The Los Angeles Angels are in need of starting pitching ahead of the 2026 season, and ESPN’s David Schoenfield believes they could find one of their answers in All-Star starting pitcher Zac Gallen in free agency.

The Angels struggled all season with starting pitching, posting the highest ERA in the American League during 2025. On top of that, both Tyler Anderson and Kyle Hendricks are free agents, leaving two open slots in their rotation even after they reinstated Reid Detmers as a starter.

“Their recent free agent signings have been more of the third-tier type, but they have room in the payroll and two pitchers from their 2025 rotation hitting free agency in Tyler Anderson and Kyle Hendricks,” wrote Schoenfield. “They signed Yusei Kikuchi to a three-year, $63 million deal last offseason and might do something similar this offseason with a starter like Gallen.”

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Gallen has played for the Arizona Diamondbacks for the last seven seasons, and put together a solid run during his time in the NL West. Through 169 starts, Gallen posted a 3.61 ERA and a 1.158 WHIP. He has received NL Cy Young votes on three separate occasions, even receiving MVP votes in 2023, his lone All-Star campaign.

He will enter free agency for the first time in 2025 after surpassing 1,000 stikeouts and innings pitched, however his performance last season may have dropped his value substantially.

Through 33 starts in 2025, Gallen posted a 4.83 ERA — the highest single-season total of his career. He hadn’t averaged more than 1.0 home run per nine innings in any of the previous three seasons, however his rate moved up to 1.5 HR/9 from 0.8 in 2024. He allowed 31 home runs in 2025, nine more than his previous career-high of 22.

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Spotrac values Gallen at a four-year, $74.8 million contract, which isn’t too far off from what they offered Kikuchi to come to Anaheim, and a similar offer from the Halos may turn the former Cy Young candidate’s head.

If they do bring in Gallen, he would fit nicely in the Angels rotation, however they’d still have one spot to fill ahead of the 2026 season. The only question surrounding that slot is whether they’ll sign a free agent or look internally.

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