Joey Gallo gets fresh start with trade to Dodgers

The Yankees made their big moves already. Getting frontline starter Frankie Montas and relievers Scott Effross and Lou Trivino on Monday after acquiring Andrew Benintendi significantly reshapes this roster as the Bombers look to make the turn to the final stretch of the regular season.

In the final hours left until the 6 p.m. MLB trade deadline, the Yankees continued to reshape their roster. They managed to get Clayton Beeter, a Double-A right-handed pitcher from the Dodgers for Joey Gallo and traded lefty starter Jordan Montgomery to the Cardinals for injured center fielder Harrison Bader.

Bader, a New York native who went to Horace Mann, is a career .246/.320/.409 hitter who is currently on the injured list with plantar fasciitis. He is in a walking boot and they are “hoping,” he will be available by the end of the season.

Montgomery was 3-3 with a 3.69 ERA and a 1.0099 WHIP in 21 starts this season. Montgomery has struck out 97 over 114.2 innings pitched.

The lefty-hitting slugger had already played his way out of the Yankees plans long before that. In 140 games since he was acquired by the Bombers from Texas, Gallo has slashed .159/.291/.368 with 24 home runs and a .660 OPS. He struck out 194 times and walked 77 times in 501 plate appearances. According to Baseball Savant, Gallo was in the bottom one percentile in Whiff%, xBA and K%. The 38.8% strikeout rate is the highest of his career since his 2015 rookie year. The 14.7% walk rate is the third lowest of his career.

“It’s been heavy. He’s carried that burden with him,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “You definitely sense that there’s been some really tough moments. So I think we’ve all definitely felt for the person because especially the way he’s carried himself with class. He’s been accountable. He hasn’t run from anything. He’s worked his tail off. And he’s human.

“He’s felt that and he’s felt that burden and especially wanting to do it, I think for his teammates, who really care about him,” Boone added. “It’s been a tough calendar year for him.”

At the time of the deal, several scouts scratched their heads over it. According to analytics, Gallo was a good fit for the Yankees, and particularly the Stadium. The short porch in right field looked like the perfect fit for his swing and the high on-base percentage is what the analytics department thought would lead to more RBIs for the other big bats in the lineup.

Except they forgot to check on Gallo’s comfort in pressure spots and how he would handle struggling. Scouts across baseball had red flagged his quirky swing and movements.

It was obvious that Gallo was putting pressure on himself and it only got worse as the boos started and just kept getting louder and louder.