Jack Flaherty remains a free agent despite a strong 2024 season that saw him go 13-7 with a 3.17 ERA, and start Game 1 of the World Series for the eventual champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
In a live appearance Thursday on Foul Territory, Flaherty expressed his frustration with how his offseason has played out, and singled out one team he'd love to pitch for in 2025: the Detroit Tigers.
"I wanted to stay in Detroit," Flaherty said of the team that traded him to Los Angeles last July. "We had had conversations. I loved it there. I thought the combo of me and Skub (Tarik Skubal) was incredible."
Flaherty was 7-5 with a 2.95 ERA in 18 starts with the Tigers before he was somewhat surprisingly traded at the deadline to the Dodgers, whose starting rotation was decimated by injuries.
While the Tigers went on a stunning late-season run to grab an American League Wild Card berth, Flaherty went 6-2 with a 3.58 ERA in 10 starts to finish the regular season in Los Angeles.
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In the postseason, Flaherty was one of two starting pitchers — along with Walker Buehler and Yoshinobu Yamamoto — who carried the Dodgers all the way to the World Series, where they beat the New York Yankees in five games.
While Flaherty praised the Dodgers for their aggressive offseason maneuvers, he acknowledged there's no room for him in a rotation that just added Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki.
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"I'm not going back to L.A. most like — I can do the numbers, do the math," Flaherty said. "It doesn't bother me. I'm trying to go elsewhere and win and see if we can't beat those guys."
Although he's been in communication with teams — including the Tigers — Flaherty said he is still waiting for a contract offer.
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"We've been talking to (Detroit), talking to other teams," he said. "It would be fun to go back there."
Flaherty, 29, is 55-41 with a 3.63 ERA over the last eight years with the St. Louis Cardinals, Baltimore Orioles, Tigers and Dodgers.
The Tigers signed free agent right-hander Alex Cobb in December, adding him to a starting rotation that includes Skubal — the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner — Casey Mize, Reese Olson and rising prospect Jackson Jobe.
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