Aaron Boone, Yankees manager, speaks highly of Joey Gallo. He also expresses excitement about his new role with the team. (0:50).Boone: Gallo made Yankees better (0:50).ST. PETERSBURG (Fla.) -- Joey Gallo, an All-Star slugger, was traded to the New York Yankees by the Texas Rangers on Thursday. This trade gave the Yankees a powerful lefty bat and gave them a heavily right-handed player.Aaron Boone, manager, said that he spoke to Gallo on Thursday afternoon and "welcomed" him to the team.Aaron Hicks, a switch-hitting centerfielder, was injured. Rougned Odor, second baseman, and Brett Gardner were the only left-handed hitters who saw significant playing time.Boone stated that "I believe we're much better today," before the Yankees faced Tampa Bay.Boone stated that Gallo would be joining the Yankees against the Marlins in Miami on Friday.Boone sees Gallo, who has been a right fielder for Texas, playing a lot of left field for the Yankees. They have Aaron Judge as their regular right-fielder.Boone stated, "We are excited to add an All Star."Rangers got right-hander Glenn Otto and Ezequiel Duran second baseman, Josh Smith shortstop, and Trevor Hauver second baseman/outfielder from New York. Texas sent Joely Rodriguez, a pitcher, to New York.New York's left-handed hitters are struggling this season. They rank last in the majors for average (.197), OPS (.633), and hard-hit rate (33%)Gallo, a two-time All-Star is sixth in the AL with 25 home runs and 55 RBIs, along with a.223 batting average. Gallo had struggled at the plate since the All Star break with no home runs, a.067 Average in the 10 following games, and then he broke out Tuesday with a three run shot against the Diamondbacks.Gallo, 27, is one of eight major leaguers who have multiple 40-homer seasons in a career (2017, 2018, 2018).Gallo owes $2.2 million of his $6.2million salary. Gallo is eligible to arbitration and can become an agent free of charge after the 2022 season.The Yankees started the day 8 games behind Boston, the AL East, and trail Tampa Bay and Oakland in the wild-card race to two spots.Rodriguez, 29 years old, is 1-3 with a save and a 5.93 ERA over 31 relief appearances this year, holding left-handed batters down to a.176 average. Rodriguez is currently 2-5 and has a 5.05 ERA in 81 relief games over the last four seasons, including Texas (2016-17), Texas (2020-21), and he was also 3-7 and had a 1.85 ERA in 90 relief appearances for the Chunichi Dragons (Japan's Central League) in 2018-19.Duran, 22 years old, hit.290, with 15 doubles and six triples and 12 homers. He also had 48 RBIs in 67 games played with High-A Hudson Valley.Hauver, 22 years old, made his professional debut with Low-A Tampa this season. He hit.288 with 17 hits, nine homers, and 49 RBIs in just 66 games.Otto, 25, was 7-3 with a 3.33 ERA in 12 starts and one relief appearance with Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season.Smith, 23 years old, hit.324 and had 12 doubles, nine homers and 24 RBIs in 39 games played with Low-A Tampa, High-A Hudson Valley.This report was contributed by The Associated Press.
