TODAY: Both The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale expanded on Feinsand’s link between Gallen and the Cubs, writing that Chicago indeed has interest in the free agent. Giving up draft compensation to sign Gallen isn’t a deal-breaker for the team, Mooney notes, as the Cubs have shown interest in other players (i.e. Ranger Suarez, Michael King) who rejected qualifying offers.
DECEMBER 5: Right-hander Zac Gallen didn’t have the platform season he envisioned heading into free agency, but the former Cy Young finalist and All-Star nevertheless turned down a qualifying offer from the D-backs and hit the open market last month. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the Giants have had conversations with Gallen’s camp (video link). MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand adds the Angels and Tigers to the list of teams with interest in Gallen. He also indicates that the Orioles, Cubs and Braves have at least looked into Gallen. Meanwhile, John Gambadoro of 98.7 Arizona Sports recently suggested a D-backs reunion was unlikely.
Gallen, who turned 30 in August, struggled through four brutal months to begin the 2025 season but ended with a flourish. Through the time of the trade deadline, the right-hander was lugging a 5.60 ERA toward the finish line. That ugly ERA came despite roughly average strikeout and walk rates (22.1% and 8.6%, respectively). He was getting hammered by the long ball, yielding 23 homers in his first 127 frames of the season (1.63 HR/9).
From August onward, Gallen looked more like his typical self. His strikeout rate dipped two percentage points, to a below-average 20.3%, but his walk rate improved to 7.1%. Most importantly, he cut back on the home runs. Gallen yielded just eight round-trippers in his final 65 innings — a rate of 1.11 per nine innings, which falls far more closely in line with his career mark (1.05).
Even with a 3.32 earned run average over his final 11 starts, Gallen closed out the year with an unsightly 4.83 ERA overall. It’s not a strong mark, but Gallen and Boras are surely hoping that track record and impeccable durability will carry his market. Gallen started 33 games in 2025 and is tied with Jose Berrios for the fourth-most starts in MLB (126) dating back to 2022. His 734 innings rank third in the sport during that time, trailing only Logan Webb and Framber Valdez. Gallen has only been on the major league injured list three times in his career — a pair of short stints due to hamstring strains in 2024 and 2021 and a month-long IL stay for a mild elbow sprain back in ’21.
The Giants are a sensible fit. They’re looking for rotation help but not keen on handing out the type of six- and seven-year deals we’ll see for many of the market’s top names. Giants brass has seen him more than most pitchers over the years, as an ultra-durable stalwart in a division rival’s rotation. President of baseball operations Buster Posey even personally faced Gallen eight times, going 2-for-6 with a pair of walks and a home run.
San Francisco has the aforementioned Webb atop the rotation and signed through 2028. No. 2 starter Robbie Ray is signed only through the 2026 season. Right-hander Landen Roupp positioned himself for a rotation spot with a nice showing through 22 starts in his age-26 season. Other candidates at the moment include Hayden Birdsong, Carson Whisenhunt, Blade Tidwell, Kai-Wei Teng, Trevor McDonald and Carson Seymour. It’s a fine collection of depth, but there’s also plenty of uncertainty (hence the focus on rotation upgrades).
Gallen wouldn’t need to be the Giants’ ace but would give them a reliable source of innings and a big track record on which to dream. The Giants’ projected payroll, per RosterResource, is a bit under $169MM. That’s right about the same level at which they opened the 2025 season, but Giants ownership has topped $200MM payrolls in the past — even as recently as 2024. There’s room to add to the budget.
The Angels’ projected payroll is in a near-identical spot to that of the Giants, but the Angels trotted out a $203MM Opening Day mark just this past season. Mike Trout and Yusei Kikuchi are the only players signed beyond the 2026 season, and only Trout is signed beyond 2027.
In Anaheim, Gallen would join a rotation currently fronted by Kikuchi and Jose Soriano. Beyond that duo, the Angels are likely to give former top prospect Reid Detmers, who had a strong season in the bullpen in ’25, another look in the rotation next season. They’ve also acquired Grayson Rodriguez from the Orioles and signed Alek Manoah to a one-year deal this winter. Former top prospect Caden Dana headlines the depth options — a group also including Mitch Farris, Sam Aldegheri, Walbert Urena, Jack Kochanowicz and prospect George Klassen, who has not yet been added to the 40-man roster. There are some talented arms in the mix, but as with the Giants, the Halos simply lack stability behind a pair of generally established veterans atop the rotation.
Over in Detroit, the Tigers have some more stability but less depth. Having the best pitcher on the planet on the roster is a nice start, of course, and the Tigers can follow Tarik Skubal with Jack Flaherty, Casey Mize, Reese Olson and sophomore Troy Melton. Adding Gallen would push Melton to the top depth option, presumably in Triple-A, alongside Keider Montero, Sawyer Gipson-Long, Ty Madden and prospect Jaden Hamm (not yet on the 40-man roster).
The Tigers have one of the cleanest long-term payroll sheets of any club in MLB. Javier Baez’s six-year contract runs through 2027. He and Colt Keith — playing on a six-year, $28.6425MM extension — are the only two players guaranteed anything beyond the 2026 season. Adding Gallen would give the Tigers some 2026 stability and protect them in the event that Skubal, Flaherty and/or Mize all depart in free agency next winter.
The other clubs listed by Feinsand are all known to be in the market for rotation help, too, so none of the bunch is particularly surprising. It’d be out of character for the Braves to sign Gallen, unless his market collapses and he signs a short-term pillow deal (either one year or two years with an opt-out). Atlanta hasn’t given more than $30MM to a free agent starting pitcher under president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos. The Orioles are likely searching for ceiling over stability, so unless they’re confident they can get Gallen back to his 2022-23 form, he’s probably not Plan A or B in Baltimore. The Cubs are already counting on one bounceback from a notable starter (Shota Imanaga), though Gallen fits the spending profile they’ve pursued in offseasons more than the other names at the top of the market.
Even coming off a down year, Gallen will likely find a multi-year pact. Even if he prefers to bet on himself with a shorter-term deal, he’s precisely the type of former All-Star for whom the Boras Corporation has frequently negotiated two-year deals with opt-out pacts. We predicted a four-year deal for Gallen on our annual ranking of the sport’s Top 50 free agents, believing that the market will value his durability and track record enough to get him paid nicely — albeit not to the extent he’d have enjoyed coming off a more typical season. Gallen will presumably be presented a variety of contract structures, many of which will have opt-out opportunities or convoluted multi-year player and club options alike. The deal he ultimately accepts will hinge on his personal level of risk aversion.
It Bora$ wants that long a deal, they may be waiting a while unless a large market doesn’t give a rat’s keister and just throws money at him.
This is exactly the type of guy that is hurt by the QO teams look at those 2025 numbers and see enough question marks that they move their attention to someone who doesn’t have a QO attached to them.
Giants get this guy on the board. Need a dub in the contest lol.
MLBTR predicted 4y/$80M for Gallen. I think that is high because he’ll likely take a 2 deal with an opt out after one year in hopes to score a bigger contract next year, lockout or no lockout.
I see it’s agent “let’s drum up some momentum for my client” time. You can safely assume this “scoop” originated in Gallen calling his agent and demanding some action.
Like Gallen but there’s no way an Angels team this far from contention and with this bad of a farm system should forfeit a draft pick.
He’d look good in a Giants uniform, I agree. He’ll get away with a few of those fly balls on cool nights instead of having them leave the yard and his durability is solid.
Pretty much “forfeit a draft pick” is the reason why he’s not going to be an Angel in 2026. When was the last time they did that to sign someone?
Has Arte ever allowed that? Good question though.
Thor a couple of years ago.
@halosheavenJJ. Tyler Anderson as well.
I don’t believe the Angels will do much until there is a judgement in the Skaggs lawsuit.
If Rendon retires, that frees up $35M off the taxable payroll,, but they still owe him $38M. With the amount of flexible spending about $95M, the Angels would have they can turn things around fairly quickly.
The FA board looks better next year, but Perry is in a win now mode. I can see him adding Gallen or King to try to get an extension.
Buster doesn’t like dealing with Boras and four years is a long time to lock in with a 30 year old in possible decline. Add QO and Gallen looks like a no. Giants playing masters of deception this winter, though.
Where did you hear that Buster didn’t like dealing with Boras? He didn’t seem to have a problem re-signing Chapman.
Baggs suggested as much in the Imai article the other day.
Boras is pretty unavoidable if you’re trying to sign free agents. Matt Chapman, for example, is a Boras client, and Posey is said to have had a major role in Chapman’s long term deal.
Rct, the Baggarly article says Posey circumvented Boras when they worked out the extension.
nytimes.com/athletic/6852286/2025/12/01/sf-giants-…
I don’t find that anywhere in that article. I did find this.
“Earlier this month at the GM Meetings in Las Vegas, Giants president Buster Posey, GM Zack Minasian and newly hired manager Tony Vitello met face-to-face with Imai’s agent, Scott Boras. They requested medical reports on Imai as well as fellow Boras Corp. clients Ranger Suárez, Max Scherzer and Dylan Cease, the latter of whom just signed a seven-year, $210 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays.”
The only real thing mentioned was that “Posey has shown little desire for signing free agents who insist on opt-out clauses”, something a few Boras clients including Matt Chapman have done to give themselves an opportunity to reset their market value. If you won’t sign those players, he will miss out on a large number of FA that had a down platform year. Posey is not stupid and it would be stupid to lay down that line in the sand.
Boras currently represents 106 of the top 200 players in MLB. The Giants are not going to do well if they avoid Boras clients. If they stick to CAA clients, they have 24 other players in the top 200 to choose from, not including the 2 they signed last offseason.
The article did talk quite a bit about how private equity investments in baseball teams are ruining the spot. That part was spot on.
“ It’s notable that Posey hasn’t signed a Boras client since he ascended to the top chair in October of last year, shortly after he appeared to circumvent the super-agent while helping to expedite the completion of a six-year, $151 million extension with third baseman Matt Chapman. ”
You can’t circumvent an agent. A team cannot even talk to the player about a contract without the agent being involved. Maybe start learning more about how the CBA is worded in regards to these things instead of what a writer’s opinion is.
I didn’t write the article but thanks for the suggestion! Here’s one for you:have your parents talk to your teacher about reading comprehension exercises.
You have to deal with Boras. I’d be surprised if any of them like it.
Foppert- exactly.
I’m sure most front office and owners don’t like dealing with him but you are forced to if you want to sign a lot of the best players. Even some of the not so good players.
Posey isn’t going to not get a player he wants and the price he feels is doable because he has to talk to boras.
The Giants only have money for a couple one-year deals… so no on Gallen. Maybe Scherzer & Bassitt.
If I had those three choices…. SFG !
That’s assuming the money is the same.
Tigers, 5 and 27
Then Let Skubal walk…. Would be so tigers
They don’t get to choose where Skubal signs. Its Skubal’s choice. He’s going to become a FA.
They get to choose if he walks away from the tigers by not trading him.
Giants should offer a 4-year deal with an opt-out after year three.
Sign Gallen, Trade Ramos for Bubic, sign Tucker & Rogers and call it done.
(Dreamin)
Ramos isn’t bringing back Bubic.
He has Cubs written all over him, though they might not even aim that high.
This does feel like a Jed signing.
God I hope not. If they do this why did they add another year to Rea’s deal? I’d rather pitch him.
I tend to agree with you, Uncle. They should aim higher, or not go for a FA starting pitcher at all.
I wonder what would happen if they give Wiggins the last rotation spot, and see how he does. If he flops, there are always meh alternatives available if absolutely necessary.
Wiggins isn’t ready yet. I think he has about 5 innings of AAA ball so far. Also he’s been babied like all the other Cubs pitchers have their whole baseball lives. He might get a couple of spot starts or DH call ups this year. Why would you pay Gallen 3 times as much as Rea, re sign Rea or rather extend him a year when he was pretty good last year? That makes no sense. You’re right, Either aim higher( Imai) who if you’re willing to pay Gallen 20 a year, When at that point Imai would only cost a few more bucks? . Why I don’t really believe any of these supposed rumors pages until they happen.
Hodge is mentioned in the article as having a rough season. Is that who Hodge is going forward as well , or is he supposed to have more potential than shown thus far? Can’t recall if he was a top prospect …
Hodge was a Cubs top 30 but never a MLB top 100. He just ended up a Closer in the Minors and did real well and they brought him up in 24 and he was outstanding. He regressed this year, Got injured and really never made it back to the form he had in 24. Hopefully this year he’s healthy and steps up because if he does then he can be 8th inning with Closer upside.
I’m inclined to agree with everybody and say that the Giants might be the most logical fit, but if he wants some good instruction on a potential rebound year for a short-term contract… The Mike Maddox situation in Anaheim does lend itself to some speculation. As much as I think my favorite team is a total dumpster fire, Maddox might make our team a little bit more pitcher friendly in terms of signing new players. Especially someone who could use a little bit of fine tuning at this point in their career.
Alek Manoah signing with the Angels might lend some truth to the idea that Maddux can be helpful to pitchers. That and maybe nobody else wanted to give him a major league deal.
Oracle Park is much more pitcher-friendly though than Angel Stadium.
“The Tigers have one of the cleanest long-term payroll sheets of any club in MLB.”
So why do the Tigers keep getting connected to all these second-tier guys? Is it mere speculation based on their past spending history? Skepticism RE their front offices’ negotiating chops? Or just lazy reporting during a series of slow news days?
The Tigers are still a mid market team. As their home grown gain experience, their price tag will increase. Can’t just play the short game, as the long range is important, also.
In this group of FA, I wouldn’t call Gallen second-tier. His numbers are comparable to Ranger, except he can pitch more than 160 innings. If the rumor is true, this is a Harris move I would highly endorse.
I hope the Braves get him.
It’s not March yet and he’s not leftovers. So he will probably get scooped up by a GM that is aggressive in the winter time. And that’s not AA anymore.
I would love facing Gallen more. The Angels, unlike their trade partner, are more likely to sign who their interested in. lol
Would Gallen take a 3 year deal? Arte doesn’t go longer than that. 3 years, $60 million with an opt out after the 1st year?
He would if that’s the best offer.
So would Zac Gallen take 3 years, $60M with a Year 1 opt-out?
That’s $20M below what Gallen could command on the open market, especially with his Cy Young-caliber stuff and two years of team control left. But the opt-out sweetens it. If he dominates in Year 1, he re-tests the market at age 31. If he regresses or gets hurt, he’s still got $40M guaranteed.
No way any team gives him $40 mil/yr.
Moreno won’t pay for Zac gallen. In 02 stone a got appier and sele. It worked.
That was under Disney’s ownership
Bill stoneman
Mr maddux can fix Jack k. He is my favorite angel. Mike maddux can fix the whole pitching blood line in one year. Watch silseth and detmers under maddux.
Gallen fits as an Orioles’ signing as a bounce-back candidate, maybe on a 1 year deal or a 2 year deal with an option in it. As long as he’s the Plan B. I’d like Valdez or King as the #1 Orioles acquisition.
Gallen may have to wait until the top few guys go off the board, but if he does, might end up making out in the end.
Perhaps Gallen will have to wait but there is smoke around him now. Which tells me his price either years or aav is likely less than the guys viewed more valuable than him.
This site has Gallen and King getting the same money. Some suggest both of them as short term deals with opt outs. That is possible.
Though I think King is gonna command a bigger payday than Gallen. Teams by now already have an idea if that’s true. So some may have moved on to trying to get Gallen.
Don’t believe anything until Jeff Passan says so.
Yep, especially since Nightengale already had Gallen signed earlier today.
Braves have only looked because his era is too low for their signing standards!
Nah, don’t want him because he’d cost them their 2nd pick in the 1st round of the draft. He’s been getting worse for the last 3 years. Cratering and way too much salary. Hard pass on Gallen.
Jeff, While I’m skeptical, like you, about how effective he’ll be, to say he’s cratering is a bit hyperbolic. He has declined, but 3 years ago, he had a 4.4 bWAR, and finished 3rd in CY voting.
Ok, let’s just say his underlying numbers have been in a steady decline for the last couple of years. His QO is what really makes me a hard no on him. I’m a Braves fan, and I don’t want AA to sign any QO attached free agent. Losing the PPI pick the Braves got when Baldwin won the ROY to sign Gallen would be extremely disappointing.
It’s not February-March yet so Gallen will get taken by someone else and leave AA to sign leftovers and hope for the best like he’s done the last several years.
…..and if he signs a free agent w/a QO, how many that whine about AA will also gripe about how bad the farm system is? Plenty of free agent pitchers left, and the Braves have some strong MLB ready prospect arms to supplement their already good rotation with. Let somebody else waste salary and draft compensation on Gallen. Signing long term free agent pitching to expensive contracts is a sure way to cripple payroll and franchises.
Jeff, Yeah I agree. Just my nit-picking. Gallen is a bounce back candidate, but not sure it’s a good idea to give up a draft pick for a guy in hopes of a bounce back. The Giants are reported as interested as well, but I wish they’d aim higher.
LOL. All the people posting comments sounding like they are experts on some ESPN show where they are wrong 99% of the time.
That’s c called being a fan with an opinion
Gallen was good for a few years and now he’s over priced. The Giants can get the same thing out of their AAA pitchers. Gallen isn’t going to win them the WS.
Cubs fans, don’t hold your breath that they’ll do muck of anything meaningful unless the players asking price drops so low that that player drops into their laps and only then will they be ready to pounce.
At least they’ll sign more than your Sox will, Bruce.
I’m not Sox backer so don’t know where you’re coming from.
Hopefully the cubs get him so he can whine some more about pitching in Cincy
Cubs want Mackenzie Gore, but they don’t want to pay an egregious asking price to land him. Nationals float information about interest from various teams to try and stoke the flames and up the return. Cubs float their own report about being interested in Gallen to try and push back and show they have other options. The offseason is in full swing.
Floated stories are not going to get teams to change what they are willing to give to get Gore. For trade candidates and FAs, every team has their own analyses on every player, and part of that is a set price that they won’t exceed. It would be a poorly run team that was influenced by media stories, and that FO would have a short regime.
Zac can pitch
Having watched most of Gallens starts the past three seasons, and listened to his pre and post game comments, I never got the impression he was easily coachable. Imo, he is very analytiical and tends to over think at times. I have always wanted him to trust his stuff more, throws strikes when ahead in the count and challenge hitters. He frequently gets ahead in the count, then nibbles looking for chases. As a result, he goes deep in counts, finds himself needing to throw strikes late in counts and getting his pitch count up through four, five or six innings.
Are the innings year after year just catching up to Gallen? More for DBacks fans, as the effectiveness is declining rather quick.
Kinda feels like it, doesn’t it. The Dbacks ’23 WS run (243 total innings) may have accelerated things.
He did get hurt about half through 2024 and for a year wasn’t right. Then ended 2025 very strong. Idk overall, but I won’t be surprised when those two half seasons are a blip in the usual.
SF is likely just helping boras to garner better terms for Gallen with another player in mind.
Giving up a pick for Gallen is insane as he needs a show me year
Forget the Detroit Tigers, it makes too much sense…..
He isn’t coming to Chicago. Doesn’t fit their spending or player profile. It wouldn’t be a minor league contract and he’s a tad young for dumpster Jed.
Gallen or King make sense for Detroit.
He would fit best with the Giants or Tigers.
Oracle & Comerica suppresses HRs, which would fix his #1 issue (HR/FB problems).
Archie Bunker in the hizzouse. Take my wife…please?
To the Mariners as multi-inning reliever/long man/swing man/hype man
Gallen great candidate for the cubs because not only just 30 but he had down year!
This will be another case where Perry M will say that the Angels were “in on” a free agent who could have improved the team, but whom they ultimately did not sign.
The Angels hold the No. 2 pick in the 2025 Rule 5 Draft, and with bullpen depth still a glaring need, all eyes are on whether they’ll snag an arm or if they’ll once again be linked to a free agent they let slip away.
Angels’ Rule 5 Draft Position and Strategy
Pick No. 2 Overall: The Angels are in prime position to select a high-upside player in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 Draft, which takes place Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET
Bullpen Focus: With the bullpen still in flux, insiders expect the Angels to target a reliever with upside or a swingman,
@Johnny: Your “Bullpen Focus” comment sounds like you’re describing Blake Burkhalter. Very surprised that Atlanta left him exposed.
@JB I believe Alex Pham would be a good fit. Good SO rate and decent BB rate. Striking out hitters and not walking hitters are 2 things the Angels are not good at.
Houer made bog statement today that cubs will sign reliever(s) this week. Duh! Of course they have to. They have hardly nobody left in bullpen with all their free agents about to leave.