Zac Gallen Returns to Diamondbacks on One-Year, $22.025 Million Deal With Heavy Deferrals

Overview

• The contract matches the qualifying-offer figure at $22.025 million, with $14 million deferred in five $2.8 million installments from 2031 to 2035.
• Arizona’s 2026 outlay comes to just over $8 million with an $18.7 million competitive balance tax charge, easing near-term payroll pressure.
• Gallen declined the qualifying offer in November, then acknowledged getting “greedy” and called his market bet “kind of silly.”
• By re-signing their own qualified free agent, the Diamondbacks forgo no draft picks, and Gallen will enter next offseason free of qualifying-offer attachment.
• After a career-worst 2025 (4.83 ERA, 21.5% strikeout rate), he finished with a 3.32 ERA over his final 65 innings as underlying metrics (4.28 xERA, 4.24 SIERA) suggested some stabilization, and FanGraphs projects his return as a modest lift to playoff odds (32% with an 81.4-win median).