The rumors surrounding the Red Sox since leaving the MLB Winter Meetings have been centered on Boston trading for Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Luis Castillo.
But it looks like the Red Sox are also keeping their eye on another big arm.
Unlike Castillo and Corbin Burnes for that matter, the Red Sox haven’t been widely linked to Jack Flaherty in free agency. But The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal believes Boston remains firmly in the mix for the 29-year-old right-hander.
“The Red Sox also can not be ruled out for Flaherty,” Rosenthal wrote Saturday. “They liked him last offseason, only to see him sign with the Detroit Tigers, a league source said.”
Flaherty bet on himself last offseason, signing a one-year, $14 million deal with the Tigers before getting dealt to the Los Angeles Dodgers prior to the trade deadline at the end of July.
But after going 13-7 with a 3.17 ERA, 1.068 WHIP and 194 strikeouts in 162 innings, Flaherty looks ready to cash in on a big long-term deal. Former MLB general manager Jim Bowden predicted at the start of free agency that Flaherty would get a three-year, $68 million deal. But given the high price arms have gone for already this offseason, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Flaherty signs a contract that pays him closer to $100 million.
Rosenthal noted that Flaherty is a “fallback option” for the Baltimore Orioles if they can’t re-sign Burnes. The Red Sox are also in on Burnes and reportedly were “readying” an offer to the talented right-hander last week.
But Burnes probably is going to command an offer worth more than Max Fried’s $218 million deal, making Flaherty a more appealing financial option for teams. Flaherty also has a couple of other things going for him, too. As Rosenthal pointed out, signing him won’t cost a team a draft pick since he was ineligible for a qualifying offer and he’s on the right side of 30.
What type of pitcher are teams getting in Flaherty will be the biggest question surrounding the California native. He underwhelmed for several years until this past season, when he re-captured the form that helped him finish fourth in Cy Young voting with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2019.
Either way, Flaherty, who is coming off a World Series title with the Dodgers, would look good next to Garrett Crochet in the Red Sox starting rotation and strengthen an already strong pitching staff.
