Blue Jays Reportedly 'Have Shown Interest' in Diamondbacks Ace
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The Toronto Blue Jays are on a run reminiscent of those the team put together in the mid-2010s, erasing a sizable deficit in the American League East division to overtake the New York Yankees for first place.
Before play on July 13, the final day before the All-Star break, the Blue Jays are 55-40 and two games ahead of the Yankees.
A deep lineup, solid team defense and good enough pitching has propelled Toronto to the point at which it finds itself, but the team can certainly add more to solidify its status as a real World Series contender.
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The Blue Jays look formidable, but the Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros are likely ahead of them in the pecking order when it comes to probability of winning the AL pennant.
A big area to help Toronto get a leg up would be to improve the team's starting rotation at or ahead of the July 31 MLB trade deadline.
Jose Berrios, Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt form a solid top three, with ERA marks of 3.53, 4.19 and 4.16, respectively. But adding another high-profile starter with upside to perform at an ace level in October would be huge.
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Enter the possibility of acquiring Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen, who the team will reportedly make available on the trade market.
Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported a link between the Blue Jays and Gallen.
"GMs believe that the Toronto Blue Jays could be as aggressive as any team in baseball at the deadline, believing this could be their best chance to return to the World Series since 1993," Nightengale wrote. "The Blue Jays are looking for a front-line pitcher, and have shown interest in Gallen."
Gallen has spent the past seven years performing at an ace-caliber level, posting a career ERA mark of 3.55 to go with a 1.16 WHIP.
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In 2022 and 2023, he finished in the top five of the voting for the National League Cy Young Award.
In 2025, he hasn't found that same success, and it could make him slightly more affordable in terms of acquisition cost while making Arizona a bit more motivated to move him for a still-strong package.
Acquiring Gallen would help Toronto either way, but if he's able to recapture the form he's shown every season prior to this one, he could have the same effect that acquiring David Price had back in 2015.
That would be a dream come true for Blue Jays fans, who would love nothing more than to see this core that once showed limitless potential as prospects go all the way.
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Kyle Morton has covered various sports from amateur to professional level athletics. A graduate of Fordham University, Kyle specializes in MLB and NHL coverage while having previous bylines with SB Nation, The Hockey Writers, HighSchoolOT, and Sports World News. He spent time working the beat for the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes and is an avid fan of the NHL, MLB, NFL and college basketball. Enjoys the outdoors and hiking in his free time away from sports.