Livescore
After finishing the 2024 season with a magical 30-11 run to make the postseason and besting the Astros in the Wild Card Series to advance to the ALDS, many expected the upstart Tigers to be extremely active on the free agent market heading into 2025.
So far, the ultimate returns have been somewhat underwhelming. The Tigers did bolster their rotation early in the process by signing veteran right-hander Alex Cobb to a one-year, $15 million deal. They also made an intriguing addition to their offense by inking second baseman Gleyber Torres to a one-year, $15 million pact as well.
Last week they bolstered their bullpen by adding right-hander Tommy Kahnle on a one-year, $7.75 million contract. He’ll join an already formidable group of arms for A.J. Hinch to deploy in high leverage situations.
While the three moves made the team incrementally better, they weren’t the types of major splashes that long-suffering Tigers’ fans were hoping for heading into 2025.
Fortunately, things took a turn for the better late Sunday night when right-hander Jack Flaherty began posting a series of cryptic Detroit and Tigers’ related images on social media:
Ultimately, details of the agreement trickled out slowly afterwards, with Flaherty signing a two-year, $35 million contract to rejoin the Tigers. He’ll earn $25 million in 2025 and will have an opt-out after the first season if he chooses to exercise it. The $10 million option that he has for the 2026 season grows to $20 million if Flaherty makes at least 15 starts for the Tigers in 2025.
On the surface, it seems like a good deal for both Flaherty and the Tigers. Flaherty gets a front-loaded deal that will pay him as one of the top starting pitchers in all of baseball in 2025 and he’ll get a chance to make another $20 million in 2026 or hit the open market once more if he so chooses. The Tigers bolster their rotation with the top arm that was remaining on the open market – and one that’s already familiar with their culture and their coaching staff. If Flaherty ultimately decides to test the market again in 2026, they’ll also receive draft pick compensation if they offer him a qualifying offer.
What can we expect from Jack Flaherty?
Great question, I’m glad you asked. The Tigers are definitely hoping that it’s more of the same.
Coming off of a disappointing 2023 season, Flaherty bet on himself by signing a one-year, $14 million deal with the Tigers heading into 2024. Tigers’ pitching coach Chris Fetter and his staff worked their magic with him and Flaherty delivered one of the best half seasons of his career – registering a stellar 2.95 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and a 133/19 K/BB ratio over 106 2/3 innings in 18 starts with the club.
He was then dealt to the Dodgers at the trade deadline and helped to lead his new club to a World Series title.
As long as he’s healthy and maintains the upticks in velocity that he saw during the 2024 season, Flaherty should once again be very successful in his return to Motown. He’s pitching for a team that should compete for a playoff spot and doing so in one of the best pitcher’s parks in all of baseball in Comerica Park. Combine that with well above average defense in the outfield and you’ve got all of the makings of an upper-echelon starting pitcher – both from a real world and a fantasy perspective.
Who gets bumped from the Tigers’ rotation?
That’s an interesting question. The Tigers made waves in the second half of the 2024 season with their surprise run to the postseason, doing so without a traditional starting rotation – relying heavily on openers and bullpen days to get the job done. Assuming that their current batch of starting pitchers stay healthy, you should expect to see a much more traditional rotation in 2025.
Tarik Skubal is locked in as the ace of the rotation and Flaherty will fall in directly behind him. Alex Cobb will function as a regular starter for as long as he’s able to avoid the injured list and the Tigers love what they saw from Reese Olson in 2024. That’s four traditional spots locked up.
The expectation is that top prospect Jackson Jobe is going to see significant time at the big league level in 2025 as well, and he isn’t going to work out of the bullpen.
That means if everyone is healthy, that would leave Keider Montero, Kenta Maeda, Casey Mize, Brant Hurter, Ty Madden and a host of others on the outside looking in when it comes to a secure spot in the club’s rotation.
There’s a decent chance that Jobe could begin the season at Triple-A Toledo, at least for a few turns through the rotation, so in that case Montero seems the most likely to keep the seat warm until Jobe is ready to take over.
The leaves Maeda, Mize and Hurter all fighting for roles in what’s shaping up to be a deep and talented Tigers’ bullpen while functioning as strong rotation depth in the event of an injury.
How does this impact Jack Flaherty’s fantasy value?
Fantasy managers have treated Flaherty as a bit of a forgotten man in early fantasy drafts, waiting to see where he wound up before really staking their claim. Over the past four weeks in NFBC Draft Champions leagues, Flaherty has gone at pick 142 on average with a min pick of 106 and a max of 175.
By choosing to sign back with the Tigers, it’s very reasonable to expect that his draft cost will rise. He’s currently the 61st pitcher off the board on average during that time frame and the 42nd SP drafted. It wouldn’t be shocking at all to see him jump up near the top 25-30 SP and to have his ADP wind up around where his min pick (106) currently is.
Added Benefits
It’s unusual to see situations where a team deals a player away at the trade deadline and then is able to sign them back once they hit the open market. The one scenario that comes to mind immediately for me is when the Yankees shipped Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs for Gleyber Torres in 2016, only to turn around and sign Chapman back after the season – getting Torres essentially for free in the process.
While it’s not quite that level of thievery for the Tigers, they did end up with a pretty nice haul from the Dodgers in return for a couple of months of Flaherty. Trey Sweeney stepped right in and became the team’s starting shortstop for most of the second half of the 2024 season and through the playoffs and with his combination of power and speed the future looks very bright there.
The Tigers also added 21-year-old slugger Thayron Liranzo, who is already a top-10 prospect in the organization and a consensus top-100 prospect in all of baseball. That’s a big win.
What’s next for the Tigers?
It’s easy for some to assume that with only a few days left until pitchers and catchers report for spring training, that this is the big move that finishes off the Tigers’ offseason, but I truly don’t believe that is the case.
The Tigers have been in the mix for several big free agent bats to fortify their offense and I truly believe that they’re still the most likely destination for Alex Bregman. Whether or not they give in to his demands of a six-year deal that approaches $200 million remains to be seen, but unless Bregman is willing to give in and take a short-term deal, his list of suitors is dwindling. A return to the Astros seems possible, but they would need to move Jose Altuve to the outfield to make it work. The Blue Jays and Red Sox continue to be mentioned as possibilities, but the Red Sox would need to move Rafael Devers off of third base and the Jays just added Anthony Santander to fill the void in the middle of their lineup. While anything is possible, it’s my belief that Bregman will be wearing the Olde English D before the week is through.
If that doesn’t wind up happening, I still think that Scott Harris and company will be in the market to add another right-handed bat to the lineup. Whether that’s in a full-time role or someone who can simply mash left-handers remains to be seen. In that instance, I believe that a reunion with J.D. Martinez would make a lot of sense for both sides.
Ultimately, if there are no additional moves made, bringing back Flaherty still caps off a solid off-season in which the club significantly improved their rotation, added a strong piece to the bullpen and upgraded a spot in the lineup with the addition of Torres. They should be ready to challenge the Guardians, Royals and Twins for supremacy in the Central Division and anything less than a Wild Card berth should be considered a disappointment.
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