Sources: Nats signing slugger Gallo for $5 million

A Nationals club desperate for some left-handed power is addressing that need with a notable, if flawed, addition: Joey Gallo.

Gallo and the Nats have agreed to terms on a one-year contract worth a guaranteed $5 million, plus another $1 million in incentives, sources familiar with the deal confirmed. The 30-year-old outfielder/first baseman must still pass a physical, and the team must clear a spot on the 40-man roster before the move is official.

Gallo provides the Nationals lineup exactly what it was lacking: left-handed power. The 2012 first-round pick of the Rangers has hit 198 career home runs, averaging 30.2 in each of his last six full seasons (excluding the shortened 2020 campaign). He’s a two-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove Award winner who figures to play both left field and first base in D.C.

Gallo’s offensive game is not without flaws, though. His career .197 batting average is lowest among all major leaguers with at least 3,000 plate appearances since he debuted in 2015. His 1,190 strikeouts in that same time frame are fifth-most in the majors.

Gallo does draw walks, though, leading the American League with 111 of them in 2021 and producing a .323 career on-base percentage that rates near the overall league average during that time despite his excessively low batting average.

For a Nationals team that ranked last in the National League in both homers and walks last season, Gallo provides much-needed help.

General manager Mike Rizzo and skipper Davey Martinez also prioritized left-handed power this winter, recognizing every outfielder currently on their 40-man roster (Lane Thomas, Victor Robles, Jacob Young, Stone Garrett, Alex Call) and first baseman/designated hitter Joey Meneses all bat right-handed.

Gallo, a Gold Glove-winning right fielder in both 2020 and 2021, is likely to play left field for the Nationals while also spelling Meneses at first base. With top outfield prospects James Wood and Dylan Crews likely to make their major-league debuts sometime this season, Gallo could wind up a candidate to be dealt at the trade deadline, the Nats hoping he can generate interest from a contender just as third baseman Jeimer Candelario did last year after signing a comparable $5 million deal.

Gallo’s best seasons to date came in Texas, where he topped 40 homers in both 2017 and 2018. He was traded to the Yankees at the 2021 deadline, then to the Dodgers at the 2022 deadline before signing a one-year, $11 million free agent deal with the Twins last winter.

In his one season in Minnesota, Gallo took only 332 plate appearances, hitting 21 homers, nine doubles and one triple but, remarkably, only 19 singles while batting .177 with a .301 on-base percentage and .440 slugging percentage. Even so, his .741 OPS would’ve ranked third among all regular members of the Nationals’ 2023 lineup, trailing only Candelario (.823) and Thomas (.783).

The Washington Post was first to report the signing.