With the Arizona Diamondbacks starting to lag behind in the NL Wild Card race, the New York Yankees could view them as sellers at the upcoming trade deadline.
Eugenio Suarez and Merrill Kelly are expected to be coveted veterans at the trade deadline, but Zac Gallen could be someone the Yankees target as well.
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A perennial Cy Young contender at his peak, the right-hander has taken a massive step back this season, pitching to a 5.15 ERA and 4.76 FIP across 19 starts for the Diamondbacks.
His fastball velocity has lagged behind previous seasons, but with New York desperate for rotation help and Gallen being an arm who has pitched at a very high level in his career, could Matt Blake revitalize him?
Zac Gallen Presents Interesting Proposition For the Yankees This July
Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
It’s been a rough season for Zac Gallen, who has his worst Stuff+ score (91) since the metric began being tracked in 2020, as he’s seen a steady decline in that stat from 2022-2025.
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The fastball velocity is trending downward as well, but in his most recent showing against the Padres, we saw the Gallen of old come back to fire six marvelous innings with nine strikeouts and one walk.
His fastball looked marvelous, sitting at 94.1 MPH with 18.8 inches of vertical ride, both marks are much better than his statistical averages on the season.
If this is a change that sustains itself, the Yankees could be getting a bargain on a pitcher that could slot right into the middle of their rotation, but there’s plenty of risk with that kind of strategy.
This kind of trade would immediately put pressure on Matt Blake to fix Zac Gallen mid-season with no years of control following the 2025 season.
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READ MORE: Yankees’ mock trade with Diamondbacks lands 2 massive upgrades
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Even the best pitching coaches in the game would struggle with such an assignment, and plenty of organizations will have the same idea at the deadline, potentially driving up the price for Gallen.
While some would believe that the price for him would be seriously reduced due to his 5.15 ERA, there’s still strong league interest in the right-hander, sources tell Empire Sports Media.
The Yankees might have to trade prospects of serious value to outbid other teams with better farm systems, and that would put Brian Cashman in a spot where he’d have to be all-in on Gallen to justify paying that price.
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With names like Seth Lugo, Merrill Kelly, and Mitch Keller potentially available who have pitched better this season, paying that hefty price might be better-suited for a more stable arm.
Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
With Clarke Schmidt’s UCL tear, he will be out for all of 2025 and 2026 potentially, and the Yankees will almost certainly need to add to the rotation.
Furthermore, their bullpen has become a nightmare, and the Yankees are expected to invest prospect capital into improving that group as they do at nearly every trade deadline.
It’ll be an active summer for the Bronx Bombers, as Brian Cashman aims to “go to town” to try and improve a team that had a nightmarish slump.
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