3 lower-cost options for the Mets to replace Daniel Vogelbach on the roster

3) Joey Gallo

Until he finally hangs up his cleats, the market for free agent Joey Gallo will always be a strange one. He is the ultimate all or nothing type of player. It was as true as always last season with the Minnesota Twins.

In 332 plate appearances, Gallo hit .177/.301/.440 for Minnesota. He had 21 home runs, 40 RBI, and 142 strikeouts. The last time he hit over .200 in a season was way back in 2019 when he somehow had a .253 batting average for the year. The explanation is pretty easy. He appeared in only 70 games.

Gallo is a different player from Vogelbach. He has two Gold Gloves in his past to prove it. At the plate, they don’t have much in common either. In fact, Gallo had a slightly better batting average and OBP versus lefties last season than righties (.180/.305 vs. .177/.300).

It’s easy to dismiss Gallo as an option for the Mets at all. But as a still capable defensive player, it’s not as if we’d be waiting around for the occasional long home run. He can do a little more. Some fans may partially view him as the positional version of Sonny Gray who can’t handle New York. Frankly, Gallo is probably going to be a .210 hitter at best anywhere he goes.

Verdict: Gallo’s weaknesses are too glaring and constant. The Mets need more of a sure thing to replace Vogelbach in whatever way you want to look at the void left by his departure. Gallo’s ability to play the outfield is nice, however, the team can find that elsewhere. No thank you.