Pitcher Zac Gallen agrees to 1-year deal to return to the Arizona Diamondbacks, AP source says

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PHOENIX (AP) — Right-hander Zac Gallen has agreed to a $22.025 million, one-year contract to return to the Arizona Diamondbacks, a person with knowledge of the deal confirmed Friday night.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal is pending a physical.

The 2023 All-Star — who is a client of agent Scott Boras — was hunting for a multi-year contract, but after nothing acceptable materialized, he's coming back to the desert where he's spent the majority of his big league's career.

MLB.com first reported that Gallen and the D-backs were close to a deal. The value of the contract is equal to the qualifying offer that Gallen turned down earlier in the offseason to become a free agent.

Gallen had his worst season in the big leagues in 2025, finishing with a 13-15 record, 4.83 record and an 8.2 strikeout rate per nine innings, which was the lowest of his career. But his velocity was still good and he performed better after the All-Star break with a 3.97 ERA over his final 13 starts.

The 30-year-old was one of the best pitchers in the National League from 2022 to 2024, finishing fifth in the Cy Young voting in 2022 and third in 2023.

He was the ace for the D-backs in 2023 — finishing with a 17-9 record and 3.47 ERA — when they made a surprise run to the World Series before losing in five games to the Texas Rangers.

Gallen was drafted in the third round of the 2016 draft by the St. Louis Cardinals after playing in college at North Carolina. He was traded to the Marlins in 2017 and made his big-league debut with the organization in 2019 before being traded again to the D-backs in a deal that sent Jazz Chisholm Jr. to Miami.

Overall, Gallen has a 66-52 record and 3.58 ERA in seven MLB seasons.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb