Cardinals: Jack Flaherty makes it clear he’s not eyeing free agency

Jack Flaherty is not eyeing free agency, despite concerns after the St. Louis Cardinals took him to an arbitration hearing.

After the Cardinals took pitcher Jack Flaherty to an arbitration hearing, and lost, there were immediate questions whether that would impact his long-term outlook in St. Louis.

Rightfully so. Oftentimes, arbitration hearings can lead to relationships between team and player disintegrating. Immediately following the hearing, Flaherty tweeted GIFs and pictures implying that he took the hearing personally, which immediately fueled speculation that he would not sign a contract extension in St. Louis and become a free agent in two years when his contract expires.

On Tuesday, Flaherty quieted those concerns in an interview with Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

“I don’t think it’s inevitable,” said Flaherty, when asked about becoming a free agent. “That’s saying that things are already determined. And if you think I’ve looked two years forward then I don’t think you know me. We stay in the present. We stay in the present moment of what’s going on right now. That’s something that is two years away for me to say, yes, it’s inevitable means I’ve looked that far ahead. No, no, not at all. We stay right here. We stay in this moment, and again free agency — I can’t control what happens at this point. I can control this conversation. That’s all we can work on.”

Flaherty, 25, is going to be a vital part of the Cardinals’ rotation. He will be the team’s ace and the organization is optimistic he will bounce back to his 2019 self after a down 2020 season. How he fares this season could go a long way toward determining how deep the Cardinals advance into the postseason and whether they have a realistic shot at taking down the San Diego Padres or Los Angeles Dodgers.

So it is good to see that there are no apparent hard feelings for Flaherty after being taken to an arbitration hearing. Now, it is on him to move forward and put up a season that the Cardinals hope ends with him in the Cy Young Award picture.