Right-hander Zac Gallen rejected the Diamondbacks' qualifying offer, and now he is free to sign with any team.
The deadline for players who were extended qualifying offers to accept or reject them was 2 p.m. MST on Tuesday.
This year's qualifying offer was worth $22.025 million, which is the mean salary of Major League Baseball's 125 highest-paid players. In the history of the qualifying offer system before this offseason (since 2012), only 14 out of 144 players had accepted the one-year deal. Thirteen players were tendered qualifying offers this year and four accepted -- Trent Grisham (Yankees), Shota Imanaga (Cubs), Gleyber Torres (Tigers) and Brandon Woodruff (Brewers).
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Because they made Gallen a qualifying offer and he rejected it, the Diamondbacks will receive a compensation pick between the first round and Competitive Balance Round A if Gallen signs a free-agent deal of at least $50 million. If Gallen signs for less than $50 million, the compensation pick comes after Competitive Balance Round B.
It's still possible, though it seems unlikely, that the Diamondbacks could re-sign Gallen as a free agent.
Gallen, who has been with the Diamondbacks since coming over from the Marlins at the Trade Deadline in 2019, has made his home in Arizona and spoke toward the end of the season about wanting to stay with the Diamondbacks.
After his final start of the regular season against the Padres in San Diego, Gallen remained in his uniform long after the game ended, not wanting to take it off.
"It's tough for me to take off," Gallen said. "Kind of lingered on the mound a little bit too when [manager Torey Lovullo] was coming out. Wearing this uniform for seven years now, as much as I spent some time in other organizations, I think of myself as a D-back, really. Spent most of my career here and if it's the last time, it'll be a tough pill to swallow. I know the last two years didn't go the way we wanted them to. This year didn't go the way I envisioned for myself. But every fifth day I put the uniform on, I was honored, I was proud to put the uniform on. I went out there every fifth day and just tried to get these give these guys everything I had. Obviously just this year wasn't enough."