DETROIT -- What would the 2024 Tigers’ playoff run have looked like with Jack Flaherty in their rotation?
They can’t replay the Trade Deadline. They did the next-best thing by bringing Flaherty back for another try.
The Tigers on Friday officially announced they've signed Flaherty back on a two-year, $35 million contract that includes an opt-out after this coming season. The deal will pay Flaherty a $20 million salary this year along with a $5 million signing bonus, and includes a $10 million player option for 2026 that would increase to $20 million if he makes at least 15 starts this season. The contract also includes a one-time assignment bonus of $500,000.
Flaherty’s reunion with the Tigers brings him back to Comerica Park, where his career resurgence last spring and summer was one of Detroit’s bright spots before the team’s resurgence down the stretch.
“First and foremost, we want players who want to be here, and Jack has been very outspoken publicly and privately about how much he enjoyed his time in Detroit and that he’d be interested in coming back,” Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said Friday. “So I was in contact with his agent all offseason. I didn’t know if we were going to be able to make something work or not, but we got to a point in the offseason where we really started to roll up our sleeves and try to hammer out a deal that made sense for both sides.
“We’re thrilled to bring Jack back. We’re really proud of the year that he put together last year. He is a very popular guy in our clubhouse. And I will say, from my standpoint, it is a huge step forward for this organization to have a player of Jack’s caliber be outspoken about wanting to come back to Detroit. He had no connection to Detroit before last year.”
Flaherty signed with Detroit last winter on a one-year deal, looking to recapture his younger, more powerful form, which he did superbly. Working with pitching coach Chris Fetter and assistants Juan Nieves and Robin Lund, Flaherty reworked his movement in his delivery, became more direct and regained life on his fastball.
Flaherty went 7-5 with a 2.95 ERA in 18 starts for Detroit as he teamed with American League Cy Young award winner Tarik Skubal for a dynamic duo atop the Tigers' rotation. Yet with injuries and inconsistencies in Detroit’s lineup, it wasn’t enough to keep the team over .500 during the summer, let alone in apparent contention.
Rather than potentially lose Flaherty in free agency for a compensation pick in the 2025 Draft, Harris traded Flaherty to the Dodgers for two prospects. One of them, shortstop Trey Sweeney, was promoted in mid-August and played a key role in the Tigers’ late-season run to the postseason, including a game-saving catch in Baltimore in late September. The other prospect, catcher Thayron Liranzo, heated up at High-A West Michigan, tore up the Arizona Fall League and vaulted into MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 list, ranked at No. 82.
“When we traded him, that was a really difficult decision for us,” Harris said, “because he was performing at such a high level. He was really comfortable here. At that moment, he was two months away from free agency, and we had the opportunity to get what we believe is an everyday shortstop for his entire team control years, plus a potential impact switch-hitting catcher who’s now a top 100 prospect. Staring at that, it was a move we had to do at that moment.
“I wasn’t thinking necessarily like, ‘Hey, we’re going to bring him back this winter.’ But I was thinking, ‘Man, I’m impressed by the athlete and the adjustments that he made and the first half that he put together in a Tigers uniform. Jack really impressed me in his time here, and in the back of my mind, I would love to bring him back.’ I just didn’t know it was going to be possible.”
Flaherty, meanwhile, played a big role in solidifying the Dodgers’ injury-depleted rotation and pitching them to a World Series title, including seven shutout innings against the Mets in Game 1 of the NLCS and two starts against the Yankees in the World Series.
When Flaherty takes the mound for the Tigers this spring, there’s a decent chance he’ll pitch at some point with Sweeney playing behind him. If Flaherty stays for a second season, he might get to pitch to Liranzo at some point in 2026 -- or maybe in Spring Training -- if the 21-year-old catcher continues his meteoric rise.
“Fortunately we’re in a situation now where we don’t have to choose between them anymore,” Harris said. “It’s going to make for some pretty fun live [batting sessions] to watch in Spring Training when he’s facing Sweeney and Liranzo.”
Most importantly, Flaherty has a chance to help pitch the Tigers back into the postseason. He’ll join Skubal, Reese Olson, fellow free-agent signing Alex Cobb and others -- possibly including top prospect Jackson Jobe -- in a deep Detroit rotation that should allow manager A.J. Hinch to avoid leaning on pitching chaos and pick and choose spots for his equally talented bullpen.
“I think adding Jack makes our rotation and our bullpen better,” Harris said. “Exactly how that works out, I’m not quite sure yet until we get to the end of Spring Training. In the modern game, you have to expect pitching injuries and underperformance. Whether we like it or not, it’s coming. And so, we tried to get out ahead of it by taking a volume approach to our pitching staff. We wanted to have as many options as possible.”