let's be real: this one feels settled already. The Diamondbacks have decisions to make, sure, but the biggest one is staring them right in the face, and it points toward a clean break before Opening Day 2027. If you’re looking for the pitcher most likely to be gone, Zac Gallen is the obvious answer, and the numbers behind that feeling are ugly enough to make the case on their own.
Gallen re-signed in Arizona ahead of 2026 after a career-worst 2025, and that move already looks like a miss. The deal was a one-year contract worth about the same as a $22.025 million Qualifying Offer, with some of the money deferred. That is not the kind of setup that screams long-term trust, and when the season followed with a brutal 6.07 ERA, what exactly was supposed to keep this marriage intact?
That’s the whole story. The Diamondbacks have a roster with players under contract heading into 2027, and they also have expiring deals that could be renewed into re-signings. But this is where the line gets drawn. Some situations are still open to debate. This one is not. When a pitcher comes off a career-worst year, signs a short deal, and then posts a 6.07 ERA, the front office is not exactly lining up to double down, is it?
And that’s why this matters beyond one arm. Arizona is heading into an offseason where every move has to make sense, and the cleanest move is often the one that avoids pretending a bad fit suddenly became a good one. Gallen’s case reads like a warning label. The contract was short. The season was rough. The fit looks cooked. In a sport where teams are always trying to buy certainty, this is the kind of situation that usually ends with a different uniform.
So yeah, if you’re asking who feels most likely to be gone before Opening Day 2027, I’m not overthinking it. I’m not squinting at the margins. I’m taking the obvious read. Zac Gallen looks like the pitcher Arizona is most likely to move on from, and the facts make that hard to argue with.
— Stephen A. Spliff
