Cody Snavely
A day after the non-tender deadline, where the Los Angeles Dodgers let go of two relief pitchers have made one of their first “big” signings of the winter, inking former all-star closer Giovanny Gallegos to a minor league deal.
Steve Adams from MLB Trade Rumors first reported the deal. Adams reports that Gallegos would earn a $2.5 million base salary for making the big league roster, with another $1.5 million available in incentives. The contract also includes three opt-out dates.
A veteran of eight Major League seasons, the 33-year-old Gallegos is best known for his tremendous four-year run with the Cardinals from 2019 to 22 when he posted a 2.84 ERA, 32% strikeout rate, and 6.6% walk rate over 228 1/3 innings out of the St. Louis bullpen. This performance earned him a two-year, $11 million extension in October 2022 that covered Gallegos’ remaining two arbitration years and gave the Cardinals a $6.5MM club option on Gallegos’ services for 2025.
However, after that peak, Gallegos took a significant step backward in 2023, pitching to a 4.42 ERA while also seeing his strikeout rate drop and his home run rate increase, which is not a recipe for success as a relief pitcher.
Entering the 2024 season, Gallegos hoped to take a step back in the right direction, but his poor performance in 2023 gave a glimpse of what disastrous season he was about to have as Gallegos had a 6.53 ERA in 20 2/3 innings.
The righty would be DFA’d by the St. Louis Cardinals in late July, and he’d elect free agency. Gallegos would ink a minor league deal with the Minnesota Twins in August, but after posting a 4.26 ERA at Triple-A St. Paul with more walks (10) than strikeouts (8) over 12 2/3 innings, he would never get the call to the big league club.
Gallegos is the latest reclamation project to join the Los Angeles Dodgers pitching lab, an area the team has had plenty of success dating back to 2017, reviving players’ careers.
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