Potential Detroit Tigers Reunion With Jack Flaherty Could Be Spoiled by Orioles
The Detroit Tigers have been somewhat quiet so far this offseason, but this is still a franchise that should be looking to improve.
After an outstanding 2024 campaign, the Tigers are looking to make going to the postseason a common theme now. With a young, talented roster, they certainly can accomplish that. However, they do need to make some upgrades if they want to be a true title contender.
At the trade deadline when the season was looking all but over, Detroit traded a key player in Jack Flaherty to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The deal made a ton of sense at the time, as the right-hander was going to be a free agent and the season appeared to be over.
However, as the Tigers went on their ridiculous run at the end of the season into the playoffs, it quickly became apparent that it would have been nice to have a true No.2 starter behind Tarik Skubal in the rotation.
Now, the 29-year-old is a free agent, and a reunion with Detroit is certainly possible. However, Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report recently predicted that the right-hander would be signing with the Baltimore Orioles on a four-year, $88 million deal.
"Flaherty had a more modest 3.58 ERA as a Dodger and walked away from October with a 7.36 ERA to show for the postseason. It also bears mentioning that he had issues with his back in the middle of the season. Yet even if teams hesitate to look upon Flaherty as a proper No. 1, he still has his selling points. Among them are some stellar peripherals from this year, including a strikeout-to-walk ratio and whiff rate that were both elite. Especially given that he isn't tied to draft pick compensation, it's possible that Flaherty will score a nine-figure deal. If not, he should at least come close."
Since Flaherty doesn’t potentially have losing a draft pick attached to him, it certainly helps his value this offseason. Teams generally don’t want to lose draft capital, and signing the right-hander wouldn’t cost them one, and that is appealing.
For the Orioles, Flaherty’s first stint in 2023 was nothing short of a disaster after they acquired him at the trade deadline. His poor performance resulted in him taking a one-year deal with Detroit last offseason, as he really hurt his value.
As the Tigers look at the roster and try to improve, adding a top-end of the rotation pitcher to pair with Skubal makes a lot of sense. While they have some good young arms who could develop into that, this is a franchise that has to think about winning now with their Cy Young still under contract.
A reunion with Flaherty makes a lot of sense for them to accomplish that.
