Jack Flaherty may have played a huge part in the Los Angeles Dodgers' World Series run in 2024, but there he remains as a free agent waiting for the team he'll be playing for in 2025. With there being less than a month to go before Spring Training begins, however, it is expected that Flaherty will latch on with his next team sooner or later — with one of the Dodgers' main rivals looking to sign the 29-year-old to a huge long-term deal.

ESPN MLB analyst David Schoenfield predicted that the Los Angeles Angels will be the team that signs Flaherty to a five-year, $115 million deal. The Angels can certainly use every bit of talent infusion that they can get, and Flaherty will immediately slot in atop their rotation — with the added bonus of taking him away from the Dodgers.

The Angels finished last season with a 69-93 record, bringing up the rear in the AL West. They added Yusei Kikuchi earlier in the offseason in their continued bid to add some quality to their roster. But considering where they're starting from, even the signing of Flaherty, as helpful as it would be, may not be enough.

Flaherty had himself a solid 2024 regular season, splitting time with the Dodgers and the Detroit Tigers. He had an ERA of 2.95 in 106.2 innings of work with the Tigers, and he followed that up with a solid 3.58 ERA across 10 starts on the West Coast — finishing with a 3.17 ERA (3.3 WAR, per Fangraphs) as a result.

The postseason numbers for Flaherty may be a concern, but the Angels will first have to worry about getting to the playoffs in the first place, and Flaherty will help a lot in that goal of theirs.

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Dodgers' loss could be the Angels' gain

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Jack Flaherty (0) pitches during the first inning against the New York Yankees in game four of the 2024 MLB World Series at Yankee Stadium
Brad Penner-Imagn Images

At this point, would losing Jack Flaherty in free agency even count as a loss for the Dodgers? They added a plethora of talent yet again in this year's free agency, signing Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki to their loaded rotation, and at this point, it is only fair if the Dodgers let go of some of their talent just so other teams, such as the Angels, could improve.

The Angels' starting rotation is so thin that Flaherty would be the team's co-ace alongside Yusei Kikuchi. Jose Soriano and Tyler Anderson are solid back of the rotation pieces, while Kyle Hendricks should provide a steady hand to round out the rotation.