The Arizona Diamondbacks’ starting pitching rotation going into next season is arguably the biggest question mark on the roster, and free agency will present options once the World Series comes to a close.

The market could experience a talent influx depending on how several options are decided for starters such as Shota Imanaga and Chris Sale.

Longtime Diamondbacks Merrill Kelly and Zac Gallen are unrestricted free agents, making reunions a possibility.

The trade market should also be considered an avenue for the Diamondbacks while working with a payroll that is expected to be lower than its $188 million in 2025, albeit how much so is uncertain.

The Diamondbacks have spent big dollars on starting pitching over the past two offseasons, inking Eduardo Rodriguez and Jordan Montgomery to deals after the 2023 season and Corbin Burnes to a club-record $210 million contract last winter. These contracts have not worked out so far, with Burnes needing Tommy John surgery after 11 starts while Rodriguez and Montgomery underperformed (Montgomery is a free agent, Rodriguez has two more years).

When Burnes returns, he will join Rodriguez, Ryne Nelson and Brandon Pfaadt in the rotation with whomever the Diamondbacks add to it, externally or internally.

Here’s a tiers list of free agent starting pitchers with player movement to kick into gear after Dodgers and Blue Jays duke it out in the Fall Classic:

Diamondbacks need starting pitching: Here are the free agents available
Options that could make a difference (age next season, option)

(AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Cubs LHP Shota Imanaga (32, so many options) – This contract is complex. The Cubs face a three-year, $57 million club option for the 32-year-old. If the team declines, Imanaga then has a $15 million player option for 2026 with further options tacked on later. He would seem poised to turn that down for more money in free agency. Imanaga was a top five Cy Young candidate in 2024, but he took a slight step back this year with injuries limiting him to 25 starts. He worked a 2.65 ERA going into the All-Star break and a 4.70 ERA in 13 second-half starts. Still, after a decorated career in Japan, Imanaga owns an impressive 3.28 ERA in two major league seasons.

Braves LHP Chris Sale (37, $18M club option) – The 2024 NL Cy Young winner continued to dominate in his age 36 season with a 2.58 ERA and 32.4% strikeout rate for the Braves. League average is 21.2%, for reference. It seems unlikely Atlanta turns him down.

Brewers RHP Freddy Peralta (30, $8M club option) – Not happening. Peralta is going to be a top five Cy Young contender (2.70 ERA) set to make nothing compared to his value. The bigger question is whether or not the light-spending NL Central champs would weigh trading their ace before he hits unrestricted free agency following next season, like they did with Burnes two years ago. Could the Diamondbacks work out a blockbuster trade for the All-Star, instead?

Tigers RHP Jack Flaherty (30, $20M player option) – Flaherty worked a 4.65 ERA this past season with better peripheral numbers such as a 3.85 FIP (fielding-independent pitching) and above-average 27.6% strikeout rate.

Red Sox RHP Lucas Giolito (31, $19M mutual option) – Giolito bounced back from a lost 2024 season as he recovered from Tommy John surgery and rewarded the postseason-bound Red Sox with a 3.41 ERA in 26 starts. He outperformed mediocre peripherals (4.17 FIP), however.

Padres RHP Michael King (31, $15M mutual option) – King finished seventh in the Cy Young voting in 2024 after coming to San Diego in the Juan Soto trade, and he was on track for another strong season before suffering a pinched thoracic nerve injury in May. He only threw in five games afterward, but his foray into starting over the past two seasons has led to positive results (3.10 ERA).

Blue Jays RHP Shane Bieber (31, $16M player option) – Bieber was traded to Toronto right before his return from Tommy John surgery and made seven regular season starts. The 2020 Cy Young winner got through at least five innings in each outing, finishing with a 3.57 ERA. He also threw a quality start in Game 3 of the ALCS. As he moves further past his surgery, a question will be whether his stuff continues to tick back up.

Brewers RHP Brandon Woodruff (33, $20M mutual option) – Injuries kept Woodruff off the mound from the 2023 postseason through June 2025, but he looked pretty good after coming back. He made six quality starts in 12 games down the stretch, although a lat strain has kept him out of the postseason. Woodruff is a two-time All-Star with a career 3.10 ERA, but there is a lot of injury baggage here.

Brewers LHP Jose Quintana (37, $15M mutual option) – Quintana signed with the Brewers after Opening Day for $4 million. For a bargain, Quintana ate 131.2 innings with a 3.96 ERA, and the Brewers went 15-9 in his outings.

Cubs RHP Colin Rea (35, $6 million club option) – Rea has been a useful swing man over the past three years, as he ate 159.1 innings with a 3.95 ERA for the Cubs in 2025.

The top shelf

(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Astros LHP Framber Valdez (32) – Spotrac expects Valdez to land the most lucrative pitching contract of the winter with a $33M average annual value. The Athletic’s Jim Bowden predicted a six-year, $190 million deal. The southpaw was a top 10 Cy Young contender from 2022-24 and put together a 2025 campaign with 192 innings, a 3.66 ERA and elite 59.4% ground ball rate. He has pitched in two World Series and four ALCS.

Phillies LHP Ranger Suarez (30) – Suarez went on a tear through the middle of the season with 10 straight quality starts and a 2.13 ERA in 15 games. He finished with a 3.20 ERA and a 95th percentile hard hit rate and exit velocity, missing barrels with an elite changeup. Suarez has averaged 147 innings with a 3.59 ERA over the past four years.

Joins top shelf if posted

NPB RHP Tatsuya Imai (28) – Reports suggest Imai is expected to be posted by the Seibu Lions in Japan, adding to the free agent class a 27-year-old hurler who worked a 1.92 ERA with 178 strikeouts in 163.2 innings pitched in 2025. He sports a mid 90s fastball and a wipeout slider. He does not come with the same cache or accolades as Roki Sasaki last winter or Yoshinobu Yamamoto the year before, but Imai is the next high-upside Japanese starter expected to draw interest from big league clubs. Bowden predicted a $154 million deal over seven years.

Good track record, coming off down years

(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Padres RHP Dylan Cease (30) – Cease finished second in AL Cy Young voting in 2022, recorded a 4.55 ERA in 2023, finished fourth in NL Cy Young voting in 2024 and produced a 4.58 ERA in 2025. Perhaps the even-year magic returns in 2026. Cease has a 3.37 FIP over the last five years, as his peripherals are typically strong considering he misses bats and doesn’t give up tons of hard contact. He is prone to walks that can put him in precarious positions, which bit him in 2025.

Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (30) – Gallen from 2019-24 was a 3.29 ERA pitcher with three top 10 Cy Young finishes for the Diamondbacks. He really struggled through the first four months of 2025 with walks and home runs piling up, but he righted the ship down the stretch with eight quality starts in his last 11 games.

Orioles RHP Zach Eflin (32) – Eflin was the Orioles’ Opening Day starter in 2025 after he worked a 3.76 ERA in 108 games from 2020-24. After a really good finish to the 2024 campaign, Eflin was brutal in 2025 with a 5.93 ERA in 14 starts before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury.

Padres LHP Nestor Cortes (31) – Cortes’ Yankees tenure ended sourly, as he allowed the notorious Freddie Freeman walk-off home run in Game 1 of the 2024 World Series. But the funky lefty was a solid Yankee for a long time, pitching to a 3.77 ERA from 2021-24. He was traded to Milwaukee after the World Series, but injuries held him to eight appearances in 2025.

Older but effective

(AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)

Rangers RHP Merrill Kelly (37) – Since 2021, Kelly is 19th in MLB in innings pitched and 21st in bWAR, as he he’d been a consistent presence in the Diamondbacks’ rotation until getting traded to Texas this past deadline. He finished the 2025 campaign with a 3.52 ERA in 184 innings.

Giants RHP Justin Verlander (43) – The three-time Cy Young winner and future first-ballot Hall of Famer will be 43 years old by Opening Day, but he wants to keep going. He was solid for the Giants in 2025 (3.85 ERA) with a terrific second half (2.99 ERA), particularly September (2.08 ERA). He is not the strikeout machine he once was, but he threw well enough to warrant another chance.

Blue Jays RHP Chris Bassitt (37) – Bassitt has been quietly one of the more consistent starters in the league, ranked sixth in innings since 2022 with a 3.77 ERA in that span. He has not worked fewer than 170 frames since 2021 and finished the 2025 season with a 3.96 ERA.

Reds RHP Nick Martinez (35) – Martinez has been a reliable swingman over the past four years in San Diego and Cincinnati, eating 524 innings with a 3.67 ERA.

Back end/depth

Reds HP Zack Littell (30) – Littell became a full-time MLB starter over the past couple years. He puts the ball in play with a top-tier walk rate and low strikeout clip, which worked in keeping his ERA down to 3.73 (albeit with a 4.42 FIP).

Rangers RHP Tyler Mahle (31) – Mahle worked a 2.18 ERA in 16 starts in 2025, but injuries have held him to 47 starts over the past four years. He’ll be 31 next year and provides some upside if he can stay healthy.

Cubs RHP Aaron Civale (31) – A strange year for Civale involved him asking out of Milwaukee, being traded to the lowly White Sox, getting waived, being picked up by the Cubs and pitching against the Brewers in the postseason. He tossed 4.1 scoreless innings, but the Cubs were eliminated by his former team. He’s eaten innings, but his numbers have been pretty mediocre since he was traded by Cleveland in 2023 (4.55 ERA since 2024).

Angels LHP Tyler Anderson (36) – Anderson has already pitched for three NL West teams (LAD, SFG, COL). He had an up-and-down three seasons with the Angels, finishing 2025 with a 4.36 ERA and 5.60 FIP.

Rays RHP Adrian Houser (33) – A ground ball specialist, Houser bounced back from a brutal 2024 season with the Mets to pitch to a 3.31 ERA in 21 starts in 2025.

Wild cards

(Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

Blue Jays RHP Max Scherzer (41) – At 40 years old, Scherzer made only 17 starts for the Blue Jays to a 5.19 ERA. He has shown signs of life, however, particularly with a 5.2-inning gem in Game 4 of the ALCS, a must-have game for Toronto against Seattle that contributed to the Blue Jays making the Fall Classic. His strikeout rate this year remained above average, as did his walk rate.

Orioles RHP Tomoyuki Sugano (36) – After an accomplished career in Japan (eight-time All-Star), Sugano came stateside to pitch for Baltimore at 35 years old to mixed results. With a low strikeout rate, low walk rate and high home run rate, Sugano worked a 4.64 ERA in 30 games.

Phillies RHP Walker Buehler (31) – Buehler’s career trajectory looked quite differently coming off 2021, as he was a two-time All-Star with two top 10 Cy Young finishes in his mid-20s with the Dodgers. After missing 2023 following Tommy John surgery, Buehler worked a 5.10 ERA over the past two seasons and found himself designated for assignment by Boston before being picked up by Philadelphia down the stretch.

NPB RHP Kona Takahashi (29) – Takahashi is another right-hander from Japan expected to be posted this offseason. He threw 148 innings with a 3.04 ERA for Seibu in 2025, albeit with only 5.4 strikeouts per nine innings.

Cardinals RHP Miles Mikolas (37) – Mikolas is a two-time All-Star who has stayed durable over the past four seasons, but his numbers have dropped off with a 4.98 ERA since 2023 in St. Louis.

Rangers LHP Patrick Corbin (36) – After years of gaudy ERA numbers in Washington, the longtime former Diamondback evened out in 2025 for the Rangers, pitching to a 4.40 ERA and 4.25 FIP in 31 games. After some arsenal tweaks, Corbin improved a previously dreadful hard-hit rate to keep the Rangers competitive.

Mets RHP Griffin Canning (30) – It seemed the Mets found success in their reclamation project of Canning, who threw to a 3.77 ERA in 16 games before suffering a torn Achilles fielding his position. The 29-year-old would not be ready for Opening Day, having gone down in June.

Red Sox RHP Dustin May (28) – After making 20 MLB appearances from 2021-24, May set a career high with 132.1 innings in 2025 for the Dodgers and Red Sox, although it was his least effective run in the big leagues (4.96 ERA). His arsenal has changed, as he does not throw as hard as he did as a younger pitcher and leans more heavily on his sweeper, which was his best pitch.

Additional names to watch for:

Chris Paddack
John Means
Erick Fedde
Andrew Heaney
Cal Quantril
Marcus Stroman
Jon Gray
German Marquez
Michael Soroka
Michael Lorenzen
Martin Perez
Nabil Crismatt