PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks have opted to keep starting pitcher Zac Gallen after trading away Merrill Kelly and Eugenio Suarez ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline.
Gallen, an impending free agent, has been the subject of trade rumors for weeks, but the club did not find the right deal to move away from their now longest-tenured starter.
Arizona started its sell-off last week by sending first baseman Josh Naylor to the Seattle Mariners, followed by a trade to deal outfielder Randal Grichuk to the Kansas City Royals. On Wednesday, the D-backs traded Eugenio Suarez to Seattle.
A Kelly trade to the Texas Rangers came through just before Thursday’s deadline, and a last-minute deal sent reliever Shelby Miller and injured pitcher Jordan Montgomery to the Milwaukee Brewers.
Anthony DeSclafani will join the rotation alongside Gallen, Brandon Pfaadt, Ryne Nelson and Eduardo Rodriguez.
“Obviously his name came up a decent amount,” general manager Mike Hazen said of keeping Gallen. “That shouldn’t surprise anybody given the talent. We didn’t get anything accomplished. … We still have a very good rotation going out there every fifth day, and we should have every opportunity to go out there and play good baseball.”
Since the Diamondbacks acquired Gallen at the 2019 trade deadline, the right-hander has been one of the most accomplished pitchers in franchise history with three top-10 Cy Young finishes and an All-Star Game appearance.
Gallen has not pitched up to expectations this year, however, with a gaudy 5.60 ERA while he is set to hit free agency at 30 years old. He has set a career high with 23 home runs allowed, and his strikeout rate is a career-low 22.1%.
He also has seven starts this year of six-plus innings with two earned runs or fewer, but consistency has been tough to come by.
That evidently created an uncertain market, and the Diamondbacks still have an opportunity to bring back a draft pick if Gallen declines a qualifying offer and signs elsewhere over the offseason. Or, they can find a way to keep him.
“ I’m a little surprised,” Hazen said of not getting a deal done. “I think what ended up happening, honestly, and it really probably bled into the (Suarez) discussions as well, is there seemed to be a few teams that dropped out at the last minute, meaning the last few days, that became sellers and I think that had a material impact on the market.
“We had a decent amount of teams interested, as you can imagine. … There wasn’t much there in terms of what we would be willing to do to make a trade, and we told teams that you’re gonna have to clear a bar.”
The big questions for Gallen are now what will he look like down the stretch? What will his free agent market be? And could he take the qualifying offer, which is a one-year deal for $22 million?
From 2022-24, Gallen was fourth in Major League Baseball among pitchers with 12.3 WAR (Baseball Reference), trailing only Zack Wheeler, Logan Webb and Dylan Cease. He racked up the second most wins with 43 in that span and the ninth most strikeouts (568) while pitching to a 3.20 ERA.
Gallen’s shortcomings this season, however, contributed to the difficult situation the club found itself in at this trade deadline. The Diamondbacks went 9-13 in his starts this season after he received the Opening Day nod over newcomer Corbin Burnes.
The Diamondbacks have also battled injuries this season, particularly with the pitching staff. Burnes, co-closers A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez along with a plethora of depth options are down for the season due to elbow surgeries.
Simply put, inconsistent play from the defense and pitching staff led the team to a place where the front office felt the need to pivot after going in on competing this season.
