“I would love to be back here. I would love to be here for the rest of my career,” Zac Gallen told Arizona Sports’ Alex Weiner and other reporters during a recent community event in Phoenix. As to whether a new contract with the Diamondbacks is possible, Gallen was more circumspect, saying “I think what sometimes gets lost in translation is that’s not necessarily always up to the player. If the opportunity is there and it’s something that we deem is the right fit for us, as myself as a player and for me and my soon-to-be wife as as family, then yeah, we’ll explore that. But right now we’re just going through the process and we’ll see what happens.”
Gallen is one of the more intriguing free agent pitchers available, as a former Cy Young candidate and top-of-the-rotation who is hitting the market on the heels of the worst season of his career. Though Gallen finished strong over the last two months of 2025, his 4.83 ERA and 21.5% strikeout rate were career lows, and batters took Gallen yard to the tune of 31 home runs.
MLBTR still projects Gallen for a four-year, $80MM free agent deal, yet it is possible he and agent Scott Boras might explore a shorter-term contract with opt-outs attached, so Gallen could potentially re-enter the market as early next winter after a better platform season. Such a contractual scenario might make a reunion with the pitching-needy D’Backs more plausible, though it remains unclear exactly how much Arizona might have to spend this offseason.
More from around the National League…
- Though the Cardinals non-tendered Yohel Pozo yesterday, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the team is interested in working out a new deal to re-sign the catcher. Though the Cards have four other catchers (Ivan Herrera, Pedro Pages, Jimmy Crooks, and top prospect Leonardo Bernal) on their 40-man roster, Herrera’s injury history might require a return to the DH role, and Bernal has yet to play any Triple-A ball. Re-signing Pozo, as Goold notes, would therefore give the Cardinals some more depth behind the plate, at least until they can gauge Herrera’s readiness during Spring Training. Of Pozo’s 88 career MLB games, 67 were with St. Louis last season, and he hit .231/.262/.375 over 168 plate appearances.
- The Nationals will be hiring Andrew Aydt as an assistant hitting coach, the Washington Post’s Andrew Golden reports. Aydt is Driveline Baseball’s assistant director of hitting, and becomes the second ex-Driveline staffer to join the Nats’ coaching ranks after pitching coach Simon Matthews. This will be Aydt’s first job with a pro organization (though he has worked with several big leaguers during his time at Driveline), and he continues the trend of younger, analytically-driven hires under new Washington president of baseball operations Paul Toboni. Aydt will move into the Nationals’ assistant hitting coach role even though the team has yet to hire a lead hitting coach to replace Darnell Coles.
Gallen should have accepted the guaranteed $22 million QO. If he returns to 2024 form he would easily secure a better pay day than 4/$80. Worst case he would have still gotten $22 million for next season
They are predicting Dylan Cease to still get a big contract despite a so so year. I’m sure someone will bite and do the same with Gallen based on his history of solid pitching. To me the 4 years $80 million would be a bargain.
RSox – sounds good on paper but these guys know how easily an injury ends it all. 4/80 while maybe a bargain based on his history pre-2025, means he gets paid an additional 58 mil should he suffer a major injury. Maybe, he can secure an opt out just in case of a great 2026 but, too hard to walk away from 58 mil guaranteed.
Your option is theoretically sound, but real world risks make it not worth it. Risking 58 hoping for the rebound and maybe getting 3/75 next year (allowing a large AAV bump but realizing he is still a year older), means risking 58 hoping to get 75. That extra 17 is money he will never need so, why risk it.
If you disagree, ok that is a personal choice but when actually faced with the real life scenario, players don’t tend to do that. Gallen didn’t for sure and yes, there is an exception or 2 out there. Some work out and some don’t.
Percentages of bad outcomes is what cause the majority of players to take the safer route
“I would love to be back here. I would love to be here for the rest of my career,”
-every player right before they sign with the Dodgers
Im anxious to see how Gallens market unfolds. Having watched most of his starts the past three seasons, I wouldn’t recommend a 4-year, $80 million contract. That said, teams always need pitching and baseball ops departments are very sophisticated nowadays. If they feel Gallens problems are correctable, they may jump in with both feet.