Braves answer to Jack Flaherty signing elsewhere is someone familiar to Dylan Cease

The Detroit Tigers re-signed Jack Flaherty on Sunday night. Flaherty was one of the best remaining starting pitchers on the market, and spent the first half of his 2024 season with the Tigers before he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he won a World Series.

It's a feel-good story for Tigers fans, as their front office finally won one for the little guy, securing a top-100 prospect from the Dodgers at the trade deadline for Flaherty's services, only for the pitcher to wander back to the Motor City in free agency. For other teams in need of starting pitching, though, Flaherty's signing on an affordable, two-year deal leaves only one question: What were they thinking?

Is Flaherty perfect? No, but he's a capable top-of-the-rotation starter on a contending team. The Tigers knew that. The Dodgers knew that. What is stopping, say, the Atlanta Braves from making him a more lucrative offer?

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Braves shouldn't trade for Dylan Cease, but Michael King makes sense

The Braves are engaged in their own conversations – mostly via trade, if I had to guess, thanks to Alex Anthopoulos – and could make an offer the San Diego Padres won't refuse. While Dylan Cease is a Georgia boy, he's also quite expensive. San Diego GM AJ Preller reportedly asked the Cubs for top prospect Matt Shaw back in return. The Braves won't want to pay that price, and frankly they couldn't if they tried. Chicago's farm system is far superior to Atlanta's.

So, rather than force a trade for Cease – who has just one year left on his deal anyway, mind you – Atlanta could land Michael King, who is also reportedly up for grabs. The issue, per FanSided MLB Insider Robert Murray, is that the structure of King's contract makes it more likely San Diego will hang onto him beyond this season. So, the Padres aren't necessarily inclined to trade him.

King was phenomenal last season, and in a larger market would have received his due. In 30 starts, King went 13-9 with a 2.95 ERA, good for a career-best 4.2 WAR. That is not the kind of production which will come cheap via trade, but it's worth a shot for the Braves, which desperately could use some front-end pitching help as they await Spencer Strider's return from injury.

King is as close to a one-for-one Max Fried replacement as is available at this juncture of the offseason. Given the Padres ownership debacle and spending limitations, the Braves should take advantage of their situation while they can.