PHOENIX — Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly had been more nostalgic than usual leading up to the trade deadline last Thursday.
With the longtime Arizona Diamondbacks teammates entrenched in trade rumors, there was a high chance their days pitching in the same rotation were dwindling.
“A lot of, ‘Well, if this is the last golf (game), this is the last dinner,’ things like that,” Gallen explained.
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The Diamondbacks dealt Kelly to the Texas Rangers on deadline day, and coming back to Chase Field on Sunday evening provided an odd feeling for Gallen.
“I always leave my keys in my locker when we leave for a road trip, so to come in, get my keys and walk by and not see his name plate, it was a little strange,” Gallen said. “He sits diagonal, sat diagonally from me on the plane. A little weird, just those kind of things. He’s become one of my really good friends, especially in baseball.”
Gallen joked that Kelly lives 15 minutes away from him in the Valley, so he’ll see him again. Plus, the D-backs and Rangers have six games against each other remaining.
The two had been teammates since Gallen joined the D-backs at the 2019 trade deadline from the Miami Marlins, and both entered this season on expiring contracts.
Gallen, however, was not surprised that his tenure with the club continued beyond this past deadline.
Zac Gallen on not having Merrill Kelly around:
"It was weird yesterday … to walk by and not see his name plate was a little strange. He sits diagonal, sat diagonally from me on the plane. So a little weird, those things." pic.twitter.com/bF3DboevX4
— Alex Weiner (@alexjweiner) August 5, 2025
The Diamondbacks fielded calls for Gallen but set a high price for one of the most productive starters in the National League over the previous half-decade. This has been his least effective campaign with a career-worst 5.48 ERA and 1.36 WHIP.
Arizona never received an offer that cleared the bar it set. Gallen said Hazen and the front office were transparent with him through the process.
“It was a little bit weird sitting there not knowing what potentially could happen,” Gallen said.
“I kind of had a feeling that I was gonna be here. I knew with all those things with the trade and the value I knew Hazen was trying to recoup if he were to move me was gonna be fairly high just from a bunch of different factors. So I felt pretty safe in that sense. I’m glad to be here, that’s the bottom line.”
It meant a lot to Gallen to stick around in a place he grew up as a major leaguer, a place he has been open about not wanting to be traded from. Perhaps the deadline passing without a contender willing to pony up will motivate the pitcher further. Maybe there is a freedom that comes with clarity. There remains the elephant of his impending free agency in the room.
Now that he’s still here, the goal is still to win. The Diamondbacks sold players on expiring contracts but did not trade the entire team in a way the Minnesota Twins did.
General manager Mike Hazen even met with the club personally after the deadline to outline expectations going forward.
“ I won’t share too much from conversations I had with the front office post All-Star break,” Gallen said. “They still felt like this team, with pieces they potentially could move at that time, was still a really good team.
“The Tigers of last year were referenced a lot in terms of a team that was out of it until the middle of August and then went on a crazy run. … We still feel like there’s really good talent here. We still have two All-Stars left in this room. We’ve got some pitchers in here who have some really good stuff.”
Gallen started Saturday’s game and allowed two earned runs through six innings pitched.
The Diamondbacks entered Monday with 50 games left to play with miniscule postseason chances but an opportunity to build better habits going into 2026. Gallen, among many others, could really use a strong finish.
Follow @alexjweiner
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