DETROIT – A very familiar team is interested in trading the Detroit Tigers for starting pitcher Jack Flaherty, according to a report.
The Baltimore Orioles sent a trio of prospects to the St. Louis Cardinals on Aug. 1, 2023, to acquire Flaherty for last year’s stretch run. Flaherty posted an abysmal 6.75 ERA and 1.67 WHIP in 34.2 innings with the Orioles before hitting free agency.
Well, now that the Tigers have gotten the 28-year-old righty back on track, Baltimore is open to giving him another chance, according to Ken Rosenthal and Katie Woo, of The Athletic.
Flaherty has a 2.95 ERA through 18 starts in Detroit, along with an elite 0.96 WHIP and 133 strikeouts in 106.2 innings. He’s managing a back issue, but that hasn’t caused him to hit the injured list, nor interrupted his dominance.
The report in The Athletic cites a source who said the Orioles would prefer to acquire a starting pitcher with more years of team control, but they might have to settle for a rental due to the asking price of guys like Tarik Skubal and Garrett Crochet.
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The Orioles and Tigers have been linked often in Skubal rumors over the past week. Baltimore is loaded with offensive prospects but very thin on starting pitching, so a deal could make sense for both sides.
But it would cost much less to trade for three months of Flaherty than two-and-a-half years of Skubal.