It's been a big few weeks for pitchers joining the AL Central. On January 22, the Cleveland Guardians bolstered their bullpen with Paul Sewald, and on January 29, the Detroit Tigers signed reliever Tommy Kahnle. Also on January 29, the Kansas City Royals made their biggest free agent acquisition of the winter by signing closer Carlos Estévez, and now, the Tigers have reportedly made another addition — this time to their starting rotation.
On February 2, ESPN's Jeff Passan reported that the Tigers had reached an agreement with Jack Flaherty on a two-year, $35 million contract with an opt-out after the first year. Under the deal, Flaherty will earn $25 million in 2025 and — assuming he doesn't exercise his opt-out — a guaranteed $10 million in 2026, though incentives allow his 2026 salary to grow as high as $20 million if he makes at least 15 starts this year.
The Tigers have not yet confirmed the deal.
Jack Flaherty in agreement with KC Royals rival
This will be Flaherty's second stint with the Tigers, with the right-hander having signed a one-year, $14 million contract with the team before the 2024 season. He made 18 starts in Detroit last year, accumulating a 2.95 ERA with 0.96 WHIP and 133 strikeouts in 106.2 innings of work before being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 30. Flaherty ended the 2024 regular season with a 3.17 ERA — his best since 2019 — in 28 starts between the two teams.
Flaherty threw the most postseason innings (22.0) of any of Los Angeles' pitchers, though he didn't fare as well as he did during the regular season. In five playoff starts, he allowed 24 hits and 18 earned runs, and became a free agent at the end of the season.
In addition to coming off a World Series win, Flaherty boasted the best strikeout-to-walk ratio of all free-agent starting pitchers this winter, and was the only one under the age of 30. The fact that he was left unsigned through the New Year is surprising, and on January 24, he told the New York Post’s Will Zimmerman that it was down to MLB front offices lacking ambition and a winning mindset.
“You have a certain number of teams that want to win, they look at their rosters and they’re happy [enough] with it,” Flaherty said. “I think teams just want to get into the playoffs — [it’s] not World Series or bust, but ‘[Let’s] hope we get into the playoffs and see what happens.’”
Now, Flaherty is taking his passion for winning to the Tigers, and considering his strong showing during his brief time with the team last year, it's not surprising that Detroit would be excited to welcome him back. He will join Tarik Skubal, Reese Olson, Casey Mize, and recently-added Alex Cobb in the Tigers' rotation.
The Royals' rotation has one of the best 1-2-3 punches in MLB with Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo, and Michael Wacha, but especially considering their shaky offense last season, the Tigers leveling up their rotation with Flaherty should put them on notice. The Royals and Tigers finished the 2024 regular season with identical 86-76 records, and if Kansas City wants to pull ahead in the AL Central this year, adding another power bat needs to be a priority before Opening Day.