Getting Released By The White Sox Has Caused Joey Gallo To Give Up Being a Position Player And Transition To Pitching

Norm Hall. Getty Images.

There are a bunch of shocking/humbling moments we experience that can force us to totally change how we go about our lives. Get really drunk one night and end up arrested? That could definitely lead to you going cold turkey all together. Wear your usual outfit and get mocked by your favorite celebrity? Wouldn't be surprised if you wake up the next day and rebrand your entire style across the board. Get cut by the Chicago White Sox? 

Yeah that prompted Joey Gallo to give up playing outfield. You get released by a team that doesn't have real players on the roster that's as good of a sign as ever to abandon ship. 

Gallo is now going to try to become a pitcher. 

And to clarify, nothing about that tweet is a joke. Gallo was a great two-way player in high school and he thinks he can figure it out to extend his big league career. 

Throughout his time in the big leagues he always had an elite throwing arm which helped him win multiple Gold Gloves. He's only 31 years old so it's not the craziest move in the world to try this out considering how bad being a position player was going for him lately. Wanna talk about falling off a cliff the moment he became a Yankee? The pinstripes have special powers for those who can't handle them. 

Show of hands, did anyone even know Joey Gallo was on the White Sox? Can't imagine many honestly did. His numbers were so bad he made nerds out there who were obsessed with three true outcome players to walk back their stance a little bit. Walks are great and homers are awesome, but holy shit man you gotta hit the baseball.. Even the banning of the shift, a rule change people assumed would rejuvenate Gallo, didn't help him get going. 

Gallo is sadly another example of how Scott Boras screws over clients who aren't the top player available on the market. He will always try to squeeze every last dollar out of teams because of his ego, and that comes back to burn him way more than it doesn't. 

I love how the White Sox didn't see a way to keep Gallo and have him work on his pitching with them. Who could possibly wanna mess with their developmental plan? 

My mistake, these guys are horses in their rotation. 

Best of luck to Joey in the meantime. I'm fascinated to see how this plays out given the fact that we know he has a great arm, is 6'5", has done this before (albeit over a decade ago). and has some age on his side. Maybe it's time for Joey to feel what it's like to strike some guys out.