Jack Flaherty to TIgers, 1 year, $14 million

[SteveA]

Hit the road Jack...

[dystopia]

LOL 14 mil. Insanity.

[Billy F-Face3]

Malike ridiculed me when I reacted to the news of the Orioles trading for him by saying "he sucks" but it looks like the majority of Orioles fans agree with me based on how many people are happy to see him leave.

If this is the market on a subpar free agent pitcher, the Orioles will pass and they'd be right right to do so. Just go with Wells, Irvin, Hall,  McDermott, Povich, and/or Johnson to get through the season in the 5th spot and the next man up. (Zimmerman is still an arm they have for emergencies and double headers too.)

[LookinUp]

Has to be big performance incentives, right?

[ChosenOne21]

I'm kind of shocked he got that much, but I guess he's very young for a free agent and has had an incredible season or two.

[Roll Tide]

8 hours ago, dystopia said:

LOL 14 mil. Insanity.

Glad it’s not is 

[Moose Milligan]

Good. He was awful. 

[webbrick2010]

Wow, great job by his agent. The tigers being the tigers. He has been one of the worst pitchers in baseball for the past two years.

[Tony-OH]

There's the reason why the Tigers stink year after year. They're run like the 2001 Orioles.

[interloper]

I find myself rooting for the guy to succeed. When I watched him pitch last year, it looked like a guy who was trying to push through a loss of command and velocity. He nibbled a lot, lot of balls out of the hand, etc. He did have a shoulder injury in the past that I think absolutely is factoring in. For whatever reason, he did not look comfortable and I think that was probably true in St. Louis, too. 

The other knock on him was that he didn't fit the vibe of the team and was a bit of a loner. However, he readily admits that's his personality. I think it's probably true that he didn't fit the vibe for whatever reason, but I think it's also true that if he pitched better we wouldn't talk very much about that. It's a team of super close young guys who came up playing together, and it's probably tough blending in as the new guy. For my part, I don't really buy that he's a egotistical dude or a bad teammate. I think he's a guy who feels like he doesn't quite fit in and just wants to do well. This is a guy who is not yet 30, remember. 

Contract-wise, sure, no thanks on $14 million for Jack Flaherty. But at 28 years old if someone can untrack him from his post-injury woes, it's a decent gamble. Tigers need innings after E-Rod leaving and of the guys left that would accept a 1-year deal, Flaherty at least has a little speculative upside. 

[Oriole1940]

And getting out of the AL Beast cannot hurt him.  Hope he does good there.  

[Frobby]

I think people are putting too much emphasis on his rocky performance as an Oriole.  He’s a young guy who will be out to prove something and has had some past success.   I wouldn’t have wanted the Orioles to bring him back, but I won’t be surprised if he reestsbkishes value this year.  

[clapdiddy]

12 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I think people are putting too much emphasis on his rocky performance as an Oriole.  He’s a young guy who will be out to prove something and has had some past success.   I wouldn’t have wanted the Orioles to bring him back, but I won’t be surprised if he reestsbkishes value this year.  

I know what you meant there, but that's a mighty cool word! 

[interloper]

13 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I think people are putting too much emphasis on his rocky performance as an Oriole.  He’s a young guy who will be out to prove something and has had some past success.   I wouldn’t have wanted the Orioles to bring him back, but I won’t be surprised if he reestsbkishes value this year.  

Yeah agree. The $14 makes this look bad, but we are a team that had to pay $10 for Gibson, $13 for Kimbrel, $8 for Frazier, etc. Flaherty's age is a big factor in the price tag, and the Tigers probably had to be the highest offer to get him to pitch over there. 

Now if I was Jack, I might have tried to go somewhere with a notable pitching development program, but it's hard to turn down $14 million. 

Edited December 15, 2023 by interloper

[interloper]

Somewhat related, I kind of wonder what happens to Fuji this offseason. The Royals have been pretty active for a losing club, I could see him going over there and trying to establish himself in the bullpen over a full season. He will get a deal somewhere, he throws too hard to not.