AL East Team May Stand in Way of Detroit Tigers Reunion with World Series Pitcher
The Detroit Tigers are looking to improve upon their improbable 2024 campaign that saw the team make a late-season rally to claim the third and final Wild Card berth in the American League side of the bracket for the postseason.
After signing veteran starter Alex Cobb and veteran infielder Gleyber Torres each to one-year, $15 million deals, the club is not finished as the calendar turns to 2025.
The Tigers are still in need of starting rotation depth, a unit fronted by the reigning, defending, undisputed American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal.
Detroit has expressed their interest in reuniting with veteran righty Jack Flaherty, who they signed as a free agent in the 2023-24 offseason, and traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers ahead of the 2024 MLB trade deadline when all hope for October baseball was lost.
Flaherty helped lead his new club to their second World Series Championship in five years.
Hopes for a reunion in the Motor City may be dwindling, however, as a recent report from Will Sammon and Katie Woo of The Athletic indicates that Flaherty and the Baltimore Orioles have shown mutual interest in a reunion of their own.
"Flaherty’s brief stint with Baltimore in 2023 didn’t fare well — he posted a 6.75 ERA over nine games (seven starts), along with the highest hits-per-nine-inning rate (11.9) of his career," write Sammon and Woo. "Still, according to league sources, both sides would be open to a reunion after Flaherty’s bounce-back season."
The Orioles acquired the veteran from the St. Louis Cardinals ahead of the 2023 MLB trade deadline as a rental. It was not the best of times for the righty, but Baltimore did make it to the postseason that year, winning the American League East on the strength of a 101-win campaign.
The Orioles are in need of starting rotation improvement in their own right, after losing their ace Corbin Burnes in free agency to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Flaherty fared much better in his brief stint with the Tigers, posting a 2.95 ERA across 106 2/3 innings in 18 starts. Despite the mutual interest in Baltimore, the better performance the pitcher produced could be a feather in Detroit's cap.
Flaherty remains as one of the best pitchers left on the market this winter, and as the 2025 season rapidly approaches, either team would be better off with the righty on their roster.
