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How Detroit Tigers signing Jack Flaherty impacts 2025 Opening Day starting rotation
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- How Detroit Tigers signing Jack Flaherty impacts 2025 Opening Day starting rotation
LAKELAND, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers didn't plan to sign right-hander Jack Flaherty in free agency.
Flaherty wanted a long-term, nine-figure contract that the Tigers weren't interested in offering and he preferred a reunion with the Los Angeles Dodgers , but when his market failed to percolate with spring training around the corner, Flaherty expressed interest in returning to the Tigers on a short-term contract with a player option.
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The Tigers and Flaherty agreed Feb. 2 on a two-year, $35 million contract with an opt-out clause after the first season, guaranteeing him $25 million in 2025. He is guaranteed $10 million in 2026, but the guarantee increases to $20 million in 2026 if he starts at least 15 games in 2025.
"I didn't know if we were going to be able to make something work or not," Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said. "We got to a point in the offseason where we really started to roll up our sleeves and hammer out a deal that made sense for both sides."
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Detroit Tigers pitcher Kenta Maeda and Jack Flaherty work out during spring training at Tigertown in Lakeland, Fla. on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024.
The maximum value of the contract — if Flaherty opts in and unlocks the escalator — is $45 million over two seasons, plus an additional $500,000 if the Tigers trade him.
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In 2024, Flaherty registered a 3.17 ERA with 38 walks and 194 strikeouts across 162 innings in 28 starts for the Tigers (18 starts) and the Dodgers (10 starts). The Tigers traded Flaherty to the Dodgers at the July 30 trade deadline for prospects Thayron Liranzo and Trey Sweeney .
If Flaherty dominates in 2025, he will return to the free-agent market in search of the long-term, nine-figure contract that he didn't receive this offseason. The he turns 30 on Oct. 15, less than a month before free agency begins next offseason, so there could be a market for him on a five-year contract.
"He deserves another bite of the apple as a free agent," Harris said.
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But in the meantime, Flaherty is a Tiger.
The Tigers plan to utilize a traditional starting rotation, with Flaherty, Tarik Skubal , Reese Olson and Alex Cobb locked in for four of the five spots and top prospect Jackson Jobe as the frontrunner for the fifth spot.
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There are benefits for the Tigers putting Jobe on the Opening Day roster, as outlined in the Prospect Promotion Incentive , but if the Tigers keep Jobe in Triple-A Toledo for more than three weeks, then the Tigers could gain an extra year of service time, thus keeping Jobe from becoming a free agent until after the 2031 season.
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The Tigers haven't determined if Jobe — who made his MLB debut in late September as a reliever and pitched out of the bullpen in the postseason — will join the Opening Day roster.
"We're going to do what's best for Jackson and our team," Harris said of Jobe, who ranks as the Tigers' No. 1 prospect and MLB's No. 5 prospect. "We're not going to get caught up in all of those other distractions. Jackson is going to have a long, successful career as a Tiger, and we're really excited to see it, but at every turn, we got to do what's best for him and what's best for our team."
Detroit Tigers pitcher Casey Mize stretches during spring training at TigerTown in Lakeland, Fla. on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024.
Many other starters — Casey Mize , Kenta Maeda , Matt Manning , Keider Montero , Brant Hurter , Ty Madden — are competing with Jobe for the fifth spot in the rotation.
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Except Maeda, all of those pitchers have minor league options remaining. As for Maeda, the Tigers plan to give him "every opportunity" to win a job in the rotation while making $10 million on the final year of his contract.
"In the modern game, you have to expect pitching injuries and underperformance," Harris said. "Whether we like it or not, it's coming, so we try to get out ahead of it by taking a volume approach to our pitching staff. We want to have any many options as possible."
THE DEAL: Tigers sign Jack Flaherty to two-year, $35 million contract with opt-out clause
Signing Flaherty added to the list of options.
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The pitchers who don't earn a spot in the Tigers' Opening Day starting rotation will be Triple-A starters in Toledo or MLB relievers in Detroit.
"This is the most depth we've had as a pitching staff since I've been here," said Harris, hired in September 2022. "We have more depth now than we had last year, and the one thing I know for sure is we're going to need all of it. I don't know what the roles are going to be like, but I do know our pitching staff is a lot better today than it was yesterday because we have Jack Flaherty ."
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: How Jack Flaherty impacts Detroit Tigers Opening Day starting rotation
