The Chicago Cubs are still looking to add to their starting rotation, and they could be in the ‘mix’ for this high-quality arm.
The Chicago Cubs so far have won the offseason if you were to ask me with the moves they’ve made so far. They have done well in their acquisitions of superstar outfielder Kyle Tucker who they got in a trade with the Houston Astros, as well as achieving one of their goals which was to add catching depth to their roster which they did with signing veteran catcher Carson Kelly to share time with Miguel Amaya and adding another veteran in Carlos Pérez for depth. With the Chicago Cubs still looking to add to their pitching depth they appear to be in the ‘mix’ for veteran starting pitcher and World Series Champion Jack Flaherty per MLB.com Mark Feinsand saying:
“A number of other teams also remain in the mix for Flaherty including the Giants, Blue Jays, Tigers and Cubs.”
A familiar face in Jack Flaherty
The Chicago Cubs are very familiar with the 29-year-old Flaherty who pitched for their divisional rival the St. Louis Cardinals for seven years (2017-2022). Jack Flaherty had a solid 2024 season in which started with him signing a one-year deal with the Detroit Tigers who at last year’s trade deadline shipped him over to the Los Angeles Dodgers where he ended his season winning the 2024 World Series. Overall, in 2024 between both the Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Dodgers Flaherty made 28 starts posting a record of 13-7 with a very respectable 3.17 ERA, having just six strikeouts shy of a 200-strikeout season (194), a WHIP of 1.068, in a total of 162.0 innings of work.
When you look further into Flaherty’s season, he actually was better than his numbers led on, even though his overall numbers are very respectable. Looking at his Baseball Savant page he does rank in a lot of areas that show his excellence as a pitcher. Being in the 98th percentile for his breaking run value (12), as well as being in both the 90th and 91st percentile for whiff percentage (32.1%), and K percentage (29.9%), which is why Flaherty also had a strikeout per nine rate of 10.8 in 2024 and shows he is still able to miss bats.
Should the Chicago Cubs sign Flaherty?
Jack Flaherty has shown he is still a high-quality Major-League pitcher and deserves to have a deal in the five-year range and cost around $110 million in my estimation. Spotrac would appear to agree with my estimation with them having Flaherty making five million less as they figure his market value having him sign a four-year deal worth $105 million. That wouldn’t be a bad deal for the Chicago Cubs to make with them being in the market to add another starting pitcher, and with Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic stating:
“”Whether it’s a trade in the coming weeks or a late free-agent signing before the spring, it seems inevitable that one more starting pitcher will be added,”
Having all that being the case and with Mark Feinsand saying the Chicago Cubs are one of the teams in the ‘mix’ to land Jack Flaherty, it seems like the Cubs inking Flaherty could happen. The Cubs shown so far this offseason they aren’t willing to swim in the deep end of the pool where Corbin Burnes and Max Fried were with them inking deals over $200 million. With Jack Flaherty demanding significantly less than Burnes or Fried, it does seem more likely that the Chicago Cubs would be willing to do a deal at the price I estimated or what Spotrac said his market value is.
Signing Jack Flaherty would be smart for the Chicago Cubs to do
I think the Cubs should in fact pursue and try to sign Jack Flaherty with him showing he is still capable of missing bats, showed he can stay healthy which is why the St. Louis Cardinals moved on from him, and he could figure to slide into the number two slot in the rotation to be a nice break between lefties Shota Imanaga and Justin Steele. With the big arms now all off the board Jack Flaherty now figures to be the top option for teams to turn to sign and with the Cubs being in on Flaherty hopefully they’re the team to land him.
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