DETROIT (AP) — Scott Harris felt he had to trade Jack Flaherty to the Los Angeles Dodgers last summer for an everyday shortstop and a top catching prospect.
"Jack really impressed me in his time here," the Detroit Tigers president of baseball operations said, recalling his thoughts then. "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 returned as a free agent, agreeing to a $35 million, two-year contract that was finalized Friday. The right-hander gets a $5 million signing bonus payable on Feb. 11 pending confirmation of terms between Major League Baseball and the players' association, and a $20 million salary this year.
His deal includes a $10 million salary for 2026 that would escalate to $20 million if he makes 15 or more starts this season. Flaherty can opt out of the deal after this year's World Series to become a free agent again.
“He’s 29 years old now. He wants to get back to free agency if he can coming off of a big year,” Harris said. “He’s betting on himself again this year. He bet on himself last year and did pretty well — he was one of the better starters in all of baseball last year and he believes coming back here that he can put up another monster year. ... As far as the way we structured the contract, our thought was he’s still young, he deserves another bite at the apple as a free agent."
Flaherty would get a one-time assignment bonus of $500,000 if traded. To open a roster spot, the Tigers designated right-hander Mason Englert for assignment.
Flaherty was 13-7 with a 3.17 ERA in 28 starts last year for Detroit and his hometown Dodgers, who acquired him on July 30 for minor league catcher Thayron Liranzo and infielder Trey Sweeney.
“He was, what, 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," Harris said. "Staring at that, it was a move we had to do.”
Flaherty was 7-5 with a 2.95 ERA in 18 starts before getting traded to the Dodgers and went 6-2 with a 3.58 ERA for Los Angeles. His strikeouts per nine innings dropped from 11.2 to 9.9.
“He was healthy going into the trade deadline. The Dodgers viewed him as healthy. He was healthy all the way down the stretch, and he’s healthy right now,” Harris said.
Flaherty helped the Dodgers to a five-game World Series victory over the New York Yankees. He pitched five scoreless innings in the opener before giving up two runs in the sixth.
He allowed four runs over 1 1/3 innings in Game 5 before the Dodgers rallied for a 7-6 win and their second title in five years.
“I noticed that his mechanics started to change a little bit down the stretch. Notably, I thought his arm action was a little bit more abbreviated in the playoffs,” Harris said. “I thought he had a little bit more arm speed earlier in the year with us.”
Flaherty broke into the big leagues with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2017 and had his best season in 2019, finishing with an 11-8 record and a 2.75 ERA, striking out a career-high 231 batters over a career-high 196 1/3 innings.
The right-hander regressed in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, finishing with a 4.91 ERA, and then missed ample time with injuries in 2021 and 2022. He was traded to the Baltimore Orioles in a deadline deal during the 2023 season.
He signed a $14 million, one-year deal with the Tigers, and had his best season in five years.
“We expect him to be his old self when he gets to Lakeland next week,” Harris said.
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The Associated Press
