Proper-hander Jack Flaherty signed a pillow contract with the Tigers final winter, and it went nearly in addition to anybody may’ve moderately hoped. The appropriate-hander dominated to the tune of a 3.17 ERA in 28 begins with the Tigers and Dodgers and resulted in Flaherty hoisting the World Sequence trophy alongside his teammates in Los Angeles. Now, he’s again on the free agent market and in line for a way more profitable deal than the $14MM assure he landed from Detroit final winter. Whereas the vast majority of the baseball world has been centered on Corbin Burnes within the days following the Winter Conferences when contemplating the free agent marketplace for beginning pitchers, this night noticed Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic talk about the place Flaherty’s market at present stands.
One chance Rosenthal suggests could possibly be on the desk for Flaherty is a reunion with Baltimore. That’s not precisely a shock, given {that a} report from Rosenthal himself final week indicated that Baltimore is reluctant to pursue beginning pitchers from different golf equipment encumbered by the Qualifying Supply, who would due to this fact require the Orioles to forfeit draft capital with a purpose to be signed. Whereas the Orioles’ prime goal has lengthy been thought-about to be Burnes, who completed fifth in AL Cy Younger award voting throughout his lone season with Baltimore this previous yr, Rosenthal means that Flaherty stands out as a “fallback choice” for the Orioles ought to they fail to reunite with their present ace.
Whereas Flaherty struggled in his earlier stint with Baltimore, which got here down the stretch in 2023 and noticed him put up an unsightly 6.75 ERA throughout 34 2/3 innings of labor, Rosenthal notes that Orioles brass understood Flaherty was gassed amid his first full, 162-game season on the mound since 2019. With different prime free brokers unencumbered by the QO like Blake Snell, Yusei Kikuchi, and Nathan Eovaldi all already off the board, Flaherty stands out as by far the highest pitcher out there on the free agent market who isn’t hooked up to the QO. That’s a giant motive why MLBTR predicted a five-year, $115MM deal for the right-hander as a part of our annual Prime 50 MLB Free Brokers checklist, the place he ranked eighth.
One different potential participant in Flaherty’s market Rosenthal mentions is the Purple Sox. Whereas it’s unclear how Boston is in Flaherty in the mean time, Rosenthal studies that the membership “favored” the righty final winter earlier than he signed in Detroit. Naturally, it is going to take a much more important monetary dedication to land Flaherty this winter than it could’ve final yr. That shouldn’t be an issue for Boston, nonetheless, as they’ve been closely concerned within the bidding for prime free brokers equivalent to Juan Soto, Max Fried, and Alex Bregman this winter and reportedly stay available in the market for rotation assist even after touchdown ace lefty Garrett Crochet in a commerce with the White Sox earlier this week. A rotation fronted by a trio of Crochet, Flaherty, and Tanner Houck would absolutely be an attractive chance for the Purple Sox, and it’s simple to think about them having curiosity in Flaherty if they’ve cash leftover as soon as the sweepstakes for Bregman and Burnes come to an finish.
Other than the Orioles and Purple Sox, a handful of groups have been related to Flaherty up to now this winter. The Mets have beforehand been related to Flaherty and have a minimum of one opening in a rotation that might use a transparent impression starter to pair with Kodai Senga. The Cubs made a giant splash to land Kyle Tucker from the Astros yesterday and have remaining concerned within the rotation market even after signing Matthew Boyd earlier this winter, although their curiosity in Flaherty is reportedly depending on his price ticket. The Tigers additionally apparently have a minimum of some curiosity in a reunion with Flaherty, although it’s unclear in the event that they’d be keen to outbid different prime contenders and have since added veteran righty Alex Cobb to their beginning workers.
