Most Major League Baseball teams would be racing to sign their World Series Game 1 starter to a long-term extension, but the Los Angeles Dodgers aren’t most teams.
Somehow, the Dodgers managed to win a title without four of their projected starting pitchers for the 2025 season. Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, and Tony Gonsolin were recovering from injuries, while Blake Snell hadn’t yet arrived in Chavez Ravine.
With all that talent coming in, there may not be room for Jack Flaherty, without whom the Dodgers wouldn’t have won their second ring in five years.
Flaherty kept the rotation together amid the injury barrage after the trade deadline, coming over in a swap with the Detroit Tigers. But for the projected nine-figure contract he might receive, Flaherty might not be much of a match with the Dodgers on the open market.
However, ESPN’s David Schoenfield still foresees a free-agency reunion for Flaherty this winter. Schoenfield predicted Tuesday that Flaherty would land back in Detroit on a five-year, $115 million contract.
“The Tigers did sign Alex Cobb, but the rotation is still pretty thin behind Tarik Skubal and Reese Olson, especially given Cobb’s injury history,” Schoenfield said.
“Flaherty, of course, was outstanding with Detroit in 2024 (2.95 ERA in 18 starts) before he was traded to the Dodgers, so the Tigers have seen him at his best.”
Because he is still just 29, Flaherty can command a fairly long deal despite his up-and-down career to this point. The Dodgers have all of their top four starters locked up through 2028, plus a burgeoning crop of young pitchers, some of whom will miss the 2025 season due to surgery.
Things are lining up for Flaherty to leave, but then again, it’s the Dodgers we’re talking about. If they came from the top rope to snag Flaherty at the last minute, no one would truly be surprised.
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