Diamondbacks free agents, options and qualifying offer candidates heading into offseason

The Arizona Diamondbacks traded most of their impending free agents at the 2025 trade deadline for prospects, so the list of players coming off the books this winter has diminished significantly.

Arizona’s most notable free agent is Zac Gallen, a qualifying offer candidate after spending the last 6.5 seasons in Sedona Red.

After Gallen, the group of free agents includes players who were under-the-radar signings from the front office this year, including two late additions.

The Diamondbacks traded soon-to-be free agents Eugenio Suarez, Josh Naylor, Merrill Kelly, Jordan Montgomery, Shelby Miller and Randal Grichuk at the deadline for nine players and payroll relief.

Here’s a guide to Arizona’s remaining free agents (minor league free agents and non-tender candidates not included):

Correction: A previous version of this story included Ildemaro Vargas as a free agent. It has since been confirmed that Vargas has another year of team control through arbitration.

Diamondbacks unrestricted free agents

Zac Gallen

2025 stats:

• 33 starts
• 192 innings
• 4.83 ERA
• 175 strikeouts
• 66 walks
• 1.26 WHIP
• 4.51 FIP (fielding-independent pitching)
• 1.1 bWAR

Gallen has been with the club since the 2019 trade deadline and climbed up franchise leaderboards. He is third in starts, innings and strikeouts.

Gallen has been clear about enjoying his time playing in Arizona and has said he would love to come back if an agreement can be struck. Team owner Ken Kendrick shared his admiration for Gallen on Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo on Monday, leaving the door for a reunion open.

The one-time All-Star’s market is a bit difficult to project considering he is only 30 years old but coming off his worst season. Gallen had a 5.60 ERA going into the trade deadline, as home runs and walks hurt him early. He found success late with a 3.32 ERA over his last 11 starts, making a league-high eight quality starts in that span.

Did he prove his upside to a degree that teams would be willing to invest a lucrative long-term contract?

Arizona’s rotation going into next season is questionable, as there is very little in terms of experienced depth behind Ryne Nelson, Brandon Pfaadt and Eduardo Rodriguez.

James McCann

2025 stats:

• 42 games
• 137 plate appearances
• .260/.324/.431 slash line
• .754 OPS
• 5 home runs
• Caught 5 of 26 base stealers
• 4.02 ERA catching
• 1.0 bWAR

McCann was a diamond-in-the-rough midseason signing for the Diamondbacks, as the 35-year-old veteran had been playing minor league ball with the Atlanta Braves. He produced better than expected offensively, but his calling card was handling the pitching staff.

McCann received rave reviews from pitchers for his game-calling and expertise behind the plate. No catcher who played more than 10 innings for the Diamondbacks caught a better ERA from pitchers than McCann.

Gabriel Moreno was very good season when healthy, and he is the starting catcher for the foreseeable future. He has strides to make as a game-caller, but that comes with time and he’s excelled elsewhere defensively while showing more pop with the bat.

Backup catcher is less certain next year, with Adrian Del Castillo being the in-house option. Del Castillo showed flashes offensively this season in the majors, albeit with a sky-high 35% strikeout rate. He only ended up starting four games behind the plate for Arizona, and he hardly caught in the minors due to missing time with injuries.

Jalen Beeks

2025 stats:

• 61 appearances (2 starts)
• 57.1 innings
• 3.77 ERA
• 47 strikeouts
• 20 walks
• 1.08 WHIP
• 4.01 FIP
• 1 save
• 0.9 bWAR

Beeks was a last-minute signing by the Diamondbacks after spring training wrapped up, as the club needed bullpen reinforcements due to preseason injuries for Kevin Ginkel and Kendall Graveman. Beeks was let go from Houston before Opening Day, and he became arguably the most consistent bullpen arm for Arizona in 2025.

He led the team in appearances and worked in various roles from opener to the late innings. He finished the year relatively strong with a 1.86 ERA over his final 13 outings (11 scoreless).

Beeks is 32 years old and his velocities were pretty consistent with where it had been the previous couple seasons. Arizona added a lot of bulk to its bullpen at the trade deadline, and improving that area of the team is going to be a focus this offseason.

Player options

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. ($13 million)

2025 stats:

• 129 games
• 546 plate appearances
• .248/.295/.418
• .713 OPS
• 19 home runs
• 24 doubles
• 80 RBIs
• 10 stolen bases
• -3 outs above average
• 0.4 bWAR

Perhaps Gurriel’s decision was made for him when he suffered a torn ACL in early September, knocking him out for the end of the 2025 season and threatening his entire 2026 campaign. If he can recover, rehab and return within a year, then he could work his way back into the lineup before the end of the slate, but that’s a long ways away.

Gurriel had a largely up-and-down season, finishing with his most underwhelming stats in three years with Arizona. He had been hitting better in August with a .797 OPS, seven home runs and 32 RBIs during his final full month of action. The Diamondbacks could have really used that production from the middle of the order during their postseason push down the stretch.

Qualifying offer candidates

Zac Gallen

Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro reported that the Diamondbacks will extend the qualifying offer to Gallen, but odds are against him taking it.

The QO is expected to be approximately $22 million for one season, allowing a player to re-enter the free agent market in a year. If a player declines the QO and signs elsewhere, the team they depart in free agency will receive draft compensation based on the contract the player signs.

For instance, the D-backs extended a QO to Christian Walker last offseason. He declined and signed with the Houston Astros for $60 million over three years. Since the deal was worth more than $50 million, the Diamondbacks received a compensatory draft pick at the end of the first round, which they used on pitcher Patrick Forbes.

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