Jack Flaherty is staying in Detroit.
Flaherty exercised his player option Tuesday, Nov. 4, remaining with the Detroit Tigers and earning $20 million in the 2026 season. The right-hander made the decision about 48 hours before Thursday’s deadline for contract options.
Flaherty signed a one-year, $14 million contract with the Tigers in December 2023. He was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the trade deadline in July 2024 and won the World Series in October 2024. He then returned to the Tigers on a two-year, $35 million contract in February 2025.
Here’s how Flaherty’s two-year contract worked: He earned $25 million in 2025, with a $10 million player option for 2026 – a value that doubled to $20 million once he reached 15 starts.
By exercising that option, Flaherty will become a free agent following the 2026 season.
Had Flaherty declined that option, he would’ve entered free agency for the third year in a row – forcing the Tigers to decide whether to extend the one-year, $22.025 million qualifying offer. The Tigers might not have made that offer, but even if they did and Flaherty declined, his free-agent appeal would’ve been diminished due to the draft-pick compensation attached to him.KEY DATES: Detroit Tigers in MLB offseason starts now: What you need to know about free agency, trades
In 2025, Flaherty posted a 4.64 ERA with 59 walks and 188 strikeouts over 161 innings in 31 starts. His ERA ranked 44th among 53 MLB pitchers with at least 160 innings, while his 4.03 expected ERA ranked 29th.
His underlying metrics suggested he should’ve registered slightly better results.
The reality is, Flaherty struggled with the Tigers across 31 starts in 2025 compared to 18 starts in 2024.
His ERA skyrocketed from 2.95 to 4.64, his walk rate rose from 4.6% to 8.7% and his strikeout rate fell from 32% to 27.6%. He failed to consistently capture the lower-body mechanics that fueled his dominance in 2024.
Looking ahead to 2026, the Tigers have Flaherty, Tarik Skubal, Casey Mize and Reese Olson locked into four spots in the starting rotation, with Troy Melton expected to compete for the final spot during spring training.
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