Latest On D-backs, Zac Gallen

As Zac Gallen continues to twist in the winds of free agency, there’s been growing speculation about a potential reunion with the D-backs. It still seems like a long shot, given Arizona’s desire to scale back payroll after record levels of spending in 2025, but Gallen himself voiced interest when asked about a potential reunion.

“I think people understand what Phoenix means to me,” said Gallen when asked about the possibility of returning (video link via Blake Niemann of FOX 10 Phoenix). “My wife is from here. I’m calling this home base now, so for us to be here would be awesome. It’s been really humbling that [fans] have come up me and would like me to come back — especially because I know how the first half of last year went, we didn’t make the playoffs, things like that. It gives you chills that people still want you to come back and be a part of the organization.”

As Gallen alluded to, the first half of his 2025 season was nightmarish. He tossed consecutive quality starts just twice over his first 22 appearances, pitching to a brutal 5.60 ERA through 127 frames. The right-hander’s strikeout and walk rates were both trending in the wrong direction, and he became more homer-prone than at any point in his career. Gallen served up 23 round-trippers through those first 22 starts — already more than in any full season in his career prior — despite being only two-thirds of the way through the year.

Over the final two months, Gallen turned things around, but not in overly convincing fashion. Gallen’s 3.32 ERA over his final 11 starts/65 innings was a major improvement, but his strikeout rate actually dropped by a couple percentage points. Gallen’s command improved and he dodged hard contact more effectively, but his 4.22 SIERA over his final 11 outings wasn’t materially different than the 4.24 SIERA he posted through his first 22 starts.

Put another way, Gallen was very similar on a rate basis in those first 22 and final 11 starts. However, he had more success stranding runners in the season’s final third (76.5%) than the first two thirds (64%) — in part due to a downturn in home runs allowed. Home run rate and homer-to-flyball ratio tend to be fairly volatile in smaller samples, so between that and some some modest improvements to his command, the final couple months looked like a much larger turnaround than may actually have been the case.

Even if Gallen can’t rebound to his 2019-24 form (3.29 ERA, 26.6 K%, 7.8 BB%), he’d still improve both the Diamondbacks’ rotation quality and depth. At the moment, the Snakes will go with the re-signed Merrill Kelly, Ryne Nelson, Eduardo Rodriguez, Brandon Pfaadt and free agent signee Michael Soroka to comprise the staff. Depth options beyond that group include Yilber Diaz, Kohl Drake, Mitch Bratt and Cristian Mena — a group with virtually no major league experience. One notable injury would leave the D-backs relying on a carousel of rookies to round out a staff that already has multiple pitchers in need of a rebound (Pfaadt, Rodriguez, Soroka).

John Gambadoro of 98.7 Arizona Sports suggests that Gallen would prefer to be with a team by the time camp opens next week. That doesn’t leave much time for a deal to come together, whether with the D-backs or another club. The Diamondbacks, Gambadoro adds, are either at or very close to the top threshold of owner Ken Kendrick’s set payroll limits. He speculates that the Snakes could try to bring Gallen back on a two-year deal, the second season being a player option, just as they did late in the 2023-24 offseason when agreeing to their ill-fated deal with lefty Jordan Montgomery. In this instance, they might need a more creative structure and/or some deferred money to make it work.

The Montgomery deal, of course, didn’t pan out. Montgomery required Tommy John surgery midway through the 2024 season after pitching to an ERA north of 6.00. Kendrick publicly lamented the move late that season.

On the one hand, it’s hard to see Kendrick doubling down on that tactic after the Montgomery deal blew up so spectacularly. On the other, Gallen is a wholly different situation. He’s spent nearly his entire big league career in Arizona and is beloved by the fans and those within the organization. That includes Kendrick, who said of Gallen in an appearance on 98.7 shortly after the season ended:

“He’s a special young man who spent nearly seven years as a D-back. He definitely had an up-and-down season — performed better in the later part of the year, certainly, than earlier in the year. I think his actions the other evening… he didn’t want to take his uniform off. He’s loved being a Diamondback. I don’t want to say it’s out of the touch of reality that we’d work out an arrangement to bring him back. He’s been a great D-back. Last I recall, he was the guy who pitched seven or eight innings of no-hit ball in a World Series game for the Arizona Diamondbacks. … He’s the guy you want to root for.”

Certainly, that doesn’t mean that the D-backs will tear up prior budget plans to bring Gallen back into the fold, but the longer he remains unsigned and the closer spring training gets, the more a soft landing at home seems to make sense. Gallen rejected a qualifying offer from the D-backs, so they’re the only team that wouldn’t have to forfeit a draft pick (or picks) in order to sign him (though they’re technically forgoing the compensatory pick they’d secure if he signed elsewhere)

Gallen has also drawn recent interest from the Orioles. At various points of the offseason, each of the Cubs, Angels, Giants and Tigers have reportedly inquired on the veteran righty. Many of those clubs have since added to the rotation, but Gallen still stands as a viable source of innings for any club seeking rotation help. And, for a team that believes it can get Gallen back to his previous heights, the current price point could prove to be a bargain.