Hold on, I guess Bob Nightengale jumped the gun here and is now reporting that a deal between the Chicago Cubs and Zac Gallen is not done as of yet.
ESPN's Jeff Passan has also reported that Gallen does not have a deal and is not close to signing one either.
What the hell is going on? What was Bob hearing, what text did he get? I mean, if you were like me and initially didn't feel over the moon about the Cubs signing Gallen, then this is a great development. Still think the Cubs can get more certainty in the rotation than Gallen, especially with so many free agents who remain available.
We'll see what happens, but the madness has already started and the Winter Meetings are set to begin on Sunday.
This hilarity from Nightengale reminds me of the time that former Cubs beat writer for the Sun-Times, Gordon Wittenmyer, reported in 2015 that Javier Baez was going to be traded to the Atlanta Braves for Shelby Miller. Nightengale piggybacked off that and shared the news to his followers.
As you know, that trade never happened.
(Previous Update)
The Chicago Cubs are reportedly close to signing free agent starting pitcher Zac Gallen to a multi-year contract according to USA Today's Bob Nightengale. Considering this week's buzz that the Cubs were a serious contender to sign Dylan Cease and increased optimism that the team would target Japanese star Tatsuya Imai, coming away with Gallen sure does seem disappointing.
Details on Gallen's contract with the Cubs have not been released just yet, but Nightengale has said the right-handed pitcher will earn an average of $22 million per season.
The Cubs were reportedly interested in trading for Gallen during the 2025 season, but the Arizona Diamondbacks held on to him. Gallen, who had been a Cy Young contender in years past, finished this past year with a 4.83 ERA in 192 innings. He made 33 starts and the concerning part was that this was his second year in which Gallen's numbers declined across the board.
From 2019-2023, Gallen maintained a strikeout rate between 26 and 29 percent. At his best, Gallen was limiting walks to 2/9IP, but in 2024 his strikeout rate dipped a little, down to 25.1%, still good, but in 2025 it was only at 21.5%, while the walks increased to above three per nine innings pitched.
The bright spot to Gallen's 2025 season is that in his final 11 starts he recorded a 3.32 ERA in 65 innings and posted eight quality starts. Yet, the strikeout rate was hovering in the 20% range, so that's not exactly what you want if you're predicting future success.
You're obviously hoping that Gallen can return to his pre-2025 form, when he was a very good pitcher and even at times was one of the best in the National League. Yet, I still go back to these other free agents who are available and feel like the Cubs could have aimed higher. I mean, a guy like Michael King comes with injury concerns, but his ceiling is higher than Gallen's.
In the past few days there seemed to have been real traction in the Cubs pursuing Imai, who at this point is one of the two or three best free agent starters still available. Unless the Cubs trade from within their rotation this Gallen move appears to be it for that side of the pitching staff and now the bullpen will be their main focus.
