The Los Angeles Dodgers starting rotation was in a state of despair when they acquired Jack Flaherty from the Detroit Tigers at the trade deadline last season.
“Somewhat of a savior, to be honest with you,” answered manager Dave Roberts when asked last week what Flaherty meant to the Dodgers.
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“We were in a position last year where we were reeling with starting pitching, and we needed someone who could take the baseball every fifth day, to go pitch meaningful innings, give us a chance to win and kind of stabilize things on the pitching side.
“And Jack, a hometown guy, it was his dream to pitch for the Dodgers, and he delivered. So he’s going to be a friend of mine for life and I couldn’t have been more happy. He was the right person at the right time for our club.”
Flaherty wound up being the top starting pitcher who was traded at the 2024 deadline, and it cost the Dodgers two prospects in Thayron Liranzo and Trey Sweeney.
Sweeney made his MLB debut last season and started all 10 playoff games for the Tigers as they ended a 10-year playoff drought.
Liranzo was just ranked No. 69 on Baseball America’s top 100 prospects list for 2025.
Although Flaherty was poised to become a free agent after the 2024 season, he drew interest from the New York Yankees and other teams in addition to the Dodgers.
The Yankees were said to have reached an agreement with the Tigers on a Flaherty trade but backed out of the deal because of concerns over some back trouble he’d dealt with. Flaherty maintained all the will he was healthy and looked forward to getting an opportunity to join his hometown team amid their World Series aspirations.
Flaherty proceeded to go 6-2 with a 3.58 ERA in 10 starts for the Dodgers. Flaherty made an additional five starts in the playoffs, which included mixed results.
“I’m happy he got family and friends who got to see him in a Dodger uniform, get a championship ring,” Roberts said.
Flaherty had interest in re-signing with the Dodgers but returned to the Tigers on a two-year, $35 million contract to end what was a surprisingly slow free agency process.
Jack Flaherty gets Dodgers World Series ring
The Dodgers held their 2024 World Series ring ceremony on Friday night, but Flaherty started that game for the Tigers and thus needed to wait another 24 hours to receive his.
Flaherty nearly spoiled the Dodgers’ ring night as he pitched four no-hit innings before ultimately running into some trouble in a no-decision.
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