On Wednesday, the Detroit Tigers officially announced the signing of right-handed pitcher Jack Flaherty.
Flaherty agreed to a one-year contract worth $14 million. Incentives of up to $1 million are available to him.
Flaherty, 28, spent his entire career with the St. Louis Cardinals before being traded to the Baltimore Orioles at the 2023 trade deadline.
Flaherty was one of the market’s youngest free-agent starters, and some expected him to sign a two- or three-year contract. However, Flaherty may have sought the best one-year deal he could find in order to position himself for another free-agent run next winter, when he will still be only 29 years old.
“It’s no secret that Jack is betting on himself with this contract,” Tigers president Scott Harris stated. “We applaud him for coming here and taking a chance on himself.” Now it’s up to us to create an environment that can best support him and assist him in making the adjustments that will bring out the best version of him and, as a result, the best version of the Tigers rotation.”
Flaherty, a native of southern California, was drafted by the Cardinals in the first round (34th overall) out of high school in 2014. He made his debut in 2017 and was promoted to the rotation in 2018. His best season was in 2019, when he went 11-9 with a 2.75 ERA in 196 1/3 innings. He finished fourth in the Cy Young voting and, at only 23 years old, appeared to be on the verge of stardom.
However, he was placed on the injured list for the first time in his career in 2021 and battled shoulder issues through the 2022 season.
This was supposed to be Flaherty’s final season before entering free agency. He did pitch 144 innings between the Cardinals and Orioles, but his 4.99 ERA and a rocky finish with Baltimore (a 6.75 ERA in 34 2/3 innings) may have hurt his value.
“Jack did not have the year in 2023 that he had planned. But we worked hard on him, watched a lot of video, and saw some encouraging signs of progress throughout the season,” Harris explained.
Flaherty joins a rotation that includes lefty ace Tarik Skubal and veteran righty Kenta Maeda, who signed a two-year, $24 million contract last month.
The Tigers have a lot of options for the rest of the rotation. Right-handers Casey Mize, Matt Manning, and Reese Olson are next in line, with Alex Faedo, Joey Wentz, Beau Brieske, and Sawyer Gipson-Long providing relief or Triple-A Toledo depth.
“We’ll always be looking for pitching.” That’s something I tell you every time I talk to you. “But I’m not sure we’ll be in the starting pitching market after this signing,” Harris said.
He also stated that the apparent surplus of starting arms does not necessarily imply a trade is imminent.
“We did not add Jack, intending to trade one of our starters,” Harris told reporters. “We’ll always be on the lookout for ways to improve the organization.” But that was not the intention of including Jack.”
Flaherty’s incentives are determined by the number of starts he makes. He’ll earn $250,000 if he makes 26 starts, $250,000 if he makes 28 starts, and $500,000 if he makes 30 starts.
The Tigers’ 40-man roster has been completed.
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