Ex-Cardinals Star Predicted To Cut Ties with Dodgers For $88M Angels Deal

Where will the former Cardinals star sign this winter?

Aug 1, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; A detailed view of a Los Angeles Angels hat and glove on the bench against the Atlanta Braves in the eighth inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The last two years have been a roller coaster for former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jack Flaherty but it seems like he is going to have a great winter.

Flaherty spent the first six-plus seasons of his big league career as a member of the Cardinals after being selected in the first round of the 2014 Major League Baseball June Amateur Draft. He looked like a star in St. Louis, but injuries heavily impacted him.

The Cardinals traded him to the Baltimore Orioles in 2023, and he struggled down the stretch and was forced to settle for a one-year deal in free agency last year with the Detroit Tigers. He regained his form and looked like a star once again and was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers and won a World Series.

Now, he's available on the open market once again and Bleacher Report's Zachary Rymer predicted he will sign an $88 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels.

"After finishing fourth in the (National League) Cy Young Award voting in 2019, Jack Flaherty spent a few years in the wilderness before emerging again this year," Rymer said. "He ranked eighth among starters in strikeout-to-walk ratio, with strikeout and whiff rates in the top 10 percent among all pitchers. And though his average fastball was a relatively modest 93.3 mph, his curveball was among the best of the year with a +12 run value...

"There haven't been many solid rumors concerning Flaherty, but ESPN's Jeff Passan is the one who floated New York and Washington as good fits for him. The player himself, meanwhile, doesn't want to leave Los Angeles if he can help it. If that can be taken to mean the area more broadly, then the Angels fit him just as well as the Dodgers. And between the two, the Halos certainly need him more. Signs with Los Angeles Angels for 4 years, $88 million"

Flaherty is going to get paid well this winter and he deserves it.

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