Zac

Gallen

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.

With quality starts in five of his last six outings, Gallen was putting together a very strong finish. However, the poor showing tonight leaves him at 13-15 with a 4.83 ERA to end the season. The D-backs figure to make him a qualifying offer, and there might be some chance of him taking it. It would pay him about $22 million in 2026, and it’s hard to see him matching that salary in a multiyear deal, especially since the team that signs him would lose a draft pick.

Gallen got the win, moving him to 13-14 with a 4.70 ERA. That’s still not very impressive, but he’s 6-2 with a 2.82 ERA in 10 starts since no team stepped up to acquire him at the deadline. He’ll finish the regular season either Thursday against the Dodgers or Friday in San Diego.

Gallen gave up a homer and a single to Casey Schmitt. Otherwise, he retired 18 of 19 batters, with only a lone walk mixed in. Gallen has definitely made himself some money by going 5-2 with a 2.68 ERA in his last nine starts, although he’s also ensured that the D-backs will give him a qualifying offer, which figures to hurt his market somewhat. Depending on how the D-backs handle Thursday’s off day, he’ll make his next start Sunday against the Phillies or Tuesday versus the Dodgers. It might hinge on whether or not they still find themselves in contention this weekend.

Gallen walked the first two batters of the game, then served up a three-run blast to Willy Adames. A double, base hit, and sacrifice fly plated a fourth run in the fourth inning. Gallen then surrendered a solo homer to Patrick Bailey in the fifth. He’d go on to pitch into the seventh, leaving with two outs in the fame at 103 pitches with three strikeouts. The 30-year-old right-hander will take a 4.84 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, and a 157/60 K/BB ratio across 174 2/3 innings into a rematch against the Giants in Arizona on Monday.

Gallen’s 97 pitches today produced just two misses on 35 swings, but he did get five strikeouts anyway and the contact against him was mostly weak. It’s his second straight scoreless start, and he now has a 2.20 ERA in seven starts since the beginning of August. He’s still a tough pitcher to trust, but he’s a fair enough play on the road in San Francisco next week. He struck out 10 Giants in a win last time he faced them on July 1.