-20 Twins head into Friday's MLB action atop the American League Central standings and are the only team in the division with a winning record. 

"Frankly, one of the best things about this year is last year, because the expectation level was not what it was when he went to New York," agent Scott Boras said about Gallo. "From a mental standpoint, it’s kind of back to normal where Joey is playing in an environment where, yeah we know he has power (but) what’s his expectation? His expectation is to be a part of this team, not be some brand superstar of the team."