Jack Flaherty’s Return a Great Sign for Direction of Detroit Tigers Front Office
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The Detroit Tigers shocked everyone in the baseball world with their unprecedented run in the second half of the 2024 season.
Accepting their fate as a seller ahead of the deadline, they traded away any veteran on the roster who had value, bringing back as many assets as possible.
Amongst those players were starting pitcher Jack Flaherty, who was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for shortstop Trey Sweeney and catcher Liranzo Thayron.
Flaherty helped the Dodgers win the World Series, heading into free agency with a ton of positive momentum. He was a champion coming off the most healthy and productive season he has had since 2019.
Unfortunately, his market never materialized in free agency.
Flaherty waited weeks and weeks, eventually making a return to the Tigers when the two sides agreed to a two-year, $35 million deal. There is an opt-out after Year 1, and he is set to earn $25 million in 2025.
Currently, he is set to earn $10 million in 2026, but if he makes 15 starts this year, $10 million will be added to his salary.
Certainly not the kind of deal he was hoping to receive, but he is off to another hot start. He has a 2.53 ERA across his first 21.1 innings with 25 strikeouts, setting himself up in the early going to hopefully land the lucrative, long-term contract he was seeking all along.
Flaherty provides Detroit with a legitimate No. 2 option behind their ace, 2024 American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal, a role that he filled excellently in 2024.
It was certainly a surprise to see him return to the Tigers, but when the market didn’t present him a chance to land a long-term deal, they pounced. From his perspective, it makes a lot of sense as well to return to a place where he found so much success.
It is also a glowing review for the direction in which the franchise is heading under their president of baseball operations, Scott Harris.
“The Tigers’ players defied the front office’s expectations last summer with an unlikely sprint to the playoffs. But starter Jack Flaherty – traded away last July – returned in free agency, a sign that Detroit is becoming an inviting destination for players,” wrote Tyler Kepner of The Athletic (subscription required) in a recent piece ranking the best front offices in MLB.
The Tigers, who were ranked No. 14 last year, came in at No. 12 this year and are on the rise. They scored only four points last year but recorded 11 this time around, a number that will assuredly continue to increase in the coming years.
Off to a 10-8 start and in first place in the AL Central, it will be interesting to see how Harris and the front office handle things now as a team on the cusp of being contenders.
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Kenneth Teape is an alumnus of SUNY Old Westbury and graduated in 2013 with an Honors Degree in Media Communications with a focus on print journalism. During his time at Old Westbury, he worked for the school newspaper and several online publications, such as Knicks Now, the official website of the New York Knicks, and a self-made website with fellow students, Gotham City Sports News. Kenneth has also been a site expert at Empire Writes Back, Musket Fire, and Lake Show Life within the FanSided Network. He was a contributor to HoopsHabit, with work featured on Bleacher Report and Yardbarker. In addition to his work here, he is a reporter for both NBA Analysis Network and NFL Analysis Network, as well as a writer and editor for Packers Coverage. You can follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @teapester725, or reach him via email at teapester725@gmail.com.