Toronto Blue Jays showing serious interest in Arizona Diamondbacks ace Zac Gallen

The D'Backs took a 46-50 record into today's game with the Angels, and they sit 6.5 games back of the final NL wild card spot.

A team with such high expectations (and a club-record payroll) might wait until closer to the deadline before finally deciding to sell, but barring a major winning streak after the All-Star break, it certainly looks like Arizona will be moving some talent at the deadline.

Nightengale writes that the Diamondbacks are already open to discussing impending free agents, which could make Arizona a sought-after trade partner if such players as Gallen, Eugenio Suarez, Josh Naylor, or Merrill Kelly are available.

Gallen is perhaps the most difficult player of that group to evaluate in terms of trade value, as he is posting the worst season of his seven-year MLB career.

The righty has a 5.40 ERA in 115 innings and a slate of unimpressive Statcast metrics, including some of the worst hard-contact rates of any pitcher in the league.

Gallen has been prone to hard contact even in his best years, but a declining walk rate over the last two seasons has contributed to his struggles.

A 4.18 SIERA indicates that Gallen should be out-performing his actual ERA, though those are still the numbers of more a mid-rotation arm rather than a front-of-the-rotation type.

With this much uncertainty, another solid starter would go a long way towards helping the Jays' chances of keeping their lead in the AL East, or at least making the postseason bracket.

Gallen figures to be one of many names linked to the Blue Jays as GM Ross Atkins evaluates what promises to be a typically busy trade market for pitching.