Jack Flaherty dark horse could save the Cardinals from a depressing reality

As one of the best starting pitchers remaining on the free agent market, Jack Flaherty holds a lot of leverage, and also has a rapidly-increasing number of potential suitors. Flaherty bet on himself last winter and signed a one-year deal with the Detroit Tigers, only to pitch at an All-Star level and earn a trade deadline deal to his hometown Los Angeles Dodgers, where he won his first World Series.

Fresh off the highest of highs, Flaherty must now decide what comes next. Does he sign with another contender, but perhaps take a little less money to do so? Or, does Flaherty cash in after putting in all that hard-earned work?

If the answer is the latter, the latest dark horse team interested in his services may just make sense after all.

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Los Angeles Angels could save the Cardinals in Jack Flaherty chase

The Los Angeles Angels are a year removed from losing Shohei Ohtani, but in many ways are still recovering from that setback. Ohtani is a generational talent and one of the only two-way players to succeed at this level. He's won three MVPs – two with the Angels – and even finished fourth in AL Cy Young voting in 2022. Ohtani could retire tomorrow and have a damn good argument to make it to Cooperstown.

Still, the Angels have spent money this winter in hopes of repairing their image and roster from the disaster that was the 2023-24 offseason. In doing so, they have added to their rotation in a big way already by signing Yusei Kikuchi and Kyle Hendricks. Signing Flaherty to lead the staff, especially as a California native, would take another step towards pleasing the fanbase. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic agrees, and even connected the dots:

"The Angels, however, might prefer free agents who are not subject to draft-pick compensation. Righty Jack Flaherty, a southern California native, could be one...Angels owner Arte Moreno can be unpredictable. Given his team’s draft positions, the free-agent opportunities available and the state of the AL, it would not be surprising to see him strike," Rosenthal wrote in his most recent column.

The Angels signing Flaherty would save the St. Louis Cardinals, for one, from sure embarrassment, as the Cubs have also been connected to their former rival. It's a small footnote in the Flaherty dilemma, but a meaningful one as Flaherty is a former homegrown ace gone astray in recent years.

As much as John Mozeliak and Co. may deserve to witness one of their biggest failures succeed with a division rival, I wouldn't wish that upon my greatest enemy.