Cubs targeting free agent Zac Gallen in their search for more pitching: Sources – The Athletic
In their wide-ranging search for pitching, the Chicago Cubs are targeting Zac Gallen as an option, according to team and league sources briefed on the negotiations.
An uncharacteristically poor stretch in 2025 may limit what seemed possible two years ago, when Gallen had just helped elevate the Arizona Diamondbacks into the World Series. His platform season (13-15, 4.83 ERA) represented a career-worst year for a right-hander who received Cy Young Award votes in 2020, 2022 and 2023.
Still, Gallen’s track record of durability and high-level upside make him an intriguing free agent ahead of Major League Baseball’s Winter Meetings, where team officials, agents and media members will begin to gather Sunday in Orlando, Fla. The 30-year-old is listed at No. 21 on The Athletic’s Free Agent Big Board.
Even during a down season, Gallen finished tied for second in the majors in starts (33), and his 192 innings fell within the top 10. A product of the University of North Carolina, he’s a deliberate game-planner who goes by feel, which he lost, at times, this year.
For what it’s worth, Gallen has thrown more innings (327) with Carson Kelly, a current Cub and an ex-Diamondback, than any other catcher in his major-league career. That partnership produced a 2.81 ERA with Arizona.
The team that signs Gallen will hope he recaptures that top-of-the-rotation form. His solid performance across the final two months of this past season (3.32 ERA in 11 starts) was more in line with his career numbers.
Gallen declined a one-year, $22.025 million qualifying offer from the Diamondbacks. However, the Cubs have signaled a willingness to sign a free agent from that category and pay the resulting penalties in the draft and international market.
In terms of average annual value, possible reference points for Gallen’s next deal include the three-year, $75 million contract Sean Manaea signed with the New York Mets last winter. That offseason also featured Yusei Kikuchi’s three-year, $63 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels. Gallen is younger than both of those pitchers were when they were free agents, and his resume is more decorated.
The Cubs want to add another starting pitcher who can be trusted to start a playoff game and deliver more swing-and-miss stuff. Investing in the rotation is also a priority when Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon and Matthew Boyd are all eligible to become free agents after the 2026 season. Justin Steele is also coming off elbow surgery, and Chicago’s pipeline of young pitching has slowed down considerably.
