Twins' Joey Gallo sounds happy to be out of New York market

Minnesota Twins outfielder Joey Gallo has opened up about his well-documented issues during his New York Yankees tenure. 

"I tried to handle it well," Gallo told The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal about the abuse he endured during home games played at Yankee Stadium. "I took pride in the fact that I still played. I was still diving for the Yankees, running into walls for the Yankees, running hard for the Yankees. I knew I was getting traded. But I still had the pride, the integrity for the game, the respect for the fans, and respect for the organization. I’m still going to go out here and bust my a--. I’m not going to just cash it in."

The Yankees acquired Gallo from the Texas Rangers in July 2021 via trade that at least two of the entities involved would probably take back today, if possible. 

The two-time All-Star slugger struggled mightily at the plate and became an easy target for paying customers throughout his New York tenure that mercifully ended when he was sent to the Los Angeles Dodgers last summer. 

Gallo admitted at the time he was happy for a "fresh start" away from the "Big Apple," but the 29-year-old slashed a woeful .162/.277/.393 across 117 regular-season at-bats with the Dodgers. He signed with the Twins shortly before Christmas. 

"The Minnesota market is different than the New York market. The Texas market is different than the New York market," Gallo added during his comments. "I always just wanted to play baseball, have fun, and hang out with the boys. That’s my goal, just to play baseball and win games. I don’t really like it more than that. I guess this is more my vibe, you know what I mean?"

This past fall, Gallo and Aaron Hicks were two players specifically named as individuals affected by an alleged "souring relationship between the Yankees and their fans" in 2022. This week, Hicks acknowledged that "baseball wasn’t fun" for him during portions of the previous campaign.