Being a Los Angeles Angels fan lately is not the most pleasant experience.
With the ownership facing questions and the future of the franchise up in the air, the free agency period figures to be a slow process for the Angels.
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However, there are some options, and perhaps buying low and taking fliers makes the most sense for the Angels, although that isn’t exactly what fans want to hear.
Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report named eight buy-low players, and one of them is Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen.
And, Rymer listed the Angels as an option. While Gallen has struggled, Rymer mentioned why it’s worth taking a shot on somebody such as Gallen.
“Zac Gallen is probably the most obvious buy-low free agent on the market, though there is the complication of how selling him is harder than it ought to be. Yes, he was a finalist for the NL Cy Young Award as recently as 2023. Yet he took a substantial step back in 2024 and just plain wasn’t good in 2025. Most notably, his home run rate effectively doubled as he got taken deep a career-high 31 times,” Rymer wrote.
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But, despite the struggles, Gallen’s stuff still looks decent.
“There’s nothing wrong with Gallen’s fastball velocity, though, and that pitch even had a plus-four Run Value this year. It was more so his knuckle-curve that let him down, as hitters upped their average against it from .148 to .219 from 2024 to 2025. This was even though that pitch’s underlying metrics (whiff rate, xBA, etc.) actually got better or stayed about the same, which strongly hints at some flukiness. As such, you don’t even need to consider his strong second half (3.97 ERA) to see him as a rebound candidate for 2026,” Rymer added.
What a contract might look like for Gallen remains to be seen, but he could get a cheap one-year, prove-it type of deal, come to Anaheim, have a strong year, and hit free agency again in 2027.
Rymer also has the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers as options, but the Angels can afford to take a chance on somebody such as Gallen. At worst, he has a bad year, but at best, he is a Cy Young finalist like he was in 2023.
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Who knows, but players like these might be worth a risk, especially for a team that has a tough road to the playoffs such as the Angels.