Corbin Burnes’ agreement with the Arizona Diamondbacks early Saturday morning left the Baltimore Orioles without a bona fide ace, further emphasizing the need to look elsewhere for pitching help.
To that end, the Orioles are pursuing remaining free agents and trade candidates to add to their starting rotation, league sources said. They have interest in a possible reunion with Jack Flaherty, the league sources said.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal previously reported that Flaherty would be a fallback option for the Orioles in the event they failed to re-sign Burnes. Indeed, such a pursuit ended up being the case. The Orioles recently inquired about Flaherty, among others.
Besides Roki Sasaki, who is subject to international bonus pool money restrictions, Flaherty, 29, is the best starter available on The Athletic’s Free Agent Big Board.
It’s likely the Orioles face competition for Flaherty, but the right-hander’s preference for a long-term contract may be giving some clubs pause. He is believed to be seeking at least a five-year deal coming off a season in which he had a 3.17 ERA and 194 strikeouts in 162 innings after settling for a pillow contract last winter.
Jack Flaherty’s strong first half with the Tigers made him an easy midseason trade deadline target. (Harry How / Getty Images)
The Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, Toronto Blue Jays, Texas Rangers and San Diego Padres are all teams that could still be in the market for rotation upgrades.
Flaherty’s brief stint with Baltimore in 2023 didn’t fare particularly well — he posted a 6.75 ERA over nine games (seven starts), along with the highest hits-per-nine-inning rate (11.9) of his career. Still, according to league sources, both sides would be open to a reunion after Flaherty’s bounce-back season.
That bounce-back began last spring with the Tigers, where Flaherty quickly became one of the most impactful arms in the American League. Flaherty made 18 starts for Detroit, notching a 2.95 ERA and a commanding 11.2 strikeout ratio. His resurgence made him an easy trade target come the All-Star break, and he finished the year as a key member for the Los Angeles Dodgers in their eventual World Series run. Flaherty enjoyed his time in Detroit and has a good relationship with Tarik Skubal and manager AJ Hinch.
Both age and performance are on Flaherty’s side. Only Patrick Sandoval (28) is younger in this year’s free agency class. Flaherty is also coming off his best year since his stellar 2019 season with the St. Louis Cardinals. His 3.17 ERA was his lowest mark in four seasons and his 162 total innings pitched marked his highest since 2019.
Flaherty might also hold some leverage, as the impact options behind him in free agency are relatively slim, though teams may engage in the trade market. Kyle Gibson, José Quintana and Lance Lynn are all serviceable and experienced, though are not names considered to be top-of-the-rotation additions. Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer plan to pitch in 2025, though both will be over 40 and neither threw more than 100 innings last season. And someone like Nick Pivetta will cost significantly less, but he comes with a qualifying offer attached to him and his ceiling is probably lower than Flaherty’s.
Early in the offseason, the Cardinals made clear their plans to trade Nolan Arenado, with president of baseball operations John Mozeliak citing financial reprieve as the driving factor. St. Louis, which plans to take a step back and reset its roster in 2025, announced in October its plans to lower team payroll and redirect its focus to upgrading its player development system.
Initial conversations between Mozeliak and Arenado regarding the team’s sudden change in plans were agreeable, with both admitting it would be best for the team and the player’s long-term plans if Arenado was moved elsewhere. The Cardinals also agreed to have Arenado’s agent, Joel Wolfe, help facilitate conversations between inquiring teams.
By mid-December, the Cardinals believed they had found a suitable home for Arenado. The Houston Astros weren’t just willing to trade for him, they were also willing to take on a majority of Arenado’s remaining three-year, $74 million salary.
This was viewed as the ideal situation for Mozeliak and St. Louis. Under the original framework of the deal, the Cardinals would only be responsible for roughly $5 million of Arenado’s contract for the next three years. But Arenado was not sold on the idea — at least not at the time — and invoked his full no-trade clause to block the deal.
Per sources, Arenado was willing to revisit the Astros after further clarity in his market (namely, Alex Bregman signing) developed. However, the Astros pivoted quickly, and signed first baseman Christian Walker to a three-year, $60 million deal just days after.
There is a reality where Nolan Arenado begins the 2025 season as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals. (Ron Chenoy / Imagn Images)
Now both the Cardinals and Arenado are facing a plausible reality where the 10-time Gold Glove winner remains in St. Louis next season. There has been minimal traction on Arenado’s front since the Astros deal fell through. Two prominent AL East teams — the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees — have been linked to Arenado throughout the winter, though it remains unclear where either team currently stands in their interest levels.
Speculation has circulated around the Yankees in particular, especially after Paul Goldschmidt — Arenado’s good friend and teammate in St. Louis for the last four seasons — signed a one-year, $12.5 million contract with New York in mid-December. However, multiple league sources say that while the Yankees like Arenado, they aren’t interested in taking on the majority of his contract, something that would almost certainly need to happen from the Cardinals perspective. New York also does not have to trade for a third baseman; it can move Jazz Chisholm Jr. to second base and hope a healthy DJ LeMahieu can man the hot corner consistently next year.
The Cardinals will still actively try to trade Arenado, but they will be rather reluctant to eat a larger portion of his salary, as the whole point of trading Arenado is to offload his contract. Mozeliak did not rule out the possibility of Arenado returning next year, but added that he was “not sure that puts us exactly where we want to be.”
“From a financial standpoint, we’re trying to move our payroll,” Mozeliak said during December’s Winter Meetings. “There are certainly other ways we can do this, but (moving Arenado) would be a big help. (The reason) is mostly financial, but it also creates runway for someone else.”
If the Cardinals are unable to find a trade partner, or remain unwilling to eat more of Arenado’s salary, they are prepared to pivot to trading away some of their starting pitchers. This is not the route they prefer, as St. Louis would like to hold on to Erick Fedde until at least the trade deadline. Still, the Cardinals will continue to monitor interest levels on both Fedde and Steven Matz, two pitchers on expiring deals. The Cardinals could also move Matz, who is owed $12.5 million in 2025, even if they also trade Arenado.
Kyle Hart hasn’t pitched in the major leagues since 2020, but a handful of clubs have expressed interest in him as either a backend starter or multi-inning reliever after the lefty seemingly revived his career in Korea. After languishing in the minor leagues the previous couple seasons, Hart elected to sign with the NC Dinos of the Korean Baseball Organization last winter.
In 26 starts (157 innings), Hart, 32, had a 2.69 ERA and 1.03 WHIP with 182 strikeouts. In Korea, Hart pitched more off his fastball, which allowed his slider to act more like a chase pitch. At the start of the offseason, FanGraphs ranked Hart as its No. 48 free agent.
The Yankees, Brewers, Twins, Astros and Orioles are among the teams that have indicated interest, league sources said.
(Photo of Jack Flaherty pitching: Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
