PHOENIX — The most intriguing team at the trade deadline is the Arizona Diamondbacks, who keep insisting they don’t plan to be sellers – but may have no choice as the struggle around .500.
While power-hitting third baseman Eugenio Suárez is the one grabbing the most attention with his 27 homers and 70 RBIs, and coveted by the Seattle Mariners and the New York Yankees, D-backs starter Zac Gallen (6-9, 5.45 ERA) could be the most compelling.
Gallen has struggled with his command this season, and hasn’t pounded the strike zone as in the past, opened a lot of eyes this past week when he overpowered the San Francisco Giants. He allowed just five hits and one run in seven innings, striking out 10 batters. It reminded everyone of his sheer talent, dominating the New York Mets and New York Yankees earlier this season, going 3-0 with a 0.92 ERA with 27 strikeouts in 19 ⅔ innings.
It may be premature to say he’s completely back, but teams scouting him have been impressed, believing that the D-backs will trade him before he hits free agency this winter.
The irony of Gallen’s success is that the better he pitches, the higher his trade value, but also the better chance that the D-backs keep him since he could get them back in the playoff race.
“I would like to not be in that discussion,’ Gallen, who has three top-10 Cy Young finishes in the last five years, tells USA TODAY Sports. “I would like for us – and it starts with me – to put us in a position where the front office believes this is a team they can add to where we can finish this thing out and see what happens come October. Let’s see what happens.’
And, obviously, the better Gallen pitches, the bigger his bank account will become when he becomes a free agent in November.
“I’ve never been a person that really thinks about the eternal factors, and all of that stuff,’ Gallen says, “even going to back to being drafted. It’s a thing. It’s there. It is what it is. You just got to go handle your business.’
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