No, Zac Gallen has not (yet) signed with the Cubs

In the last few minutes, you may have seen news that starter Zac Gallen had signed a contract with the Cubs. And you weren't dreaming, it's actually been circulating.

Bob Nightengale reported the whole thing, claiming that the two sides were close to finalizing a multi-year deal that would pay Gallen $22 million a year.

Well, you can forget about all that, because within minutes, Nightengale retracted his statement.

In fact, he mentioned that the Cubs hope to reach an agreement with Gallen on the basis of this contract.

But in reality, there are other teams still in the race. It's not over yet.

UPDATE: The Chicago Cubs are HOPEFUL of finalizing an agreement with free-agent starter Zac Gallen on a multi-year deal, but the deal is NOT DONE with others still in contention. Gallen, with three top-10 Cy Young finishes, has averaged 32 starts a year for the past 4 seasons.

– Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 6, 2025

And Jeff Passan, who obviously caught wind of it all, confirmed that rumors of an imminent deal between Gallen and the Cubs were nothing but hot air.

According to Passan, Gallen doesn't have a deal and he's not about to finalize one. That's got to be clear.

Zac Gallen does not have a deal and is not close to finalizing one.

– Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 6, 2025

Obviously, one might think that Nightengale, who has a rather extensive history of misreporting, misunderstood what was relayed to him. This led to his premeditated post, then to his update.

And, by the same token, to Passan's post.

That said, it should be remembered that the Cubs are indeed in the running to sign a starting pitcher. The club, which isn't likely to bring Kyle Tucker back in 2026, has some money to spend, and a guy like Gallen is a more sensible spend for the Cubs.

We're talking about a pitcher who had a tough 2025, but still has some great seasons behind him. If a team is confident that 2025 was just a blip, they could sniff out a bargain.

So we'll see if Gallen eventually ends up signing with the Cubs, but as of today, that's not the case. Maybe things will unblock at the winter meetings over the next few days.

This content was created with the help of AI.