Zac Gallen Would Complete the Cubs’ Rotation

There were a number of questions that Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and general manager Carter Hawkins needed to answer this offseason.

How would the bullpen look with lots of expiring contracts? How would they fill the hole left by Kyle Tucker’s departure? Lastly, how were they going to address their shallow starting rotation?

Well, they’ve been busy. They started by adding veterans to their bullpen, like Hoby Milner, Hunter Harvey, and Jacob Webb. They also re-signed Caleb Thielbar, one of their top relievers in 2025.

On January 7, they sent three prospects, including their No. 1 prospect and Just Baseball’s No. 41 overall prospect, Owen Caissie, to the Marlins in exchange for righty Edward Cabrera. Finally, on January 14, they made one of the biggest splashes of the offseason, signing Alex Bregman to a five-year, $175 million deal.

However, the Cubs may not be done yet. Recent reports have linked the Cubs and Zac Gallen, stating they are most likely discussing a short-term contract.

Issues With Pitching Depth Down the Stretch

In 2025, the Cubs finished eighth in starter ERA, ninth in BAA, and first in WHIP. They had great seasons from Matthew Boyd and Cade Horton, who carried the staff after losing Justin Steele early in the season to elbow surgery, as well as the absence and then disappointment of Shota Imanaga.

But, after delivering a 2.34 ERA and 3.22 FIP in 111.2 IP in the first half, Boyd limped to the finish, posting a 4.63 ERA and 4.34 FIP in 68.0 innings post All-Star break.

In the postseason, he had a good outing in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series at Wrigley. However, in Game 1 of the NLDS, he blew up in the first inning, allowing four hits and six runs. While only two were earned, it was still a rough outing.

He bounced back with a solid start in Game 4 of the NLDS, going 4.2 innings and allowing no earned runs. Even so, there’s no doubt his production was down following the All-Star break.

Cade Horton was the Cubs’ best pitcher in 2025. After coming up in May and struggling at first, he caught fire down the stretch. From the beginning of July to the end of September, he pitched to a 1.36 ERA in 73.0 innings. From July 20 to August 13, he had a scoreless inning streak that lasted 28.1 innings over five outings, capped by an eight-strikeout no-hit bid that lasted into the sixth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Unfortunately, we were not able to see Horton in October. He suffered a rib fracture just before the postseason, keeping him from making an appearance and delivering a blow the Cubs were not able to overcome.

So while the Cubs’ starting rotation is shaping up to be one of the better staffs in MLB on paper, especially after the addition of Cabrera, no contender can have too much pitching depth. Fortunately, there is a great option still on the market for the Cubs.

Why the Addition of Gallen Makes Sense

Since back-to-back top-five NL Cy Young finishes in 2022 and 2023, Zac Gallen’s last two seasons haven’t gone according to plan.

He finished with a 3.65 ERA and a 3.38 FIP in 2024, similar numbers to his 2023 season. However, he missed around a month due to a strained right hamstring, keeping him out of any award consideration. 2025, on the other hand, was more difficult.

He finished with a 4.83 ERA, a 4.50 FIP, and he allowed 31 home runs, all of which were all the worst totals of his career. While these numbers may be concerning, the production has been there in the past.

Worst-case scenario, the move improves their pitching depth if they come across a similar situation to last season. Best case, the Cubs get Gallen back to his former self, and they have multiple Cy Young-caliber pitchers in their starting rotation.

The Cubs are unlikely to engage in a bidding war to acquire a pitcher who is coming off of the worst season of his career. However, after the last two weeks, it looks like they might not have to.

The starting pitcher market has been active recently. The Red Sox signed Ranger Suarez, MacKenzie Gore was traded to the Rangers, and the Mets traded for Freddy Peralta. Gallen is running out of potential landing spots, and that could work perfectly for the Cubs.

Pitchers and catcher report in roughly two weeks. Ideally, Gallen needs to find a home before then. This puts the Cubs in a good spot because most of their competitors to sign Gallen have removed themselves from the running.

Additionally, the Cubs are almost certainly going to surpass the luxury tax threshold, so the matter of being able to afford him isn’t really an issue. Gallen has shown frontline stuff in the past, and it’s that upside that could be the difference maker for the Cubs next season.

Why Gallen’s Addition Could be Awkward

The main issue is where Gallen would fit into the Cubs’ rotation. They already have five clear starting pitchers in Horton, Boyd, Cabrera, Imanaga, and Jameson Taillon. That isn’t considering Steele, who will return around mid-season, or Colin Rea, Ben Brown, Javier Assad, and Jordan Wicks, who are all on the 40-man roster and have started games in the last two seasons.

While you can practically never have too much pitching, especially for a rotation that has its fair share of question marks, Gallen would be being paid starting pitcher money, so he’d need to be in the starting rotation.

If this was the case, someone would need to be demoted from that role. However, adding Gallen would almost certainly save the Cubs from a similar situation to last postseason.

While it would come with some uncomfortable conversations, adding Gallen would give the Cubs some middle-of-the-rotation depth that could be what this team needs for 2026.