Blue Jays 2025 free agent target: Zac Gallen
Photo credit: © Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images
Nov 23, 2025, 19:00 ESTUpdated: Nov 23, 2025, 09:38 EST
Could the Toronto Blue Jays hand out a show-me contract to a former Arizona Diamondback again?
Before the 2020 trade deadline, the Jays traded Travis Bergen to the Diamondbacks for Robbie Ray. Three years prior, Ray received Cy Young votes, but had a rough couple of years. In the off-season, the Blue Jays signed Ray to a one-year deal, with the left-handed pitcher winning the American League Cy Young in 2021.
Ray’s teammate in 2020 was Zac Gallen, who finished ninth in National League Cy Young Voting that season. Making his debut in 2019, Gallen developed into a front-end-of-the-rotation starter. After 2020, he posted a 4.30 ERA in 121.1 innings pitched in 2021. He rebounded with a career year in 2022, authoring a 2.54 ERA and 3.05 FIP in 184 innings pitched, finishing fifth in Cy Young Voting.
Gallen’s 2023 campaign saw him finish the year with a 3.47 ERA and 3.26 FIP in 210 innings pitched, finishing third in Cy Young voting, earning MVP votes, and earning his first trip to the All-Star Game. The right-handed pitcher had an okay 2024, posting a 3.65 ERA and 3.38 FIP in 148 innings pitched while battling injuries, but Gallen’s play fell off a cliff in 2025.
2025 Season Stats
The 30-year-old made all 33 starts, but finished with a career-worst 4.83 ERA and 4.50 FIP in 192 innings pitched. His velocity didn’t drop or anything, but his K% plummeted to 21.5%, down from around 26-27% when at his best. Gallen’s walk rate has also crept up from his 2023 season, posting an 8.7 BB% in 2024 and an 8.1 BB% in 2025.
It’s pretty hard to diagnose what has gone wrong. Compared to his 2023 season, Gallen generated around the same whiff% for all of his pitches, aside from a slight drop in fastball whiffs and a larger drop in cutter whiffs. Granted, he only threw 77 cutters in 2025. Compared to his 2022 season, Gallen actually generated more whiffs in 2025.
His hard hit rates actually improved relative to 2023. That season saw him post a 46.2 hard hit %, but it dropped to 43% in 2025. The 2022 season was his best in hard-hit rate, as it only sat at 36.1%.
In terms of his batted ball splits, his flyball % was relatively the same in 2023, while his line drive % actually went down. The 2022 season was his best in the big leagues, but again, his batted ball rates weren’t much different.
Gallen has never been an incredible pitcher, at least when looking at his under-the-hood numbers. In 2022, he got swings outside of the zone, posting a 31.9 chase %. Again, the drop has been minor over the year, as he had a 28.6 chase % in 2025.
The right-handed pitcher could benefit from some work with Pete Walker, just like Ray all those years ago, but is he a fit?
Do they fit on the Blue Jays?
A pro to sign Gallen is that he should be rather affordable. At his best, he could be the Blue Jays’ ace. If he pitches like he did before the 2025 season, he’s a durable pitcher who can munch innings. Essentially, Chris Bassitt’s replacement.
There’s also the fact that he had an ERA above 4 in 2021, only to bounce back with his career-best season the following year with a 2.54 ERA and 3.05 FIP. It’s a high-risk, high-reward type of signing.
That said, Gallen was given a qualifying offer and declined it, meaning signing him would require that the Blue Jays lose their second and fourth round picks. Losing draft picks, especially after falling just two outs shy of winning the World Series, isn’t a problem. What is a problem is that there are better, lower-risk options out there.
If there was no qualifying offer attached, he’d be a great target for the Blue Jays. But since he declined the QO, the Jays need to be sure that they can unlock the best verison of the 30-year-old righty if they sign Gallen.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.