TBNL: WBC qualifiers; Jack Flaherty signs; an umpire is fired

Sixteen of the 20 participants in next year’s World Baseball Classic have already been determined. Qualifiers for the final four spots will begin on February 21 in Taipei, Taiwan.

Four teams — Chinese Taipei, Spain, Nicaragua, and South Africa — will play a round-robin tournament. The top team from the group will qualify for the WBC. The teams in second and third place will play a one-game playoff for the second place in the WBC.

A second qualifier tournament will be held in Tucson, Arizona at a later date to determine the final two spots.

MLB.com’s Michael Clair has a look at the rosters for the four teams hoping to book their place in the next WBC.

Jack is back

Cross Jack Flaherty off the list of available pitchers.

As of late Sunday evening, the right-hander didn’t appear close to signing, but hours later, multiple reports confirmed that he would return to the Detroit Tigers. The contract is uniquely structured. While technically a two-year, $35M deal it is heavily frontloaded. Flaherty will earn $25M in 2025 and then can opt out and re-enter free agency next offseason. If he forgoes the opt-out and remains with Detroit, he’ll earn $10M plus potentially an additional $10M in incentives (determined by how many starts he makes this year).

Detroit signed Flaherty to a one-year, $14M contract before the 2024 season as he looked to bounce back from a rough 2023. Flaherty responded to Detroit well, posting a 2.95 ERA (138 ERA+) over 106.2 IP before the Tigers dealt him to Los Angeles in July (for Trey Sweeney, who saw time at shortstop in Detroit before the season concluded, and Thayron Liranzo, who ranked No. 82 on MLB Pipeline’s recently updated Top 100 list).

Flaherty was a key part of the Dodgers rotation over the season’s final two months (3.58 ERA over 55.1 IP) and through the playoffs, including throwing seven shutout innings against the Mets in the NLCS. Since he’d been traded midseason, LA couldn’t extend him a qualifying offer.

The Tigers made a run into the postseason last year behind a patchwork starting rotation that now suddenly looks like a strength. AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal, Flaherty, and Reese Olsen are likely locked into roles with a host of options to complete for the final two spots in spring training — including top prospect Jackson Jobe and former prospects Casey Mize and Matt Manning.

PED suspensions

A pair of players received suspensions late last week following positive drug tests. Both tested positive for the performance-enhancing substance Stanozolol, according to a release from the commissioner’s office.

Free agent pitcher Jeison Pena received an 80-game suspension under baseball’s minor league drug program. Colorado Rockies minor leaguer Ulises Reyes received a 56-game suspension under the minor league program for players outside North America.

Pena, 22, spent the last four seasons pitching in the Brewers system, including the last two at Class-A Carolina. He’s registered a 5.39 ERA over 163.2 IP for his career, including a 5.02 ERA across 43.0 IP last season. Milwaukee released him in October.

Reyes, 19, made 15 appearances for the Rockies’ DSL affiliate last summer, allowing 14 earned runs on 27 hits over 18.0 IP.

Twenty players received suspensions under MLB’s drug-testing program last season: 9 minor leaguers playing for North American affiliates, 9 more minor leaguers playing with Dominican Summer League affiliates, and two major leaguers.

Cincinnati’s Noelvi Marte received an 80-game suspension following a positive test for Boldenone during spring training. Toronto’s Orelvis Martinez received an 80-game suspension in late June, just two days after making his MLB debut, following a positive test for Clomiphene.

Umpire Pat Hoberg’s termination upheld

Last year during spring training, MLB began an investigation after receiving word from a licensed sports betting operator that MLB umpire Pat Hoberg had opened an account. MLB employees are permitted to place bets on other leagues, but may not place any bets on baseball.

Hoberg had allegedly shared the account with a friend who happened to be a professional poker player. The friend, allegedly, placed bets on baseball under their shared account.

MLB suspended Hoberg while the investigation was pending and ultimately fired him in May. He appealed unsuccessfully.

Under stipulations laid out in the collective bargaining agreement with the MLB Umpires Association (MLBUA), per MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince, Hoberg was able to apply for another appeal which the league announced Monday it had upheld. Commissioner Rob Manfred stated, in part, that the league did not find any evidence that Hoberg had bet on baseball or done anything to disrupt the games he umpired, but he would still uphold Hoberg’s firing because of his failure to “maintain the integrity of the game of baseball.”

Elsewhere, around the league …

• Detroit designated Alex Faedo for assignment last week after signing Tommy Kahnle and has now traded the right-hander to Tampa Bay for minor league catcher Enderson Delgado and cash. Faedo posted a 3.61 ERA over 57.1 IP for the Tigers last season.

• Carlos Carrasco struggled to a 5.64 ERA and 1.399 WHIP over 103.2 IP with the Guardians last year before a shoulder injury ended his season in early August. It looked by all accounts that the 37-year-old was at the end of his career, but he will instead be in spring camp with the Yankees after signing a minor league deal on Monday. It’s a true longshot that he pitches well enough to earn a roster spot.

• College baseball season gets underway shortly. D1baseball.com posted their Preseason Top 25 rankings not long ago, with last year’s College World Series runner-up Texas A&M in the No. 1 spot.

• In an unusual set of circumstances stemming from changes in how the NCAA determines eligibility, slugging first baseman/designated hitter Alberto Osuna has transferred to Tennessee just weeks before the season opens. Osuna crushed junior college pitching in his first two collegiate seasons (inc. the Covid-shortened 2020 season) before transferring to North Carolina. He’s batted .259/.359/.519 over the last three seasons with the Tar Heels, hitting 45 home runs (good for fifth in program history). As a fifth-year senior last year, he exhausted his D1 eligibility and was set to continue playing at DII University of Tampa before an NCAA rule change.