Twins' Joey Gallo addresses failed Yankees stint

Minnesota Twins slugger Joey Gallo remains disappointed he largely failed to impress during his forgettable stint with the New York Yankees. 

"I look back, and I’m sad about it," Gallo recently said about his Yankees tenure, per Dan Martin of the New York Post. "I really grew up a Yankee fan, and all I wanted to do was play for the Yankees. I think part of it, not that it was a problem, but I wanted so badly to do well there." 

Gallo originally joined the Yankees from the Texas Rangers before the 2021 summer trade deadline as a two-time All-Star selection but rarely lived up to expectations. According to StatMuse, the 29-year-old batted .159 with 25 home runs, 46 RBIs and a whopping 194 strikeouts across 140 regular-season games before the Yankees traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers in August 2022. 

A couple of months after Gallo signed with the Twins this past offseason, he suggested he was happy to be playing home games away from the New York market and from Yankees fans that repeatedly booed him. It now sounds like he'd accept a redo with the storied franchise. 

"I’ll probably never have a chance to play for the Yankees again," Gallo added. "That was my opportunity, and now I’m known as the guy who [f------] sucked for the Yankees. That part is tough, and I have to live with that for the rest of my career and the rest of my life, really." 

While Gallo began this year's All-Star break hitting .186 with Minnesota, ESPN stats show he and Byron Buxton share the team lead of 15 home runs on the campaign. Gallo is fifth on the Twins with 28 RBIs. 

"I did get to play for the Yankees and get to experience what that was like," Gallo continued regarding his regrets. "I loved my teammates there and I loved the team. … I’m proud I showed up and played hard. I didn’t play up to my ability and the way I wished I would’ve played. But I still went out there and played every day as hard as I could and did whatever they asked of me." 

The second-place Twins (45-46) will open the second half of the season trailing the first-place Cleveland Guardians by just half a game in the American League Central standings. To compare, the fourth-place Yankees (49-42) went into the All-Star Game eight games back of the first-place Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East race.