Zac

Gallen

The 30-year-old hurler will wind up getting the same guarantee that he turned down when declining the qualifying offer that the Diamondbacks made to him in November, though $14 million of that will be deferred as Gallen will receive $2.8 million per year starting in 2031. His return helps to solidify the Diamondbacks’ rotation. Gallen is more of a flier in mixed leagues than someone you’ll really want to target coming off a dismal 2025 season that helped deflate his free-agency market. There is some win-chasing upside and he should also provide strikeout help.

It’s a tad early for such declarations but fantasy managers will take it. Kelly ostensibly gets the nod for next month’s lid-lifter against the Dodgers over Zac Gallen, who agreed to return to the desert on a one-year pact earlier this weekend. The 37-year-old veteran posted a sparkling 3.52 ERA — 4.15 xERA — 1.11 WHIP and 167/48 K/BB ratio across 184 innings last year between the Diamondbacks and Rangers.

The deal is pending a physical and will reportedly pay him north of $15 million. It was reported Thursday that the Diamondbacks were exploring “creative” ways to get Gallen back, and they appear to have found the way. The right-hander was linked to a deal with the Cubs, but the 30-year-old will ultimately return to pitch near the top of the Arizona rotation again. Gallen’s 2025 season was mostly disappointing, but he’s an excellent bounceback candidate in familiar surroundings.

Gambadoro notes that all is quiet on the free agent market for Gallen at the moment, which is a bit surprising considering how quickly the rest of the remaining starting pitchers have signed deals with spring camps opening around the league. The Cubs were linked to him in mid-January, but those talks seem to have fizzled. The 30-year-old hurler is the top remaining pitcher out there on the open market, so any team still looking to make a splash addition to their rotation should be interested.

Levine reports that “it’ll be a shorter-term type of deal,” which makes sense considering Gallen posted a poor 4.83 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, and 175/66 K/BB ratio across 192 innings over 33 starts for the Diamondbacks last season. He may view this as an opportunity to recoup some value and sign a longer deal for more money, as he will be just 30 years old during the upcoming season.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports the Cubs and Gallen do not have a deal and are not close to finalizing one. The 30-year-old righty makes a ton of sense for Chicago on the heels of a disappointing final season with the Diamondbacks where he recorded a 4.83 ERA (4.50 FIP), 1.26 WHIP and 175/66 K/BB ratio across 192 innings over 33 starts. He’s fallen from the ranks of the upper-echelon fantasy starter class but remains a durable workhorse, making at least 28 starts in each of the last four seasons. He would represent a quality mid-rotation stabilizer for the Cubs to complement rookie Cade Horton veterans Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon and Colin Rea.

Despite a down season in which Gallen struggled to a 4.83 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and a 175/66 K/BB ratio across 192 innings, the 30-year-old hurler is still generating strong interest on the open market and will ultimately secure a lucrative multi-year pact. Feinsand also notes that the Tigers have expressed interest while Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle recently noted that the Giants are in play as well. The Diamondbacks are also known to be interested in bringing him back.

The 30-year-old hurler elaborated, “I would love to be back here. I would love to be here for the rest of my career... I think what sometimes gets lost in translation is that’s not necessarily always up to the player.” It sounds like the Diamondbacks may be the ones who aren’t interested in bringing Gallen back on a lucrative multi-year deal. It’s possible that we may see him take a one-year deal this winter in order to rebuild his value before hitting the free agent market once again next offseason.

It comes as a mild surprise that four players — Shota Imanaga, Gleyber Torres, Brandon Woodruff and Trent Grisham — accepted the short-term pact this cycle instead of testing the open market since only 14 of 144 players since 2012 previously accepted qualifying offers. Tucker, Bichette, Schwarber, Valdez, Cease, Suárez and Díaz were no-doubters here while there was some thought that Gallen and King might take the one-year deal to build up their values before hitting free agency next offseason.

Passan adds that Kyle Schwarber, Bo Bichette, Framber Valdez, Dylan Cease, Ranger Suarez, Edwin Díaz, Zac Gallen, Shota Imanaga, Michael King, Trent Grisham, Gleyber Torres and Brandon Woodruff are the other dozen impending free agent to receive the tag prior to Thursday evening’s deadline. They have until Tuesday, November 18 to decide whether to accept the one-year deal or decline and become free agents. Only 14 of 144 players to receive a qualifying offer since 2012 have actually accepted it. It’s worth noting that players who were on multiple teams — Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez — along with players who have previously received a qualifying offer — Pete Alonso, Cody Bellinger and Alex Bregman — were ineligible to receive one this offseason.