The Los Angeles Dodgers struck gold after winning the World Series this past fall. They went out and signed left-hander and former Cy Young Blake Snell to a five-year, $182 million contract.
This means that a few pitchers from the Dodgers World Series run will likely not be back in 2025. Right-hander Jack Flaherty was acquired from the Detroit Tigers at the trade deadline, but he is now a free agent.
Katrina Stebbins of FanSided predicts that the Dodgers will not bring back Flaherty this winter.
"Flaherty always felt the most unlikely to return of any of the Dodgers' pending free agent starters. He made his (incredibly drunken) desire to stay in LA known during the team's World Series celebrations. However, he didn't make a great statement for himself as one of the Dodgers' only healthy starters during the postseason, when he pitched 22 innings across all rounds for a 7.36 ERA," Stebbins wrote.
"As a trade deadline acquisition, he also didn't have the same kind of pedigree as Walker Buehler, a former first-round draft pick and former Rookie of the Year candidate. Flaherty still had an admirable bounce back in the regular season and should find a decent contract elsewhere, but with the Dodgers' rotation looking completely stacked as it is, he probably won't be coming back to LA."
While Flaherty struggled in the postseason, he performed admirably during the regular season, going 13-7 with a 3.17 ERA in 28 starts with the Tigers and Dodgers.
He also had a 3.1 WAR and a 1.07 WHIP while punching out 194 batters in 162 innings pitched. The key for Flaherty will be to remain healthy in 2025.
But since the Dodgers signed Snell and have both Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani due back from injuries in 2025 to boost the rotation, it remains unlikely that Flaherty will return to the team and will likely sign elsewhere.
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