Why Tigers aren’t actively looking to trade from starting rotation surplus

The Detroit Tigers signed two free-agent starting pitchers before Christmas: Kenta Maeda to a two-year, $24 million contract and Jack Flaherty to a one-year, $14 million contract.

Maeda and Flaherty, both right-handers, will be a part of the Tigers’ five-man starting rotation on 2024 Opening Day, alongside lefthander Tarik Skubal. The final two spots in the rotation appear to be up for grabs between Casey Mize, Matt Manning, Reese Olson and Sawyer Gipson-Long, among others.

All seven of the aforementioned starting pitchers possess MLB experience. The Tigers, meanwhile, won’t consider a six-man rotation and aren’t planning to trade from their surplus of starting pitchers.

“We’re going to have a lot of starting pitching options,” Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said Wednesday, after Flaherty’s contract became official. “That’s a really good start for us. I also think we’re going to have a really competitive camp. Good teams have really competitive camps, and we are trying to be a good team. We are taking a step in that direction.”

Skubal, Maeda and Flaherty — for performance and contract reasons — will be locked in.

Mize, the 2018 No. 1 overall pick, is returning from elbow surgery and back surgery; Manning has a 3.51 ERA across 141 innings in the past two seasons but lacks swing-and-miss pitches; Olson posted a 3.99 ERA across 1032⁄3 innings as a rookie last season, highlighted by a 1.44 ERA in his final five starts; Gipson-Long made his MLB debut in September and had a 2.70 ERA across 20 innings in four starts to finish the season.

At least two of those four pitchers won’t be in the Tigers’ starting rotation at the beginning of the season. That’s not even including potential starters Joey Wentz, Alex Faedo, Beau Brieske. For now, Faedo and Brieske should fit as bullpen arms for the Tigers, while Wentz seems likely to join prospects Wilmer Flores, Keider Montero and Ty Madden in Triple-A Toledo’s starting rotation.

“I hope we have a lot of questions about our rotation and our pithing staff as a whole,” Harris said, “because it means we have a lot of worthy candidates who have demonstrated they have a real chance to be in our rotation.”

Trading a starting pitcher with multiple years of team control could immediately improve the Tigers’ offense, but Harris isn’t actively shopping any of his starters in an attempt to trade from his starter group.

He will listen to trade offers, though.

“We did not add Jack intending to trade one of our starters,” Harris said. “We’re always going to listen to opportunities to make trades to make the organization better, but that was not the goal of adding Jack.”

Individuals who don’t make Detroit’s rotation out of spring training could be sent to the Tigers’ bullpen or Triple-A Toledo’s rotation. All of them, however, should be ready for opportunities to start in the big leagues.

The Tigers plan to use more than five starters to get through the 2024 season.

In 2023, MLB teams averaged about 833 innings — or 5.14 innings per start — from the starting rotation. The Tigers received 7862⁄3 innings from 17 starters in 2023, 8022⁄3 innings from 17 starters in 2022 and 7811⁄3 innings from 13 starters in 2021.

Skubal, Maeda and Mize have recently returned from major elbow surgeries; Manning and Flaherty have spent significant time on the injured list with injuries, including shoulder injuries, over the past few seasons.

Mize is the only members of the Tigers’ rotation to throw more than 150 innings in the past three MLB seasons. He tossed 1501⁄3 innings across 30 starts in 2021 before undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2022 and missing the 2023 campaign.

Expect Mize to be under innings restrictions in 2024.

Flaherty accumulated 1441⁄3 innings — sporting a 4.99 ERA — across 29 games (27 starts) in 2023 with the St. Louis Cardinals and Baltimore Orioles. He will bag $14 million in 2024, but he can earn up to $1 million in start-based incentives: $250,000 for 26 starts, $250,000 for 28 starts and $500,000 for 30 starts.

The Tigers plan to help Flaherty return to his previous form, such as when he had a 2.75 ERA in 2019 or 3.22 ERA in 2021, by teaching him to do two things: generate more whiffs and limit hard contact.

“I’m really excited to be here,” Flaherty said Wednesday. “I’m excited for the opportunity and the chance to go out, learn and compete with these guys . ... There’s a lot of belief in this team. It’s one of those things that excited me about the opportunity to come here, to be a part of it.”

Pitching depth will be one of the keys for the Tigers.

“We’re always going to be looking for pitching,” Harris said, when asked about what’s next for the Tigers in the offseason. “I don’t know that we’re going to be in the starting pitching market anymore after this signing, but I know there’s still heavy demand for starting pitching in the market. We’re just excited to be able to add two of them before Christmas.”