Why Arizona Can\u2019t Wait<\/strong>
If Valdez signs first, Gallen\u2019s price doesn\u2019t go down \u2014 it goes up. Arizona loses the \u201chome discount\u201d advantage the longer he stays available.<\/p>\nWhy Gallen Should Sign Before Framber Valdez<\/h2>\n
This is the key. Once Valdez signs, the market shifts \u2014 and not in Gallen\u2019s favor.<\/p>\n
Valdez is younger, left-handed, and coming off stronger surface numbers. Teams that miss on him will still need pitching, but urgency creates overcorrection. That can mean shorter deals, less flexibility, or worse environments rushed together late in spring.<\/p>\n
By signing before Valdez<\/strong>, Gallen:<\/p>\n\n- \n
Controls his landing spot<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Preserves leverage and structure<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Avoids being labeled the \u201cbackup plan.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Secures a full, normal spring training<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Waiting risks becoming the first domino to fall.<\/p>\n
The Last Word<\/h2>\n
Zac Gallen doesn\u2019t need to rush \u2014 but he does need to be decisive. The Cubs offer flexibility. The Orioles offer upside. Arizona offers security. What he can\u2019t afford is waiting for Framber Valdez to reset the board.<\/p>\n
In February, leverage belongs to the pitcher who moves first.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Zac Gallen, sitting on the free-agent market in the first week of February, feels strange \u2014 and strategic. This isn\u2019t a pitcher without pedigree. This is a former ace, a World Series starter, and a durable, competitive right-hander still firmly in his prime. But timing matters in baseball economics, and for Gallen, the clock is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5710,"featured_media":60489,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29,2,1071],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diamondbacks","category-featured","category-mlb"],"modified_by":"Eddie Lennon, Staff Writer","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5710"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113425"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113426,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113425\/revisions\/113426"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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