The Yankees found a diamond in the rough when they pried Luke Voit away from the Cardinals in a trade that sent Chasen Shreve and Giovanny Gallegos to St. Louis in June of 2018.
While Voit has been a tremendous pickup for the Yankees, Gallegos has turned into one of the best relievers in baseball this season, as MLBTradeRumors touched on earlier this week.
The 28-year-old right-hander has posted a 2.27 ERA (2.76 FIP) and 0.79 WHIP while striking out 84 in 63.1 innings (11.94 per 9) this season for the Cardinals, who are leading the NL Central.
At the time of the trade, the 27-year-old Voit had spent most of the season between Double-A and Triple-A for St. Louis, where he hit a combined .300 with 16 doubles and nine homers in 69 games. He had hit .182 in limited action in the majors that season for the Cardinals.
Gallegos, who had cups of coffee with the Yanks in the majors in 2017 and 2018, was having a strong season for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre at the time of the trade -- with a 3.90 ERA (1.71 FIP) while striking out 13.34 per 9.
Now, Gallegos -- who features the same fastball/slider mix he had with the Yankees -- has become a shutdown option for the Cardinals near the end of games.
He has been touched up a bit by the longball (allowing seven homers), but his peripheral numbers suggest that what he has done for the Cards this season hasn't been a fluke and should be sustainable going forward.
Meanwhile, Voit is hitting .276/.390/.484 with 19 homers in 99 games this season for the Yankees.
Gallegos is under team control through the 2024 season and won't hit his first season of arbitration until 2022.
Voit is also under team control through the 2024 season, hitting his first season of arbitration in 2021.
With Gallegos and Voit both excelling in the majors, it's fair to say that -- to this point -- the trade has worked out perfectly for both teams.