Diamondbacks Sign Zac Gallen
The Diamondbacks have re-signed Zac Gallen on a one-year deal. The Boras Corporation client technically receives a $22.025MM guarantee that matches the value of the qualifying offer which he declined in November. However, a reported $14.025MM will be deferred via three $4.675MM installments paid between 2032-34. That means the D-Backs will only pay $8MM, one-third of the contract, this year. Gallen’s luxury tax number is $18.7MM when factoring in the deferred money. Corbin Burnes was placed on the 60-day injured list as he rehabs from Tommy John surgery in order to make room for Gallen on the 40-man roster.
Gallen is coming off a down year that clearly sapped a lot of his appeal on the open market. He entered the season as a strong candidate to command upwards of $100MM once he hit free agency. Gallen stayed healthy and took all 33 turns through the rotation, but he had the worst rate stats of his career. He turned in a personal-high 4.83 earned run average with a career-worst 21.5% strikeout rate.
The season started especially poorly, as Gallen allowed at least five earned runs per nine innings in each of the first four months. He took a 5.40 ERA into the All-Star Break and had a 5.60 mark across 127 innings at the trade deadline. The D-Backs were aggressive sellers, moving Josh Naylor, Eugenio Suárez, Merrill Kelly and Shelby Miller. They didn’t find an offer they liked on Gallen more than the draft pick they’d collect if he signed elsewhere after rejecting the qualifying offer.
Arizona reportedly was concerned about overworking young pitchers down the stretch, so they got some benefit out of holding Gallen for the innings alone. He performed better after the deadline, tossing quality starts in eight of his last 11 outings. The 30-year-old turned in a 3.32 ERA over his final 65 innings. The Diamondbacks went 7-4 in those games, part of the reason they were able to hang in the Wild Card picture until the final weekend despite the July selloff.
While it was an encouraging last couple months, it wasn’t exactly a return to peak form. Gallen only struck out 20% of opponents during that stretch. He was helped a lot by a .232 average on balls in play. Gallen had struck out between 25-29% of opponents in each of his first five-plus MLB seasons. The swing-and-miss drop wasn’t quite so extreme on a per-pitch basis, but last year’s 9.5% swinging strike rate was the second-lowest mark of his career.
There weren’t any dramatic changes to Gallen’s raw stuff. His fastball averaged 93.5 mph, right in line with his career mark. That’s essentially league average for a right-handed starting pitcher. Opponents have had increasing success against Gallen’s heater over the past couple seasons. He managed decent results on his knuckle-curve and changeup, his top two secondary offerings. He sporadically mixed a cutter, slider and sinker — all of which were hit hard.
It remains to be seen if they’ll make any changes to his arsenal going into 2026. Gallen began to scale back his four-seam fastball usage in the final few months last season, largely in favor of more changeups. In any case, the team probably feels he deserved a little better than a near-5.00 ERA would suggest. Statcast’s “expected” ERA, which is based on his strikeout/walk profile and the batted balls he allows, landed at 4.28. His 4.24 SIERA was in a similar range. A positive regression toward those metrics would make him a league average starter.
This is an ideal outcome for the Diamondbacks. They were willing to pay an upfront $22.025MM salary to retain Gallen in November. His decision to decline the QO may very well have opened the payroll room to bring Kelly back on a two-year, $40MM free agent deal. Team personnel maintained throughout the offseason that they’d like to retain Gallen if they could make it work financially.
Owner Ken Kendrick raved about Gallen as far back as September. “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. … He’s loved being a Diamondback,” Kendrick said at the time. “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.”
Just this week, manager Torey Lovullo said the clubhouse would “would welcome him with open arms, certainly” if they could get a deal done. Now that it has come to pass, he’ll slot alongside Kelly, Ryne Nelson, Eduardo Rodriguez and Brandon Pfaadt in the projected rotation. That could push free agent pickup Michael Soroka into a long relief role unless they decide to run a six-man rotation. They’re without a true ace until Corbin Burnes makes it back from Tommy John surgery; he’s aiming for some time around the All-Star Break. There’s far more stability than they had at the beginning of the winter, allowing them to take their time in deciding when to bring up prospects like Mitch Bratt and Kohl Drake, both of whom they acquired from Texas in the Kelly trade.
Penciling in a $22.025MM salary for Gallen would bring Arizona’s payroll projection to roughly $194MM, as calculated by RosterResource. That’d technically be right in line with last year’s $195MM season-opening mark, which Kendrick said at the beginning of the winter that the team wouldn’t match. However, they’re reportedly only on the hook for around $8MM in salary payments this year, so the D-Backs didn’t need to dramatically stretch the budget after waiting out the offseason.
The Diamondbacks don’t forfeit any of their existing draft choices to re-sign their own qualified free agent. Any other team would have punted at least one draft choice and potentially international signing bonus pool space to sign him. They are indirectly losing a pick by forfeiting the right to compensation.
That selection would have come after the first round in 2026 if Gallen had signed elsewhere for at least $50MM. That seemed a distinct possibility early in the offseason but almost certainly wasn’t happening in the middle of February. It’s more likely that they’re passing on a compensation pick that would have landed 73rd or 74th overall, which they receive if he’d walked for less than $50MM. That’s not a huge cost compared to bringing back a potential mid-rotation starter on a favorable deal.
Although the team must be happy with the outcome, it’s undoubtedly not what Gallen envisioned for his first trip to free agency. Jon Heyman of The New York Post suggests he declined multi-year offers from other teams because he preferred to remain with the Diamondbacks. That doesn’t mean that the market didn’t materialize as hoped. MLBTR predicted a four-year, $80MM deal at the beginning of the offseason. It seems clear in retrospect that teams weren’t willing to go to those lengths given Gallen’s disappointing platform year.
Even if staying in Arizona was his first choice all along, he’s coming out quite a bit worse than if he’d accepted the qualifying offer. He’ll receive the same amount of money in the long run, but the true value of the deferred money is worth less than if he’d collected it all in 2026, as evidenced by the lower luxury tax number. That probably doesn’t mean much for the team — they would’ve been more than $20MM away from the CBT threshold in either case — but illustrates that there’s a significant gap between the QO and this contract.
Gallen did at least agree to terms within a couple days of camps opening. He’ll report to the team by the beginning of full squad workouts and should have plenty of time to be ready for Opening Day. One can imagine he didn’t want to wait until close to the regular season, as former teammate Jordan Montgomery did in 2024. Montgomery was very critical of how Boras had managed negotiations and switched agencies within two weeks of signing with the D-Backs. The lefty pitched poorly in ’24, then underwent Tommy John surgery last spring. He signed a $1.25MM deal with Texas this week and wound up making $48.75MM over three seasons from 2024-26.
There’s certainly a world where things work out well for Gallen in the long run. He’ll return to the open market at age 31 without being weighed down by draft compensation. A player can only receive the qualifying offer once in his career. A four- or five-year deal could be on the table if he rebounds to the form he showed in 2022-24: a 3.20 ERA and 26% strikeout rate over 93 starts. Blake Snell, Cody Bellinger, Pete Alonso and Matt Chapman are all Boras clients who found disappointing markets in one offseason and went on to much more lucrative contracts after bounce back performances.
Time will tell if Gallen can follow the same path. His immediate focus will be on trying to get Arizona to a playoff berth in an annually difficult NL West. Gallen was the last unsigned qualified free agent and arguably the last potential impact player available. Lucas Giolito, Max Scherzer, Zack Littell and Griffin Canning headline a dwindling free agent class.
Steve Gilbert of MLB.com first reported the D-Backs were nearing a deal with Gallen. Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic reported it was a one-year contract. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported it was a $22.025MM guarantee with roughly $14MM in deferrals. Rosenthal reported Gallen’s luxury tax number. Ronald Blum of The Associated Press reported the deferral structure.
Image courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images.
D-backs Notes: Lawlar, Burnes, Bullpen, Santana
The Diamondbacks’ acquisition of future Hall of Famer Nolan Arenado (alongside their decision not to trade Ketel Marte) pushed longtime top prospect Jordan Lawlar out of the club’s infield mix, at least on paper. That’s led to some questions about his role moving forward, but manager Torey Lovullo revealed to reporters (including Alex Weiner of AZ Sports) yesterday where the team hopes to play Lawlar going forward: center field. That would displace incumbent center fielder Alek Thomas, who Lovullo suggested would move around the outfield amid injuries to Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Corbin Carroll.
Of course, that plan to play Lawlar in center field is predicated on him proving himself capable of handling the position this spring. He played three games in center during the Dominican Winter League this offseason, but otherwise has spent his entire professional career on the dirt. His 98th percentile sprint speed in 2025 certainly suggests he has the wheels to handle the position, offering plenty of reason for optimism, but that lack of experience calls into question how effectively he’ll be able to pick up the position on the fly. It wouldn’t be the first time a team converted an infield prospect to center over the course of one Spring Training, as the division rival Padres managed to do just that with Jackson Merrill two years ago. Merrill turned in one of the best defensive seasons in the entire sport as a rookie, and should offer some optimism about Lawlar’s ability to follow suit.
Perhaps the biggest question for Lawlar isn’t whether he’s physically capable of handling center field, but whether he’s capable of staying on the field long enough to prove it. Between Triple-A and the majors, Lawlar has just 113 games played over the past two seasons due to a variety of injuries. Last season, he missed multiple months with a hamstring strain, while a thumb injury cost him most of 2024. In between those injuries, he’s struggled in brief cameos at the big league level but has managed to continue raking at Triple-A, offering some reason for optimism that he’ll figure things out offensively if given consistent playing time. He’ll now get that playing time at the expense of Thomas, who was once a former top propsect himself but has never quite managed to hit well in the majors with a career 74 wRC+ that peaked at 81 last season. Thomas figures to join Jorge Barrosa, Tim Tawa, and perhaps non-roster invitees like Ildemaro Vargas and Ryan Waldschmidt in mixing and matching in the corners while Carroll and Gurriel are out of commission.
Turning to the pitching staff, ace right-hander Corbin Burnes missed much of his first season in Arizona due to Tommy John surgery but figures to contribute after completing his rehab at some point this year. Burnes himself spoke to reporters (video link via MLB.com) about his timeline for return yesterday, and suggested that he’s expecting to return around the All-Star break. Burnes added that he plans to “try and make it [back] sooner,” though considering he went under the knife in June that could be a tall ask given the procedure’s typical recovery timeline. Adding Burnes back to the rotation would obviously be a massive boost. The former Cy Young award winner had a 2.66 ERA in 11 starts last year (albeit with less impressive peripherals) and placed in the top ten in Cy Young voting in each of the past five seasons prior to his injured 2025 campaign.
Burnes will be working towards a return alongside the team’s two highest leverage relievers, Justin Martinez and A.J. Puk. It appears his projected timeline falls in the middle of the two relief arms, as described by the players themselves in comments made to AZ Sports. Martinez suggested that he’s anticipating a return in August of this year, though he acknowledged it “could be earlier, could be later” depending on how things go from here. He underwent Tommy John surgery in June, like Burnes did. Puk also went under the knife in June, but he underwent a less-invasive internal brace procedure. The southpaw told reporters he hopes to be back by the end of May, but acknowledged that isn’t necessarily realistic. Still, he expressed confidence that he’ll be back on the mound before the second half, which indicates he could be looking at a return to action at some point in June.
Adding Puk and Martinez back to the relief staff could be majorly impactful for the Diamondbacks given their difficulties in finding high leverage relief help this year. The team figures to run back more or less the same group of relievers they finished last year with, as non-roster invitee Jonathan Loaisiga figures to be the most impactful reliever added to the roster during the offseason. Loaisiga has struggled to stay healthy over the years, and while he has a career 3.54 ERA at the big league level he struggled last year with middling results and worrisome peripherals (including a 5.83 FIP) in 30 appearances for the Yankees.
While Burnes, Puk, and Martinez all figure to spend Spring Training rehabbing their injured elbows, first baseman Carlos Santana figures to be preparing for the World Baseball Classic. Santana was one of many players who was unable to secure insurance to play in the World Baseball Classic, but Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Diamondbacks decided to give Santana the green light to play in the tournament uninsured. He’ll represent the Dominican Republic alongside teammate Ketel Marte and Geraldo Perdomo, and Hazen indicated that giving Santana the opportunity to bond with his new teammates over the shared experience of representing their home country was a factor in the team’s decision to assume the financial risk of the soon to be 40-year-old veteran getting injured. Santana is slated to make $2MM this year on his one-year deal with Arizona, and Rosenthal notes that, according to club GM Mike Hazen, Santana’s ability to be a clubhouse leader and guide other players on the team was a big part of why he was signed.
Players Who Could Move To The 60-Day IL Once Spring Training Begins
Most of the clubs in the league currently have a full 40-man roster, which means that just about every transaction requires a corresponding move. Some extra roster flexibility is on the way, however. The 60-day injured list goes away five days after the World Series but comes back when pitchers and catchers report to spring training.
Most clubs have a slightly earlier report date this year due to the World Baseball Classic. Last year, the Cubs and Dodgers had earlier report dates because they were had an earlier Opening Day than everyone else as part of the Tokyo Series. Gavin Stone was the first player to land on the 60-day IL in 2025, landing there on February 11th. According to MLB.com, every club has a report date from February 10th to 13th this year.
It’s worth pointing out that the 60 days don’t start being counted until Opening Day. Although a team can transfer a player to the 60-day IL quite soon, they will likely only do so if they aren’t expecting the player back until late May or beyond. A team also must have a full 40-man roster in order to move a player to the 60-day IL.
There are still plenty of free agents still out there, including big names like Framber Valdez, Zac Gallen, Justin Verlander, Chris Bassitt, Lucas Giolito, and more. Perhaps the extra roster flexibility will spur some deals to come together. It could also increase the ability of some clubs to make waiver claims or small trades for players who have been designated for assignment. If a team wants to pass a player through waivers, perhaps they will try to do so in the near future before the extra roster flexibility opens up.
Here are some players who are expected to miss some significant time or who have uncertain recovery timelines from 2025 injuries.
Angels: Anthony Rendon, Ben Joyce
Rendon’s situation is unique. He underwent hip surgery a year ago and missed the entire 2025 season. He is still on the roster and signed through 2026. He and the club have agreed to a salary-deferment plan and he is not expected to be in spring training with the club. His recovery timeline is unclear, but general manager Perry Minasian said earlier this month that Rendon would be “rehabbing at home,” per Alden González of ESPN. If they were going to release him, they likely would have done so by now, so he seems destined for the injured list.
Joyce underwent shoulder surgery in May and missed the remainder of the 2025 season. His current status is unclear. In August, he told Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register that he didn’t know if he would be ready for spring training. He would only land on the 60-day IL if the Halos don’t expect him back before the end of May.
Astros: Hayden Wesneski, Ronel Blanco, Brandon Walter
All three of these pitchers underwent Tommy John surgery in 2025. Wesneski was first, with his surgery taking place on May 23rd. Blanco followed shortly thereafter in early June. They will likely be targeting returns in the second half. Walter’s procedure was in September, meaning he will likely miss the entire season. All three should be on the 60-day IL as soon as Houston needs roster spots for other transactions.
Athletics: Zack Gelof
Gelof underwent surgery to repair a dislocated shoulder in September, with the expectation of him potentially being healthy for spring training. At the end of December, general manager David Forst told Martín Gallegos of MLB.com that Gelof would be “a little bit behind” in spring. He would only land on the 60-day IL if the A’s think he’ll be out through late May.
Blue Jays: Jake Bloss
Bloss underwent surgery on the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow in May. He was on optional assignment at the time and stayed in the minors for the rest of the season. Going into 2026, the Jays could keep him in the minors but they could also call him up and place him on the major league IL. Doing so would open up a roster spot but would also mean giving Bloss big league pay and service time.
Braves: Ha-Seong Kim, AJ Smith-Shawver, Danny Young, Joe Jiménez
Kim recently fell on some ice and injured his hand. He underwent surgery last week, and the expected recovery time is four to five months. The shorter end of that window only goes to mid-May, so perhaps Atlanta will hold off on making a decision until they watch his recovery, especially since they have other guys with clearer injury timelines.
Smith-Shawver underwent Tommy John surgery in June, so he shouldn’t be back until the second half and is therefore a lock for the 60-day IL once Atlanta needs a spot. Young underwent the same procedure in May, so he should also be bound for the IL.
Jimenez is more of a question mark. He missed the 2025 season due to left knee surgery. He required a “cleanup” procedure on that knee towards the end of the season. His timeline isn’t currently clear.
Brewers: None.
Cardinals: None.
Cubs: Justin Steele
Steele will probably be a bit of a borderline case. He underwent UCL surgery in April but it wasn’t a full Tommy John surgery. The Cubs described it as a “revision repair”. Steele had undergone Tommy John in 2017 as a minor leaguer.
Since Steele’s more recent procedure was a bit less serious than a full Tommy John, the club gave an estimated return timeline of about one year, putting him in line to potentially return fairly early in 2026. Given his importance to the Cubs, they would only put him on the 60-day IL if his timeline changes and he’s certain to be out through late May.
Diamondbacks: Corbin Burnes, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., A.J. Puk, Justin Martínez, Blake Walston, Tyler Locklear
The Snakes were hit hard by the injury bug in 2025. Burnes, Walston and Martínez all underwent Tommy John surgery. Burnes and Martínez had their procedures in June, so they should be targeting second-half returns and be easy calls for the 60-day IL. Walston would be a bit more borderline because his surgery was around Opening Day in late March last year. Puk had the slightly less significant internal brace procedure in June, so he could also be a borderline case.
Turning to the position players, Gurriel tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in September. He required surgery which came with a return timeline of nine to ten months, so he should be out until around the All-Star break.
Locklear should be back sooner. He underwent surgery in October to address a ligament tear in his elbow and a labrum injury in his shoulder. The hope at the time of that procedure was that he would be game ready to go on a rehab assignment around Opening Day and would therefore miss only about the first month. He would therefore only hit the 60-day IL if he doesn’t meet that timeline for some reason.
Dodgers: Brock Stewart
Stewart underwent shoulder debridement surgery in September. His timeline for 2026 isn’t especially clear. He will likely start the season on the IL but it’s unclear if he’ll be out long enough to warrant landing on the 60-day version.
Giants: Randy Rodríguez, Jason Foley
Rodríguez underwent Tommy John surgery in September, so he’s a lock for the 60-day IL and might even miss the entire 2026 campaign. Foley’s status is a bit more murky. He underwent shoulder surgery in May while with the Tigers. Detroit non-tendered him at season’s end, which allowed the Giants to sign him. He is expected back at some point mid-season. The Giants may want to get more clarity on his progress during camp before deciding on a move to the IL.
Guardians: Andrew Walters, David Fry
Neither of these guys is a lock for the 60-day IL. Walters had surgery to repair his right lat tendon in June with a recovery estimate of eight to ten months. Fry underwent surgery in October due to a deviated septum and a fractured nose suffered when a Tarik Skubal pitch hit him in the face. His timeline is unclear. It’s possible one or both could be healthy by Opening Day, so relevant updates may be forthcoming when camps open.
Mariners: Logan Evans
Evans required UCL surgery just last week and will miss the entire 2026 season. He was on optional assignment at the end of 2025, so the Mariners could keep him in the minors. Calling him up and putting him on the big league 60-day IL would open up a 40-man spot but would also involve Evans receiving big league pay and service time for the year.
Marlins: Ronny Henriquez
Henriquez underwent internal brace surgery in December and will miss the entire 2026 season, so he’s a lock for the 60-day IL.
Mets: Tylor Megill, Reed Garrett, Dedniel Núñez
All three of these pitchers underwent Tommy John surgery late in 2025 and are likely to miss the entire 2026 season, making them locks for the 60-day IL. Núñez went under the knife in July, followed by Megill in September and Garrett in October.
Nationals: Trevor Williams, DJ Herz
Williams underwent internal brace surgery in July. That’s a slightly less serious variation of Tommy John but still usually requires about a year of recovery. Herz underwent a full Tommy John procedure in April. Since that surgery usually requires 14 months or longer to come back, both pitchers are likely out until around the All-Star break and therefore bound for the 60-day IL once the Nats need some roster spots.
Orioles: Félix Bautista
Bautista underwent shoulder surgery in August, and the club announced his recovery timeline as 12 months. He’s a lock for the 60-day IL and may miss the entire season if his recovery doesn’t go smoothly.
Padres: Yu Darvish, Jhony Brito, Jason Adam
Darvish underwent UCL surgery in November and will miss the entire 2026 season. Instead of going on the IL, he may just retire, but it seems there are some contractual complications to be ironed out since he is signed through 2028.
Brito and Adam could be borderline cases. Brito underwent internal brace surgery in May of last year. Some pitchers can return from that procedure in about a year. Adam ruptured a tendon in his left quad in early September. In November, he seemed to acknowledge that he wouldn’t be ready for Opening Day. As of now, a trip to the 60-day IL seems unlikely unless he suffers a setback.
Pirates: Jared Jones
Jones required UCL surgery on May 21st of last year. The Bucs announced an expected return timeline of 10 to 12 months. The shorter end of that window would allow Jones to return fairly early in 2026. If it looks like he’ll be on the longer end of that time frame, he could wind up on the 60-day IL.
Phillies: Zack Wheeler
Wheeler underwent surgery to address thoracic outlet syndrome in September, with a timeline of six to eight months. As of now, it seems unlikely Wheeler would require a trip to the 60-day IL, but it depends on how his ramp-up goes. He’s also approaching his 36th birthday, and the Phils could slow-play his recovery.
Rangers: Cody Bradford
Bradford required internal brace surgery in late June of last year. He recently said he’s targeting a return in May. That’s a pretty aggressive timeline, but perhaps the Rangers will delay moving him to the 60-day IL until that plan is strictly ruled out.
Rays: Manuel Rodríguez
Rodriguez underwent flexor tendon surgery in July of last year and is targeting a return in June of this year, so he should be a lock for the 60-day IL.
Reds: Brandon Williamson, Julian Aguiar
Both of these pitchers required Tommy John surgeries late in 2024, Williamson in September and Aguiar in October. They each missed the entire 2025 season. Presumably, they are recovered by now and could be healthy going into 2026, but there haven’t been any recent public updates.
Red Sox: Tanner Houck, Triston Casas
Houck is the most clear-cut case for Boston. He had Tommy John surgery in August of 2025 and will miss most or perhaps all of the 2026 season. Casas is more borderline. He’s still recovering from a ruptured left patellar tendon suffered in May of last year. It doesn’t seem like he will be ready by Opening Day, but his timeline apart from that is murky.
Rockies: Jeff Criswell, Kris Bryant
Criswell required Tommy John surgery in early March of last year. With the normal 14-month recovery timeline, he could be back in May. Anything slightly longer than that would make him a candidate for the 60-day IL. Bryant’s timeline is very difficult to discern. He has hardly played in recent years due to various injuries and is now dealing with chronic symptoms related to lumbar degenerative disc disease. Updates will likely be provided once camp opens.
Royals: Alec Marsh
Marsh missed 2025 due to shoulder problems and is slated to miss 2026 as well after undergoing labrum surgery in November.
Tigers: Jackson Jobe
Jobe required Tommy John surgery in June of last year. He will miss most or perhaps even all of the 2026 season.
Twins: None.
White Sox: Ky Bush, Drew Thorpe, Prelander Berroa
These three hurlers all required Tommy John surgery about a year ago, Bush in February, followed by Berroa and Thorpe in March. Given the normal 14-month recovery period, any of them could return early in 2026, but they could also end up on the 60-day IL if the timeline pushes slightly beyond that.
Yankees: Clarke Schmidt, Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, Anthony Volpe
Schmidt is the only lock of this group. He required UCL surgery in July of last year and should miss the first half of the 2026 season. Cole is recovering from Tommy John surgery performed in March of last year. His target is expected to be late May/early June, so he has a decent chance to hit the 60-day. However, given his importance to the club, the Yankees probably won’t put him there until it’s certain he won’t be back by the middle of May.
Rodón had surgery in October to remove loose bodies in his elbow. He’s expected to be back with the big league club in late April or early May, so he would only hit the 60-day IL if his timeline is pushed. Volpe required shoulder surgery in October. He’s not expected to be ready by Opening Day, but his timeline beyond that doesn’t seem concrete.
Photo courtesy of Allan Henry, Imagn Images
MLBTR Podcast: White Sox Ownership, Roman Anthony, And The Diamondbacks’ Rotation
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The White Sox getting a new owner, at some point in the future (1:10)
- The Red Sox promoting Roman Anthony (13:25)
- Corbin Burnes undergoing Tommy John surgery and where that leaves the Diamondbacks (23:20)
- The Mariners designating Leody Taveras for assignment (34:10)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- Do the Mariners need a left-hander in the rotation? (40:45)
- What will the Braves do with the rest of the season and would they trade Chris Sale? (45:30)
- With the Mets seemingly having too many young infielders, who stays and who goes? (53:35)
Check out our past episodes!
- Jarren Duran Rumors, Caglianone And Young Promoted, And Pitching Injuries – listen here
- Bregman Injured, Marcelo Mayer Called Up, And Pirates Talk – listen here
- The Disappointing Orioles, Dalton Rushing, And The Phillies’ Bullpen – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Photo courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski, Imagn Images
Diamondbacks Select Aramis Garcia
The Diamondbacks announced a series of roster moves this afternoon, headlined by the club selecting the contract of catcher Aramis Garcia. Right-hander Cristian Mena was placed on the 15-day injured list to make room for Garcia on the active roster, while the transfer of right-hander Corbin Burnes to the 60-day IL following yesterday’s news that the veteran is set to undergo Tommy John surgery cleared a 40-man roster spot for Garcia. In addition, Arizona appointed righty Christian Montes De Oca to the roster as their 27th-man for today’s doubleheader.
Garcia, 32, was a second-round pick by the Giants back in 2014 but didn’t ultimately make his big league debut until the 2018 season. Garcia came up to the majors in August of that year to help back up Nick Hundley after Buster Posey underwent season-ending hip surgery. He got time in both behind the plate and at first base that year, slashing .286/.302/.492 across 19 games in his first cup of coffee with the big league club, though that solid 117 wRC+ came in a sample of just 65 plate appearances. Still, Garcia’s work in that first taste of the majors was enough to convince the Giants to continue rostering him for the 2019 campaign.
Unfortunately, his performance took a nose dive in that second stint as a big leaguer. He ultimately hit just .143/.217/.310 in 46 trips to the plate for the Giants that year. Despite that lackluster performance, Garcia was still in line to make the Giants’ 2020 Opening Day roster as the primary backup to Posey. That’s not how things worked out, however, as an offseason hip injury combined with the shortened 60-game campaign left Garcia sidelined for the whole year. The Giants ultimately cut the catcher loose following the 2020 season and designated him for assignment. He was claimed off waivers by the Rangers and then included in the swap that sent Khris Davis to Dallas and Elvis Andrus to Oakland prior to the 2021 campaign.
Garcia’s largest contributions in the majors came during the next two seasons. He hit .205/.239/.318 (56 wRC+) in 32 games with the A’s in 2021, but was ultimately cut from the team’s roster and signed with the Reds on a minor league deal. In Cincinnati, Garcia appeared in a career-high 47 games but hit just .213/.248/.259 with a wRC+ of 37 before getting claimed by the Orioles following the 2022 season. He bounced between the Orioles and Phillies organizations over the past two years but made just three appearances in the majors in that time before signing with Arizona on a minor league deal this past winter. Now, he’s back in the majors as a depth option behind the plate with a doubleheader scheduled today and primary catcher Gabriel Moreno day-to-day following a hand injury he suffered in yesterday’s game.
Making room for Garcia on the active roster is Mena, who is being shelved with a right shoulder strain. The right-hander has long been regarded as a talented but raw pitching prospect and was acquired from the White Sox in exchange for outfielder Dominic Fletcher prior to the 2024 season. Mena made his big league debut last year and surrendered four runs across three innings in his lone appearance, but this year he’s looked quite good with 5 2/3 scoreless innings of work and a 35% strikeout rate in a multi-inning relief role. Unfortunately, he’ll now need to wait to heal up to build on that success. For today, Mena’s spot in the bullpen will be offered to Montes De Oca, who has not yet appeared in a big league game but has a 4.07 ERA in 24 1/3 innings of work at Triple-A this year.
Corbin Burnes To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo has informed members of the media that right-hander Corbin Burnes will undergo Tommy John surgery. Burnes will therefore miss the remainder of this season and possibly the entire 2026 campaign as well. Radio broadcaster Chris Garagiola was among those to pass the info along. Burnes is already on the 15-day injured list but will be transferred to the 60-day as soon as the club needs a roster spot.
The news is devastating but unsurprising. Burnes was pitching on Sunday when he called the training staff out from the dugout. He departed that game and the club later announced that he was experiencing elbow discomfort. He went for various medical opinions in the following days but it seems the worst-case scenario could not be avoided, so he’ll go under the knife. Given that Tommy John surgery usually requires 14 to 18 months of recovery time, Burnes is definitely out for the rest of 2025. A return in late in 2026 is possible but can’t be guaranteed.
Burnes is well known as one of the best pitchers in the sport. He won a Cy Young Award while pitching with the Brewers in 2021. He posted a 2.43 earned run average in 167 innings that year. He struck out 35.6% of opponents, only gave out walks at a 5.2% clip and got grounders on 48.8% of balls in play.
His results have backed up a bit since then but he’s still been excellent. Over the next three years, his strikeout rate continued to fall but it didn’t prevent his overall run prevention much. His ERA finished around 3.00 in each season from 2022 to 2024, even though his strikeout rate fell to 30.5%, 25.5% and 23.1% in those seasons.
He was one of the top free agents in the most recent offseason. MLBTR placed him second in the class, behind only Juan Soto, predicting Burnes could land a $200MM contract over seven years. He naturally fielded a lot of interest, with clubs such as the Orioles, Blue Jays and Giants among those who were connected to him most often.
In late December, he finally picked a new team. Arizona was a surprising destination since the club already had a number of rotation options and wasn’t heavily connected to the starting pitching market. But Burnes is an Arizona native and reportedly wanted to be close to his family, so the two sides made it work. The six-year deal guarantees Burnes $210MM, though with $64MM of that deferred into the next decade. It also affords him the opportunity to opt out after the 2026 season.
The Diamondbacks had made a number of investments in their rotation in recent years but this was the largest by far. Going into 2024, they gave Eduardo Rodríguez a four-year, $80MM deal and Jordan Montgomery also got a one-year, $25MM guarantee plus an easily-attainable vesting option.
Despite the heavy amount of investment in starting pitching, the Arizona rotation hasn’t been a strength. That was true even before this Burnes news, something that MLBTR’s Anthony Franco recently took a look at in a post for Front Office subscribers.
Losing Burnes for the rest of the year will only compound the problem. Montgomery himself required Tommy John surgery before the season started, so he’s already been out of action all year. Rodríguez has a 7.05 ERA in nine starts. He went on the IL in mid-May due to shoulder inflammation and was reinstated today.
Despite having one of the best lineups in baseball, the Arizona pitching has contributed to a fairly disappointing season so far. A recent four-game win streak has got them back to .500, but their 31-31 record still has them 3.5 games out of a playoff spot at the moment. They will have to try to climb back into the race without Burnes. Their current rotation consists of Rodríguez, Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Brandon Pfaadt and Ryne Nelson. Kelly is having a good year but Gallen, Pfaadt and Rodríguez are all struggling. Nelson has been in a swing role and is only now taking up a rotation spot in the wake of the injuries.
With the club hovering around contention, decisions will have to be made about the club’s deadline plans. If they fall back in the standings, they have a number of impending free agents and could have a lot to sell. That includes Gallen, Kelly, Eugenio Suárez and Josh Naylor. Montgomery is also an impending free agent but naturally has no trade value since he’s out for the year. Though if the Snakes can hang in there, adding at the deadline could obviously be the move.
Those impending free agencies and the Burnes surgery will also lead to questions about the 2026 rotation. As of now, it consists of Pfaadt, Rodríguez and Nelson. There are some prospects who could potentially take up roles but it’s clearly a very different picture to the imperfect group they have now.
Turning to the Burnes opt-out, it now seems incredibly unlikely that he triggers it. Though he could come back late next year, that will likely be for a handful of starts at most. It would be hard for him to build up enough of a platform to turn down the four years and $140MM (with deferrals) left on the deal.
That’s a largely moot point for the future. For today, the takeaway is that it’s real bad news for the Diamondbacks. Subtracting Burnes blows a big hole in their rotation right now, while the club is trying to salvage the season, and into the long-term as well.
Photos courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas and Allan Henry, Imagn Images
Corbin Burnes Placed On IL, Still Being Evaluated Due To Elbow Discomfort
June 3: Results on Burnes’ first wave of imaging were inconclusive, reports John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. He’ll seek further testing and opinions to determine the severity of his elbow issue, and the club will have more information on his status later in the week. Per Jody Jackson of Arizona Sports, the further testing will include a visit to Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles. As expected, Burnes was officially placed on the 15-day IL today with lefty Tommy Henry recalled as the corresponding move. Per Gambadoro, Nelson will return to the rotation with Henry to the bullpen.
June 1: Corbin Burnes made an early exit from the Diamondbacks’ 3-1 win over the Nationals due to what was described by manager Torey Lovullo as right elbow discomfort. The right-hander had sailed through 4 2/3 shutout innings before allowing a two-out single to CJ Abrams in the top of the fifth, and a clearly upset Burnes then immediately motioned to the home dugout for a quick consultation with team trainers.
Post-game, Lovullo told reporters (including Arizona Sports) that Burnes will get an MRI tomorrow, and won’t join the Diamondbacks on their upcoming road trip to Atlanta and Cincinnati. The pitcher himself also described his health situation to the media, saying his elbow started to gradually tighten up during the outing.
“It just got to the point where the tightness was just too much…didn’t feel like we needed to push any farther. Hopefully we caught it early, hopefully it’s not bad, but we’ll see,” Burnes said.
More details will be known in the aftermath of the MRI, though it seems like Burnes will probably be placed on the 15-day injured list at least as a precaution. This would be the first arm-related IL stint of Burnes’ durable career, as his two previous IL trips were due to Covid-19 (in 2021) and an oblique strain late in the 2020 season that kept him out of the Brewers’ brief playoff run.
After signing a six-year, $210MM free agent deal with his local team this past offseason, Burnes has mostly looked the part of a frontline ace in posting a 2.66 ERA over 64 1/3 innings. However, his secondary metrics tell another story, as Burnes entered today’s start with a more modest 3.99 SIERA. Burnes’ hard-hit ball rate and walk rate are both well below the league average, let alone the strong numbers in both categories that Burnes had posted over his previous seven Major League seasons. Burnes’ whiff rate remains above the league average but also down from his 2024 total.
The right-hander’s signature cutter has been among the best pitches in baseball over the last few years, but Statcast’s Run Value metric indicates that the cutter has gone from a +17 in 2024 to only a +2 in 2025 since batters have been able to square up on the pitch with far more regularity. Both Burnes’ cutter (95.3mph to 94.2mph) and his sinker (97mph to 95.6mph) have lost some velocity from last season to this campaign.
Even with these red flags, the bottom-line results have still been there for Burnes, and he has still been the most consistent member of Arizona’s underwhelming rotation. MLBTR’s Anthony Franco recently explored how the Diamondbacks’ pitching staff is again struggling, and undermining the efforts of the team’s powerful lineup. Today’s win bumped the Snakes up to only a 28-31 record, and they are five games behind the Giants for both third place in the NL West and the final NL wild card slot.
Losing Burnes even for a fairly minimal amount of time would severely hamper the Diamondbacks’ chances of making up that ground, let alone making a late run at the Dodgers at the top of the division. Eduardo Rodriguez is expected to return from the 15-day IL this coming week after a mid-May placement due to shoulder inflammation, but if Burnes is also sidelined, Ryne Nelson (who was headed to the bullpen due to E-Rod’s return) will likely be reinserted back into the starting five.
The Diamondbacks’ Surprisingly Middling Rotation
Few teams have more aggressively added veteran rotation help over the past two years than the Diamondbacks. As shown on MLBTR's Contract Tracker, 15 free agent starting pitchers have signed for at least a $20MM average annual value since the start of the 2023-24 offseason. The D-Backs have been responsible for three of them.
If we exclude Shohei Ohtani, who was obviously signed more for his bat, Arizona is the only team to sign three such contracts over the past two winters. The Dodgers (Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Blake Snell) are the only other club that has signed more than one.
Arizona began with a four-year, $80MM contract for Eduardo Rodriguez. That was a sizable investment for their market size but not one that took too many people by surprise. They finally snapped Jordan Montgomery's extended free agent stay with a one-year, $25MM guarantee and an easily achievable vesting option that pushed their investment close to $50MM over two seasons.
The true shocker came last winter, when they emerged out of nowhere as the landing spot for Corbin Burnes, who wanted to pitch close to his Arizona home. He probably left some earnings upside on the table, but it still took a six-year commitment worth $210MM (with a net present value closer to $194MM after adjusting for deferred money).
They've added those big-name arms to an in-house starting pitching group that included Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly and Brandon Pfaadt. Maybe they didn't match the depth of some other clubs, but their top six to seven starters look exceptionally formidable. This should be one of the best rotations in MLB.
And yet, for two years running, it hasn't been particularly close to that.
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Corbin Burnes To Miss Next Start With Shoulder Inflammation
Diamondbacks right-hander Corbin Burnes is battling inflammation in his right shoulder, as reported by Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic. Piercoro adds that Arizona intends to scratch Burnes from his next start. It’s unclear whether or not he’ll ultimately require a stint on the injured list due to the issue, though Piecoro relays that manager Torey Lovullo told reporters before today’s game that they remain hopeful he’ll be back on the mound after just one missed start. The manager suggests that Burnes has been nagged by fatigue in his shoulder going back his last couple of starts, and that led to the club sending him for an MRI back in Arizona.
That MRI revealed “a little bit” of inflammation in Lovullo’s words, leading to the decision to skip the right-hander’s next start. Even as the Diamondbacks remain optimistic that Burnes will miss just one outing, the news is worrying for fans in the desert. After all, Arizona has fallen to fourth place in a hyper-competitive NL West division despite their solid enough 17-15 record. That record leaves them on the outside looking in for an NL Wild Card spot, behind the Padres, Giants, Phillies, and Reds in the standings aside from the division-leading Dodgers, Cubs, and Mets.
That lackluster pitching is a big reason for that middling record. While Arizona’s offense has been phenomenal so far, their run prevention has left something to be desired despite being a major strength on paper. The starting five’s 4.27 ERA is a bottom-ten figure in baseball this year, and Brandon Pfaadt is the only pitcher in the mix who has met expectations with a dazzling 2.78 ERA across six starts. Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, and especially Eduardo Rodriguez have all struggled so far this year.
Burnes, meanwhile, has a decent enough ERA of 3.58 that clocks in 18% better than league average by ERA+. That’s not quite what the Diamondbacks had in mind when they signed him to a six-year, $210MM deal over the winter, however, and his peripherals tell a more alarming story. His pedestrian 20.0% strikeout rate is the lowest of his career, and he’s paired it with a hefty 12.1% walk rate after having reliably excellent command in recent years. Burnes’s 5.08 FIP, 5.31 xERA, and 4.61 SIERA are all very worrisome, and suggest that even his mid-rotation production to this point in the year isn’t sustainable.
Perhaps this inflammation that he’s been battling is at least part of the explanation for the righty’s struggles. The 30-year-old hurler has made at least 32 starts in each of the past three seasons, and while that durability is admirable it’s the nature of pitching in this current era of baseball that hurlers need more rest than ever before as they push themselves for higher velocity and maximum spin efficiency. Perhaps this breather will be enough to calm the inflammation and get Burnes back on track, which would surely be a relief for Arizona as they fight to force their way back into the NL playoff picture after their surprising World Series run in 2023 and narrowly missing out on October last year.
Whether the inflammation forces Burnes to sit down for just one start or requires a stint on the injured list, the Diamondbacks are reasonably well-equipped to handle his absence even after losing sixth starter Jordan Montgomery to Tommy John surgery earlier this year. Ryne Nelson is in the bullpen as a long reliever but threw 68 pitches his last time out and is stretched out enough for a spot start or even to slide into the rotation longer-term as needed. He appears to be the most likely candidate to replace Burnes, though hurlers like Tommy Henry and Cristian Mena are also on the 40-man roster as potential depth options.
Blue Jays Notes: Burnes, Bregman, Scherzer, Varsho, Swanson, Burr
The Blue Jays were one of the kings of the rumor mill this winter, seemingly linked to just about every notable name on the free agent market. Corbin Burnes was one of those targets, and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale sheds some light on the Jays’ pursuit in his notes column today while also countering his own past reporting on the matter.
Back in December, Nightengale wrote that the Jays and Giants offered Burnes more than the six-year, $210MM he received from the Diamondbacks. Burnes himself described Arizona’s offer as “by far the best offer that we had,” as Nightengale’s latest report notes that the “Giants’ pursuit of Burnes stopped before it really got started.” As for Toronto, Nightengale now writes that the Jays’ offer “was not only low, but was 75% deferred.”
While the exact dollar figures aren’t known, it seems possible that the Blue Jays might have technically offered more than $210MM, yet the heavy amount of deferred money involved lowered the contract’s current value to below what Burnes got from the D’Backs. It should be noted that Burnes’ Arizona deal also involves $64MM in deferrals, and the fact that Burnes can opt out of his deal after the 2026 also impacts the financial structure.
Alex Bregman was another name reportedly on the Blue Jays’ target list, yet Nightengale writes that “they didn’t make a single offer to Bregman, let alone engage with him.” The Jays entered the offseason without a clear answer at second or third base, so it made sense on paper that Toronto would at least check in on Bregman as a solution to the need at the hot corner. Instead, the Jays acquired Andres Gimenez to become the new everyday second baseman, and stuck with internal options (i.e. Will Wagner, Ernie Clement) to split time at third base.
One free agent Toronto did sign was Max Scherzer, who inked a one-year, $15.5MM contract. Unfortunately, the longtime star’s Jays debut ended after just three innings due to continued issues with his right thumb, leading to a trip to the 15-day injured list. The righty received a cortisone shot just under two weeks ago, and Jays manager John Schneider told Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith and other reporters that a fresh set of imaging tests taken Friday didn’t reveal any damage.
While this represents some good news, both the team and Scherzer remain in day-to-day mode as they try to figure out the injury that has now bothered Scherzer for the better part of a year. Scherzer is playing catch and throwing off of flat ground for now, but has yet to bump up his throwing program to prepare for a return to action.
Moving onto some more injury updates, Daulton Varsho will start playing in full extended Spring Training games this coming week. Varsho underwent rotator cuff surgery last September and began the season on the 10-day injured list as he continued his rehab work. Throwing remains the final step in the process, as Varsho has yet to start making full throws from the outfield, but presumably he’ll check that box before returning to proper game action.
Despite his semi-injured status, Varsho still got a good deal of work in during the Jays’ actual Spring Training, as he had 37 plate appearances as a designated hitter. The fact that Varsho has been able to partake in other baseball activities beyond throwing could mean that it might not take him long to get fully ramped up for his eventual return to the Blue Jays’ active roster. He’ll still surely need a Triple-A rehab assignment, but it appears as though Varsho is on pace to meet his expected timeline of an IL activation before the end of April.
Erik Swanson is also on the road to recovery after a median nerve entrapment in his right arm led to a season-opening stint on the IL. Swanson will face live hitters this week and is expected to then start a minor league rehab assignment. Ryan Burr threw a bullpen session yesterday, in the latest step of his rehab after he also started the year on the 15-day IL due to shoulder fatigue.