Inside The Rangers

Former Texas Rangers All-Star Slugger Released by Chicago White Sox

A multi-time All-Star formerly on the Texas Rangers has been granted an unconditional release from the Chicago White Sox.

Jeremy Trottier

Chicago White Sox designated hitter Joey Gallo reacts during his at-bat against the San Diego Padres at Camelback Ranch.
Chicago White Sox designated hitter Joey Gallo reacts during his at-bat against the San Diego Padres at Camelback Ranch. / Allan Henry-Imagn Images
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The Texas Rangers have had quite a bit of roster turnover in recent years, and one of their bigger moves in this time frame was trading away slugger Joey Gallo to the New York Yankees in the middle of the 2021 season.

Gallo was a two-time All-Star who also won two Gold Glove awards in his time with the Rangers, and has bounced around the league a bit ever since his Texas tenure.

This offseason he landed with the Chicago White Sox on a minor league deal, looking for an opportunity to find some playing time and get back on track after a dismal few seasons in the batting box.

Unfortunately, that will not be happening with the White Sox, as he was granted his unconditional release by the club, as was reported by Scott Merkin of MLB.com.

This does grant Gallo the opportunity to find a new team and work with them a bit during spring training to try and revitalize his bat, but his reps during this spring so far have been similar to his past few regular seasons.

In nine games he has 20 at bats, with .100/.143/.100 slash lines, two runs, one RBI, and 11 strikeouts to only one walk.

This has been a consistent issue for the slugger in recent seasons, as in 2024 with the Washington Nationals he hit for .161/.277/.336 slash lines, with 27 RBI, 24 runs, 10 home runs, and 102 strikeouts to 32 walks in 223 at bats.

His batting average has not hit the .200 mark over a full season since his All-Star 2019 campaign with Texas, which is an indication of the type of hitter he is.

Despite having immense power and always having decent home run numbers, he is a true two-result hitter, as it usually comes down to either that or a strikeout, without many walks to back it up anymore.

His success used to be in being a three-result hitter, as in 2021 he led the American League in both walks and strikeouts, but also had 38 home runs and 90 runs to back it up.

At 31 years old his career has seen a pretty sharp decline, and despite his ability to hit for power at times, the other outcomes outweigh the potential success received from a home run. His fielding has been solid in recent years however, which may give him one or two more shots with other teams as a depth piece that they can bring up in spot starts.

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Jeremy Trottier
JEREMY TROTTIER

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