Baltimore Orioles Continue To Have Interest in Reunion With Jack Flaherty

After missing out on Corbin Burnes, the Baltimore Orioles seem to be moving towards a reunion with Jack Flaherty.

Oct 8, 2023; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Jack Flaherty (15) pitches during the fifth inning against the Texas Rangers during game two of the ALDS for the 2023 MLB playoffs at Oriole Park at Camden Yards / Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images

The Baltimore Orioles have to pick themselves up after missing out on Corbin Burnes.

While it was largely expected they wouldn't be able to retain the past Cy Young winner based on the amount of money he was projected to get, not landing him was no fault of their own after they reportedly offered him a very competitive contract.

Ultimately, it was the chance to stay home with the Arizona Diamondbacks that was the deciding factor, leaving the Orioles to look elsewhere for an ace-caliber arm.

With Kyle Bradish recovering from Tommy John surgery and Grayson Rodriguez not quite reaching that level just yet, it will be imperative they find another top-of-the-rotation guy to help them compete in the AL East and American League as a whole.

According to Will Sammon and Katie Woo of The Athletic, it seems like they are seriously considering a reunion with Jack Flaherty coming off his resurgent year.

"... the Orioles are pursuing remaining free agents and trade candidates to add to their starting rotation, league sources said. They have interest in a possible reunion with Jack Flaherty, the league sources said," they wrote.

It's pretty well known that the right-hander has been on their radar this winter, but with them still holding out hope they could get Burnes back with the organization, they put Flaherty on the back burner.

He likely gets moved up to the front now.

Signing Flaherty doesn't come without risks, something Baltimore knows all too well.

When the Orioles traded for him ahead of the 2023 deadline, he was disastrous with a 6.75 ERA across his nine outings and seven starts.

That forced him to sign a one-year contract with the Detroit Tigers last winter.

Flaherty performed well, posting a 2.95 ERA in 18 starts that earned him a ticket to the Los Angeles Dodgers to be a key part of their World Series run.

While he looked like the past version of himself where he finished fifth in NL Rookie of the Year voting and fourth in the NL Cy Young vote following the 2018 and 2019 campagnas with his 3.17 ERA and 127 ERA+ this past season, that small sample size is making teams hard-pressed to hand him a lucrative deal.

If Baltimore does hand him an expensive contract this winter, they're hoping he has found his previous form before his career was derailed by injuries.

Sammon and Woo pointed out he is "seeking at least a five-year deal," something that could give the Orioles a leg up in negotiations if they're willing to hand that out compared to other teams that are interested in him.

It will be interesting to see if something can get done.

The 2024 version of Flaherty would give Baltimore the exact type of arm they are looking for in free agency, but if he regresses back to the struggling pitcher he was for the better part of 2020-23, then this will be a dud of a signing.