It’s hot stove season around Major League Baseball and plenty of noise out there.
The Chicago Cubs seemingly would like to add a starting pitcher and for a few minutes on Saturday seemed like they had, but that is not the case. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported that the Cubs were “close to finalizing an agreement” with one-time All-Star Zac Gallen.
“The Chicago Cubs are close to finalizing an agreement with free-agent starter Zac Gallen on a multi-year deal that will pay him an average of $22 million a year,” Nightengale wrote on X. “Gallen, with three top-10 Cy Young finishes, has averaged 32 starts a year for the past 4 seasons.”
Nightengale quickly updated and backtracked by saying the Cubs are “hopeful” for a team.
“Update: The Chicago Cubs are hopeful of finalizing an agreement with free-agent starter Zac Gallen on a multi-year deal, but the deal is not done with others still in contention,” Nightengale wrote on X. “Gallen, with three top-10 Cy Young finishes, has averaged 32 starts a year for the past 4 seasons.”
ESPN’s Jeff Passan weighed in and shut all of the noise down.
“Zac Gallen does not have a deal and is not close to finalizing one,” Passan wrote on X.
This is a perfect representation of the noise around the MLB offseason. While it would be nice for Chicago to land a pitcher of Gallen’s caliber, and fans had hope for a few minutes, there’s no deal yet.
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