Detroit Tigers: 4 reasons why the Jack Flaherty signing is terrible

The Detroit Tigers signed RHP Jack Flaherty to a one-year, $14 million Thursday night...for some reason. Nobody thinks this is a good signing.

Flaherty's best days are well behind him. Even as a former first-round pick and top prospect, and still just 28 years old, he's cooked.

Today, we're going to further elaborate why this is a such a horrible signing. The Tigers were actually off to a pretty good start this offseason with the trade for OF Mark Canha, SP Kenta Maeda, and LHP Andrew Chafin. None of those players are superstars, but they are quality big league players that should help the team win games.

And then they do this. $14 million, down the drain.

There are many reasons why this is a bad signing. Allow us to explain.

1. Lengthy injury history

Flaherty hasn't been healthy in quite some time. He had a fantastic season in 2019. He pitched alomost 200 innings and had a 2.75 ERA and was worth 4.7 fWAR.

Sadly, that's has good as things have gotten for him. He had an ERA of almost 5 in the shortened 2020 season, and then the injuries hit the following year. He made a start against the Tigers in 2021 where he couldn't throw a strike. Remember when Casey Mize took a bases loaded walk, and flipped his bat afterwards? Guess who was the pitcher who walked him. Yep, that was Flaherty. He left that outing shortly after with a shoulder injury.

The injuries followed him into 2022, where he only pitched 36 innings. Last season, he threw 144.1 innings, which is obviously a huge improvement, but his peripherals were alarming to say the least. More on that in a bit.

A pitcher with a history of shoulder injuries is a scary thing, especially one that hasn't performed well recently. But this is just the beginning of why this signing is bad.

2. Nothing to suggest he can improve

Not only were his surface numbers bad, but the analytics were mediorce at best. His Baseball Savant page is not encouraging whatsoever.

He walked way too many guys, didn't get any swings and misses, and didn't allow a ton of soft contact. His fastball velocity was down last year as well. The horizonal movement was way down as well. He didn't throw it nearly as much as a result.

He was so bad as a starter for Balitmore last year that they moved him to the bullpen. They moved a pretty good prospect to get him at the trade deadline from St. Louis as well. Something tells me they regret that one.

Chris Fetter and Robin Lund are great, but they can't fix everyone. We have proof of this. Matthew Boyd was still very much Matthew Boyd before having to undergo Tommy John surgery. Fetter is a wizard, but there's only so much he can do.

I'd love to be wrong about Flaherty's ability to get better, but I just don't see it happening.

4. It contradicts one of his Harris' earlier statements

Harris said earlier this offseason that he doesn't want to sign anybody that could block the Tigers' young prospects. What does this signing do? Block young prospects.

Flaherty is virtually guarenteed to get innings that could go to someone like Sawyer Gipson-Long, who pitched very well in four starts last year. He had a 2.70 ERA in 20 innings pitched. I would much rather have an established arm than SGL in the rotation, but he would certainly be better than Flaherty.

Wilmer Flores and Keider Montero are other young arms that could get innings some time in 2024, at least they could have before the team threw $14 million at a pitcher who is beyond help.

Finally, Jackson Jobe is coming off a phenomenal 2023 season in the minors. If he keeps shoving, he could have very well seen time in Detroit in 2024 before the Flaherty signing. Now, it seems like he'll spend the entire 2024 season in the minors, no matter how well he pitches.

There's no two ways about it. This is a terrible signing. I would love to be wrong about Jack Flaherty, but all signs point to this being a dud.